Study of 20 Master Plots by Ronald Tobias Chapter 1.1
Jun 30, 2021 12:24:35 GMT -6
Post by ScienceGirl on Jun 30, 2021 12:24:35 GMT -6
This book literally changed my entire writing life. It helped me understand the depths of what story truly is and why the ideas looked so great in my head but weren't well-received by readers. I hope it helps you all as much as it did me!
Be ye Pantsers or Plotters? In the first draft, it matters not! Beyond that, publish a book bereft of plot, and you'll find it a challenge to dredge up a good review. This is a book for both those fragmented, scattered stories that fly out of our heads and those hyper-structured skeleton templates that refuse to breathe life, because it leads us to a place where the best writing comes from somewhere in the middle, where plot is more of a fluid movement through the story rather than a rigid list to follow.
Intro
Tobias starts us out in chapter one with an urban legend. An "invisible fiction" as he calls it, because it's one of those stories that keep getting reported in newspapers and modified as it's passed on to new sources.
According to Tobias, though several newspapers reported the story as true, and people generally accept it as such, no one has ever come forward with any evidence of proof. He tells us that small details change every time it's retold, although the basic story remains unchanged.
He asserts the value of this legend is that it has become "plot perfect" throughout its evolution, just as many of the fables and fairy tales that have been shared over time.
This story, he says, has three movements:
1) The Narrative Hook, where the drama and mystery is established and the story is set up (woman finds choking dog and takes it to the vet)
2) The Element of Danger or Conflict, where the stakes are raised and the character has a dilemma to maneuver (the phone call and the insistence that she leaves her house)
3) The Climax and Resolution, where the mystery is solved and the story comes to a close (the police arrive, and then the burglar is captured).
Tobias then says, "What happens in 'The Choking Doberman' is not that different from what happens in the novels of Agatha Christie or P.D. James. It's only a matter of degree."
He further explains:
On Skeletons
The true value of what Tobias teaches is that it helps writers learn WHAT PLOT IS and HOW IT WORKS FOR YOU IN STORY DEVELOPMENT.
He generally quotes the line, "Plot is structure. Without structure you have nothing," which I'm sure most of you have learned from your high school language teachers. Tobias says,
He also refers to the mechanical or architectural description of plot, as "the skeleton, the scaffold, the superstructure, the chassis, the frame..." Tobias finds deep flaws in these metaphors.
Consider "Plot is a skeleton that holds together your story. All your details hang on the bones of the plot." Tobias counters that this skeletal viewpoint is a misrepresentation of what plot is and how it works. He says,
He tells us that rather, plot is a force that "saturates every page, paragraph, and word." What a different concept!
This certainly spoke to my science-teacher self. Force is the manifestation of energy and life (no energy without force). Force implies movement (cause a mass to accelerate). Tobias compares plot to the electromagnetic force, which works through a series of attractions and repulsions of inner particles (think connections), and he insists it is a live being and not a static thing. So plot, then is a process!
Plot is a Process, Not an Object
Tobias takes us back to "The Choking Doberman," asking us to pretend to be the writer, and asks a simple question. "What's the story about?"
Suppose we answer that the story is about a dog. He says that's too specific and the dog is only the subject matter.
Then, suppose we answer it's about terror. Tobias says that's too vague.
We try again. "It's about this woman who comes home and finds her dog choking on something only to find out it's human fingers." He calls that detail, and still not plot.
Then, he drops a bombshell (at least I felt like it was a bombshell. Maybe some of you guys already better understand this).
He further explains:
WOW. So a riddle is a plot? That completely blew my mind!
Tobias takes us back to the three movements he pointed out earlier and shows where clues to the riddle were delivered. 1) In the first movement, the dog is choking on something and 2) In the second movement, the woman is told to get out of her house, but not why. It requires some effort to establish a link between the clues (cause and effect) and figure out the missing pieces before we reach the end of the story.
It's a great plot because there's the time factor and mystery, which are natural hooks.
Tobias seems to firmly believe that one cannot understand plot without realizing that plot is a force, so I'm curious to know your thoughts about it. How can you see plot as a force in your own writing?
These living stories are so much a part of us that we hardly think about their role in our lives: They are rumor, gossip, jokes, excuses, anecdotes, huge outrageous lies, and little white lies--all daily inventions of fiction that create the fabric of life.
Stories thrive at the company water cooler, in the lunchroom, at the hairdresser's, in taxis and taverns, in boardrooms and bedrooms. Years of schooling have conditioned us to think about fiction as either on the page or on the screen, so we overlook the fact that our everyday lives are steeped in stories: full of energy, inventiveness, and conviction.
--Ronald Tobias
Stories thrive at the company water cooler, in the lunchroom, at the hairdresser's, in taxis and taverns, in boardrooms and bedrooms. Years of schooling have conditioned us to think about fiction as either on the page or on the screen, so we overlook the fact that our everyday lives are steeped in stories: full of energy, inventiveness, and conviction.
--Ronald Tobias
Intro
Tobias starts us out in chapter one with an urban legend. An "invisible fiction" as he calls it, because it's one of those stories that keep getting reported in newspapers and modified as it's passed on to new sources.
