20 MP Lesson 3 The Strong Force and Weak Force
Jul 7, 2021 4:11:11 GMT -6
Post by ScienceGirl on Jul 7, 2021 4:11:11 GMT -6
Tobias dedicates the entirety of chapter four to exploring the idea further that plot is a force. He recounted his own journey studying plot and how the more books he read on the subject, the more they started feeling like a cookbook. And though he quotes a number of these plot-help writers, he does not subscribe to most of their "recipes for success."
He concurs that most of these writers have one specific thing in common: a method. Granted, these methods are often vastly different. But it's the mere existence of a method that pushes their writing to their brand of greatness. Once they get their method down, he explains, some write a book that might be better entitled, "This Is What Works for Me." Avid readers take their words for gospel and hard lines become drawn between each of their styles based on personal preference.
After quoting several different writers and explaining their varying styles (write start to finish, lay the whole thing out on index cards, etc), Tobias tells us,
He returns to the question, "How many plots are there?" and finally draws the conclusion that it does not matter how many plots there are. What matters instead, he says, is the writer's understanding of the story and how to create a pattern of plot that works for it.
Two Basic Plots: The Foundation of All Literature
Tobias takes us next on a journey to understand "the evolutionary tree from which all plots developed." He takes us to Dante's Inferno, where there exist two basic sins in all the levels of Hell. One is forza (crimes of violence and force) and the other is forda (crimes of fraud). The forda criminals received greater punishment than forza, because in Dante's mind, the mental crimes of fraud were much worse than physical crimes of force.
In comparison, Tobias offers two divisions of plot: plots of the body, and plots of the mind. He takes readers through several examples (Aesop's fables where the Lion represents brute strength and the fox is clever, witty, and devious. How often does a weak, harmless being outwit a brutish, bulky villain? To most of us, mental skill matters more.
Action Plots
Ask yourself the question before you begin writing, "Does my plot rely more on action and adventure that relies on the characters doing something, or 'the inner workings of character and human nature?'"
Society is addicted to action plots, which explains the powerful franchises of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars. Readers want to know what the characters will do next when they land in a predicament.
Sometimes in these types of movies or books, the action is so intense that character and thought is rarely used. Not that it's not present. The character development is still necessary to carry the story. Just that action dominates character in these stories.
Tobias likens the action plot to a puzzle plot, where there's not so much a moral arc to the characters (though completely altruistic in his sacrifice, Tony Stark remains an arrogant, unapologetic-yet-loveable jerk until the very end). They keep encountering challenges that drive a mystery or problem to solve, and reward the readers with suspense, surprise, and anticipation.
Even a good romance can fit within this style of plot. Sometimes Boy and Girl have to complete all sorts of actions together before they can build a justifiable love.
Mental Plots
These stories relate more to human nature, relationships between people, and their interaction with the events that surround them. The characters take interior journeys that challenge their beliefs and attitudes so they will grow or change in some way. Ideas are strong in this fiction.
Tobias says,
The Meaning of Life and the Three Stooges
Tobias discusses the Greek distinctions between tragedy and comedy, and how those definitions have changed over time. Tragedy can now be mental plot or action plot, but comedy is strongly a plot of the mind.
Sure, you'll bring in examples of the slapstick, purely physical humor that drove The Three Stooges. Tobias calls this acting trio "anything but intellectual." However, in most good comedies, the writers rely on such tactics as double entendres questioning the existing order of society.
Zootopia is a great mental plot, and there's some subtle humor embedded in that story that most viewers probably don't even notice. Maybe more irony than humor, but in this line of thinking, those two things are akin. Think about it. The real villain in the story, Assistant Mayor Bellweather, is the deceivingly "meek" sheep, who hides under the mask of the bulky and brutish Mayor Lionhart, who seems too unintelligent to notice what's going on right under his own nose.
You have Judy the bunny and her childhood fox bully, Gideon Grey. While she's wrestling with her apparent failure and inability to mentally work out solving the crime, now-humble Gideon inadvertently gives her the last clue she needs to catch the crook.
Make no mistake, there's some definite political agenda going on in that story, though perhaps not quite as blatantly clear as the USA Women's Soccer Fan who made it on television wearing her "Equal Pay" shirt rather than her "Go Team" one. Note that comedy does not also mean humor. It can also be satire, which is sometimes not humorous at all. And satire is definitely a mental tactic.
Make Your Decision
Tobias then challenges writers to "decide which of the two plots your story will follow, because that shapes everything else you will do." He leads us through a series of questions:
If you choose action as your strong force and then mental as your weak force, you'll most likely have a plot-driven, action-filled mystery, suspense, or thriller.
If you choose mind as your strong force and then action as the weak force, youll most likely have a character-driven, intellectually stimulating analysis of human nature and relationships.
