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Part i. The Structure of a Complete Plot

Plot, in the simplest terms, means the story you are going to tell in your novel. It consists of all the things that happen between page one and the end of the book.

Some of the terms you may have heard used to describe different elements of plot are:

• Exposition: Introduction and establishment of the characters, setting, and situation; exposition includes the narrative that gets the story moving forward; authors use exposition to set up the main character and her problem or goal.

• Complications and conflict: The events and characters that prevent your protagonist and prevent her from solving her problem or reaching her goal.

• Crisis: Complications and conflict hit their highest point.

• Climax: Crisis builds to a dramatic, do-or-die moment.

• Resolution: The problem is resolved and the protagonist has either reached her goal or failed to reach it.

• Reflection: A change that the main character undergoes as a result of learning something important about herself or the situation she's in; she experiences an epiphany about life and the great scheme of things.

The plot of a novel is divided into a beginning, middle, and end, parts that can be thought of as comprising three acts. Hallie Ephron breaks down the three-act structure of a novel in simple terms below.

This structure is often referred to as the "story arc." That's because the tension in the story gradually builds to a crisis and then, much more quickly, falls with resolution and reflection.

Let's take a look at another author's suggested plot structure. Nigel Watts' Writing A Novel and Getting Published has a fool-proof, fail-safe and time-honoured way to structure a story in eight points:

1. Stasis: This is the "everyday life" in which the story is set. Think of Cinderella sweeping the ashes, Jack (of Beanstalk fame) living in poverty with his mom and a cow, or Harry Potter living with the Dursley's.

2. Trigger: Something beyond the control of the protagonist (hero/heroine) is the trigger which sparks off the story. A fairy godmother appears, someone pays in magic beans not gold, a mysterious letter arrives... you get the picture.

3. The quest: The trigger results in a quest–an unpleasant trigger (e.g. a protagonist losing his job) might involve a quest to return to the status quo; a pleasant trigger (e.g. finding a treasure map) means a quest to maintain or increase the new pleasant state.

4. Surprise: This stage involves not one but several elements, and takes up most of the middle part of the story. Surprise includes pleasant events but more often means obstacles, complications, conflict and trouble for the protagonist.

Watts emphasizes that surprises shouldn't be too random or too predictable–they need to be unexpected, but plausible. The reader has to think "I should have seen that coming!"

5. Critical choice: At some stage, your protagonist needs to make a crucial decision; a critical choice. This is often when we find out exactly who a character is, as real personalities are revealed at moments of high stress. Watts stresses that this has to be a decision by the character to take a particular path–not just something that happens by chance.

In many classic stories, the critical choice involves choosing between a good, but hard, path and a bad, but easy, one.

In tragedies, the unhappy ending often stems from a character making the wrong choice at this point–Romeo poisoning himself on seeing Juliet supposedly dead, for example.

6. Climax: The critical choice(s) made by your protagonist need to result in the climax, the highest peak of tension, in your story.

For some stories, this could be the firing squad leveling their guns to shoot, a battle commencing, a high-speed chase or something equally dramatic. In other stories, the climax could be a huge argument between a husband and wife, or a playground fight between children, or Cinderella and the Ugly Sisters trying on the glass slipper.

7. Reversal: The reversal should be the consequence of the critical choice and the climax, and it should change the status of the characters–especially your protagonist. For example, a downtrodden wife might leave her husband after a row; a bullied child might stand up for a fellow victim and realize that the bully no longer has any power over him; Cinderella might be recognized by the prince.

8. Resolution: The resolution is a return to a fresh stasis–one where the characters should be changed, wiser and enlightened, but where the story being told is complete.

(You can always start off a new story, a sequel, with another trigger...)

Being able to apply these structures to your story building will bring you one step closer to completing your novel. How to further apply these structures to your story will be explained in future parts. Please remember to give this part a vote.