"The Choking Doberman"
A woman returned to her house after a morning of shopping and found her pet Doberman pinscher choking and unable to breathe. She rushed her dog to the vet, where she left it for emergency treatment.
When the woman got home, her phone was ringing. It was the vet.
"Get out of your house now!" he shouted.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Just do it! Go to a neighbors. I'll be right there."
Frightened by the tone of his voice, the woman did as she was told and went to her neighbor's.
A few minutes later, four police cars screeched to a halt in front of her house. The police ran inside her house with guns drawn. Horrified, the woman went outside to see what was happening.
The vet arrived and explained. WHen he looked inside her dog's throat, he found two human fingers! He figured the dog had surprised a burglar.
Sure enough, the poilce found a man in a deep state of shock hiding in the closet and clutching a bloody hand.
A woman returned to her house after a morning of shopping and found her pet Doberman pinscher choking and unable to breathe. She rushed her dog to the vet, where she left it for emergency treatment.
When the woman got home, her phone was ringing. It was the vet.
"Get out of your house now!" he shouted.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Just do it! Go to a neighbors. I'll be right there."
Frightened by the tone of his voice, the woman did as she was told and went to her neighbor's.
A few minutes later, four police cars screeched to a halt in front of her house. The police ran inside her house with guns drawn. Horrified, the woman went outside to see what was happening.
The vet arrived and explained. WHen he looked inside her dog's throat, he found two human fingers! He figured the dog had surprised a burglar.
Sure enough, the poilce found a man in a deep state of shock hiding in the closet and clutching a bloody hand.
According to Tobias, though several newspapers reported the story as true, and people generally accept it as such, no one has ever come forward with any evidence of proof. He tells us that small details change every time it's retold, although the basic story remains unchanged.
He asserts the value of this legend is that it has become "plot perfect" throughout its evolution, just as many of the fables and fairy tales that have been shared over time.
This story, he says, has three movements:
1) The Narrative Hook, where the drama and mystery is established and the story is set up (woman finds choking dog and takes it to the vet)
2) The Element of Danger or Conflict, where the stakes are raised and the character has a dilemma to maneuver (the phone call and the insistence that she leaves her house)
3) The Climax and Resolution, where the mystery is solved and the story comes to a close (the police arrive, and then the burglar is captured).
Tobias then says, "What happens in 'The Choking Doberman' is not that different from what happens in the novels of Agatha Christie or P.D. James. It's only a matter of degree."
He further explains:
...plot isn't an accessory that conveniently organizes your material according to some ritualistic magic. You don't just plug in a plot like a household appliance and expect it to do its job. Plot is organic. It takes hold of the writer and the work from the beginning.
On Skeletons
The true value of what Tobias teaches is that it helps writers learn WHAT PLOT IS and HOW IT WORKS FOR YOU IN STORY DEVELOPMENT.
He generally quotes the line, "Plot is structure. Without structure you have nothing," which I'm sure most of you have learned from your high school language teachers. Tobias says,
We've been taught to fear plot, because it looms so large over us and so much seems to hinge on it. We've been told a thousand times that there are only so many plots and they've all been used and there isn't a story left in the world that hasn't already been told.
Consider "Plot is a skeleton that holds together your story. All your details hang on the bones of the plot." Tobias counters that this skeletal viewpoint is a misrepresentation of what plot is and how it works. He says,
Plot isn't a wire hanger that you hang the clothes of a story on. Plot is diffusive; it permeates all the atoms of fiction. It can't be deboned. It isn't a series of I-beams that keeps everything from collapsing.
This certainly spoke to my science-teacher self. Force is the manifestation of energy and life (no energy without force). Force implies movement (cause a mass to accelerate). Tobias compares plot to the electromagnetic force, which works through a series of attractions and repulsions of inner particles (think connections), and he insists it is a live being and not a static thing. So plot, then is a process!
Plot is a Process, Not an Object
Tobias takes us back to "The Choking Doberman," asking us to pretend to be the writer, and asks a simple question. "What's the story about?"
Suppose we answer that the story is about a dog. He says that's too specific and the dog is only the subject matter.
Then, suppose we answer it's about terror. Tobias says that's too vague.
We try again. "It's about this woman who comes home and finds her dog choking on something only to find out it's human fingers." He calls that detail, and still not plot.
Then, he drops a bombshell (at least I felt like it was a bombshell. Maybe some of you guys already better understand this).
The plot is as old as literature itself. "The Choking Doberman" is a riddle.
He further explains:
The point of a riddle is to solve a puzzle. It comes from the same tradition as Oedipus, who mus solve the riddle presented to him by the Sphinx, and the same tradition of Hercules, who had the unenviable task of having to solve twelve tasks, the famous labors, each was a riddle to be solved.
Tobias takes us back to the three movements he pointed out earlier and shows where clues to the riddle were delivered. 1) In the first movement, the dog is choking on something and 2) In the second movement, the woman is told to get out of her house, but not why. It requires some effort to establish a link between the clues (cause and effect) and figure out the missing pieces before we reach the end of the story.
It's a great plot because there's the time factor and mystery, which are natural hooks.
Tobias seems to firmly believe that one cannot understand plot without realizing that plot is a force, so I'm curious to know your thoughts about it. How can you see plot as a force in your own writing?
You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