This will be the starting place for your novel.
He concurs that most of these writers have one specific thing in common: a method. Granted, these methods are often vastly different. But it's the mere existence of a method that pushes their writing to their brand of greatness. Once they get their method down, he explains, some write a book that might be better entitled, "This Is What Works for Me." Avid readers take their words for gospel and hard lines become drawn between each of their styles based on personal preference.
After quoting several different writers and explaining their varying styles (write start to finish, lay the whole thing out on index cards, etc), Tobias tells us,
I don't bring this up to confuse you, but to make you think of your own work habits and the value of what other writers have to offer by way of advice. But remember what Somerset Maugham said next time you come across something some great writer said. "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
Two Basic Plots: The Foundation of All Literature
Tobias takes us next on a journey to understand "the evolutionary tree from which all plots developed." He takes us to Dante's Inferno, where there exist two basic sins in all the levels of Hell. One is forza (crimes of violence and force) and the other is forda (crimes of fraud). The forda criminals received greater punishment than forza, because in Dante's mind, the mental crimes of fraud were much worse than physical crimes of force.
In comparison, Tobias offers two divisions of plot: plots of the body, and plots of the mind. He takes readers through several examples (Aesop's fables where the Lion represents brute strength and the fox is clever, witty, and devious. How often does a weak, harmless being outwit a brutish, bulky villain? To most of us, mental skill matters more.
Action Plots
Ask yourself the question before you begin writing, "Does my plot rely more on action and adventure that relies on the characters doing something, or 'the inner workings of character and human nature?'"
Society is addicted to action plots, which explains the powerful franchises of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars. Readers want to know what the characters will do next when they land in a predicament.
Sometimes in these types of movies or books, the action is so intense that character and thought is rarely used. Not that it's not present. The character development is still necessary to carry the story. Just that action dominates character in these stories.
Tobias likens the action plot to a puzzle plot, where there's not so much a moral arc to the characters (though completely altruistic in his sacrifice, Tony Stark remains an arrogant, unapologetic-yet-loveable jerk until the very end). They keep encountering challenges that drive a mystery or problem to solve, and reward the readers with suspense, surprise, and anticipation.
Even a good romance can fit within this style of plot. Sometimes Boy and Girl have to complete all sorts of actions together before they can build a justifiable love.
Mental Plots
These stories relate more to human nature, relationships between people, and their interaction with the events that surround them. The characters take interior journeys that challenge their beliefs and attitudes so they will grow or change in some way. Ideas are strong in this fiction.
Tobias says,
The plot of the mind examines life instead of just portraying it in some unrealistic way. Again, this doesn't mean you can't include action in a plot of the mind. But in weighing the mental against the physical, interior against exterior, the mental and interior will dominate to some degree.
Tobias discusses the Greek distinctions between tragedy and comedy, and how those definitions have changed over time. Tragedy can now be mental plot or action plot, but comedy is strongly a plot of the mind.
Sure, you'll bring in examples of the slapstick, purely physical humor that drove The Three Stooges. Tobias calls this acting trio "anything but intellectual." However, in most good comedies, the writers rely on such tactics as double entendres questioning the existing order of society.
Zootopia is a great mental plot, and there's some subtle humor embedded in that story that most viewers probably don't even notice. Maybe more irony than humor, but in this line of thinking, those two things are akin. Think about it. The real villain in the story, Assistant Mayor Bellweather, is the deceivingly "meek" sheep, who hides under the mask of the bulky and brutish Mayor Lionhart, who seems too unintelligent to notice what's going on right under his own nose.
You have Judy the bunny and her childhood fox bully, Gideon Grey. While she's wrestling with her apparent failure and inability to mentally work out solving the crime, now-humble Gideon inadvertently gives her the last clue she needs to catch the crook.
Make no mistake, there's some definite political agenda going on in that story, though perhaps not quite as blatantly clear as the USA Women's Soccer Fan who made it on television wearing her "Equal Pay" shirt rather than her "Go Team" one. Note that comedy does not also mean humor. It can also be satire, which is sometimes not humorous at all. And satire is definitely a mental tactic.
Make Your Decision
Tobias then challenges writers to "decide which of the two plots your story will follow, because that shapes everything else you will do." He leads us through a series of questions:
1. Will your story be plot-driven or character-driven. In other words, is the mechanism of story more important than the characters themselves?
2. Will your focus be more on the action or the people conducting the action?
3. Will the strong force be dominated by the mind or by physical movement?
2. Will your focus be more on the action or the people conducting the action?
3. Will the strong force be dominated by the mind or by physical movement?
If you choose mind as your strong force and then action as the weak force, youll most likely have a character-driven, intellectually stimulating analysis of human nature and relationships.
This will be the starting place for your novel.
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