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Episodic plots work best when the writer wishes to explore the personalities of the characters, the nature of their existence, and the flavor of an era.
A Parallel Plot : The writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a common character and a similar theme. A Flashback : This structure conveys information about events that occurred earlier. It permits authors to begin the story in the midst of the action but later fill in the background for full understanding of the present events. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a story. It is woven subtly into the fabric of the story rather than being lectured or preached by the author.
Short sentences best convey suspense, tension, and swift action. Longer sentences work best when explanations and descriptions are needed. Prose has rhythm just as poetry does.
Its rhythm can be produced by the juxtaposition of sounds, the use of repetition with a slight variation of patterns, and the varied length of sentences. