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ljwritesHere's how big a dork I am: As I read 20 Master Plots, reviewed here, I kept pitting it in my head against Plot Versus Character, which I had read and reviewed earlier. The imaginary dialogue went something like this:
On Character Arcs
Plot Versus Character: [My summary of Chapters 6 to 11:] Your entire story is a vehicle to carry the protagonist to the moment of truth, where the protagonist must choose between his old way which is hurting him and a newer, better way. While choosing the new way has its cost, the character will come to realize "the depravity of his old way," (Chapter 7: The Moment of Truth) and if he chooses the old way instead of the new he is "forever lost." (Chapter 10: The Escalation)
20 Master Plots: "Writing a story without presenting a meaningful opposing force is propaganda." Also: "You can always tell propaganda because the writer has a cause. The writer is on a soapbox lecturing, telling us who is good and who is bad and what is right and what is wrong." Quoting Tolstoy: "The best stories don't come from 'good vs. bad' but from 'good vs. good.'" (Chapter Four: Deep Structure)
Me: Oh snap!
On Character Monologue
Plot Versus Character: "The final phase in understanding your character's personality is to write a monologue in which he steps onstage in the penultimate way, doing a perfectly typical thing, caught in the ideal surroundings, revealing the essence of who he is." (Chapter 8: Initial Condition)
20 Master Plots: "Action equals character. What a character says about himself isn't that important." And: "Your character will come to life by doing, not by sitting around and telling us what she feels about life or about the crisis of the moment. Do, don't just say." (Chapter Five: Triangles)
Me: Boo-ya!
On the Writer as God
Plot Versus Character: [Discussing how much fictional force it takes to get a character to get to leave the dysfunction of her old way] "Ah, fiction. It's good to be a god." (Chapter 6: The Knot) Later: "You've now come up with the source of conflict that will, like a perfectly designed surgical tool, begin to dig into her [the protagonist] until it gets at the tumor [her knot, or central issue]. Try not to cackle like a supervillain, okay?" (Chapter 15: Act 2: The Heart of the Matter)
20 Master Plots: "If you still entertain any delusions of grandeur about being all-powerful, this is the time to lose them. The writer is a slave, not a god. You're a slave to your characters and to the premise of your story. If you must find a model to represent the status of the author, it would not be as a god but as a referee." (Chapter Four: Deep Structure)
Me: BOOM! You have been SERVED!
So that's Exhibit One Million and One in my nerd trial, in case anyone's counting. But the juxtaposition was uncanny, and I found myself writing such well-reasoned and thoughtful responses as "A thousand times YES" in the margins as I read 20 Master Plots.
On Character Arcs
Plot Versus Character: [My summary of Chapters 6 to 11:] Your entire story is a vehicle to carry the protagonist to the moment of truth, where the protagonist must choose between his old way which is hurting him and a newer, better way. While choosing the new way has its cost, the character will come to realize "the depravity of his old way," (Chapter 7: The Moment of Truth) and if he chooses the old way instead of the new he is "forever lost." (Chapter 10: The Escalation)
20 Master Plots: "Writing a story without presenting a meaningful opposing force is propaganda." Also: "You can always tell propaganda because the writer has a cause. The writer is on a soapbox lecturing, telling us who is good and who is bad and what is right and what is wrong." Quoting Tolstoy: "The best stories don't come from 'good vs. bad' but from 'good vs. good.'" (Chapter Four: Deep Structure)
Me: Oh snap!
On Character Monologue
Plot Versus Character: "The final phase in understanding your character's personality is to write a monologue in which he steps onstage in the penultimate way, doing a perfectly typical thing, caught in the ideal surroundings, revealing the essence of who he is." (Chapter 8: Initial Condition)
20 Master Plots: "Action equals character. What a character says about himself isn't that important." And: "Your character will come to life by doing, not by sitting around and telling us what she feels about life or about the crisis of the moment. Do, don't just say." (Chapter Five: Triangles)
Me: Boo-ya!
On the Writer as God
Plot Versus Character: [Discussing how much fictional force it takes to get a character to get to leave the dysfunction of her old way] "Ah, fiction. It's good to be a god." (Chapter 6: The Knot) Later: "You've now come up with the source of conflict that will, like a perfectly designed surgical tool, begin to dig into her [the protagonist] until it gets at the tumor [her knot, or central issue]. Try not to cackle like a supervillain, okay?" (Chapter 15: Act 2: The Heart of the Matter)
20 Master Plots: "If you still entertain any delusions of grandeur about being all-powerful, this is the time to lose them. The writer is a slave, not a god. You're a slave to your characters and to the premise of your story. If you must find a model to represent the status of the author, it would not be as a god but as a referee." (Chapter Four: Deep Structure)
Me: BOOM! You have been SERVED!
So that's Exhibit One Million and One in my nerd trial, in case anyone's counting. But the juxtaposition was uncanny, and I found myself writing such well-reasoned and thoughtful responses as "A thousand times YES" in the margins as I read 20 Master Plots.
