plot points
qais
WritingaboutPlotChecklist.docx
|_| In the exposition (opening scenes) where are we? What’s the setting?
|_| Who is the protagonist? What does he or she want?
|_| What is the story’s central conflict?
|_| What is at stake for the protagonist in the conflict?
|_| What stands in the way of the protagonist’s easily achieving his or her goal?
|_| Identify the rising action of the plot. What main events or plot complications take place in the story? How does each event relate to the protagonist’s struggle?
|_| At what point does the story build to a crisis? What’s at stake?
|_| Where do you find the story’s climax? What is gained or lost by the protagonist?
|_| Consider how the original conflict has been resolved by the end of the story? What’s its resolution?
|_| Does the protagonist succeed in achieving his or her goals?
|_| What is the impact of success, failure, or a surprising outcome on the protagonist?
|_| Step back and consider the arc of the plot from exposition and conflict, through rising actions and plot complications that lead to a crisis, to the climax and final resolution of the conflict in the story. WHAT THEME EMERGES from the culmination of events? What’s the story ABOUT, to your way of thinking? (Note that there are many answers to this question.)
Checklist: WRITING ABOUT PLOT
In the
exposition
(opening scenes) where are we? What’s the setting?
Who is the protagonist? What does he or she wan
t?
What is the story’s central
conflict
?
What is at stake for the protagonist in the conflict?
What stands in the way of the protagonist’s easily achieving his or her goal?
Identify the
rising act
ion
of the plot. What main events or
plot complications
take place in
the story? How does each event relate to the protagonist’s struggle?
At what point does the story build to a
crisis
? What’s at stake?
Where do you fi
nd the story’s
climax
?
What is gained or lost by the protagonist?
Consider how
the
original
conflict
has been
resolved
by the end of the story
?
What’s its
resolution
?
Does the protagonist succee
d in achieving his or her goals?
What is the impact of success, failure, or a surprising outcome on the protagonist?
Step back and consider the arc of the plot from exposition and conflict, through rising
actions and plot complications that lead to a crisis, to the climax and final resolution of the
conflict in the story. WHAT THEME EMERGES from the
culmination of events? What’s the
story ABOUT, to your way of thinking? (Note that there are many answers to this question.)
Checklist: WRITING ABOUT PLOT
In the exposition (opening scenes) where are we? What’s the setting?
Who is the protagonist? What does he or she want?
What is the story’s central conflict?
What is at stake for the protagonist in the conflict?
What stands in the way of the protagonist’s easily achieving his or her goal?
Identify the rising action of the plot. What main events or plot complications take place in
the story? How does each event relate to the protagonist’s struggle?
At what point does the story build to a crisis? What’s at stake?
Where do you find the story’s climax? What is gained or lost by the protagonist?
Consider how the original conflict has been resolved by the end of the story? What’s its
resolution?
Does the protagonist succeed in achieving his or her goals?
What is the impact of success, failure, or a surprising outcome on the protagonist?
Step back and consider the arc of the plot from exposition and conflict, through rising
actions and plot complications that lead to a crisis, to the climax and final resolution of the
conflict in the story. WHAT THEME EMERGES from the culmination of events? What’s the
story ABOUT, to your way of thinking? (Note that there are many answers to this question.)
