Part

Plot and structure

You might say: plot, story structure, what happens

The events and the order you show them in. Forster: a story asks “and then?”, a plot asks “why?”.

What it does

Controls what the reader learns when, so tension builds toward the climax.

Ask

Does each event cause the next one?

Trouble

A saggy middle: events follow “and then” instead of “therefore” or “but”.

What to look for

1. Why links between events rather than only and then
2. Tension building toward the climax

Parts

• MICE threads: Four kinds of story thread: milieu, inquiry, character and event.
• Turning points: Moments that turn the story in a new direction.
• Try-fail cycle: The character tries to solve a problem and fails; the failure creates the next problem.
• Story shape: The rise and fall of fortune across a story.
• Scenes: The building blocks of the story.
• Structure models: Maps of where the big turns usually fall.
• Subplots: Smaller stories woven round the main plot.
• Cause and effect: Each event happens because of the one before.

Connections

• Measured by: Reverse outline

Sources

1. E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel, ch. V, The Plot, pp. 129–130A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Plot and structure" (plot-structure) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/fiction-writing/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

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