Lecture 02: Plot Part 1

“A good author can make a bad idea work. A bad author can’t even make a good idea work.”

main components of a story:

• characters
• plot
• setting

‼️ setting is the least important

plot arcs:

1. promise - we will get from the shire to mount doom
2. progress - walking through the woods, fighting orcs
3. (maybe a small amount) setbacks, backslides - end of fellowship of the ring, death of boromir and splitting of the fellowship
4. payoff - the destruction of the ring

character arcs:

two types:

iconic character - static traits e.g. sherlock holmes “this person is cool already. Look what story they are part of”

dynamic character - has character development and changes through the plot “this person has some bad qualities, watch them become better”

first chapter

1. set tone promise - if its a comedy don’t start with a traumatic murder
2. set plot promise - what will the character achieve

core plot vs framing plot

i.e. core plot falling in love, framed by alien invasion and surviving

subplots

can nest together in brackets, episodic (don’t overdo this or it will be cringe like naruto)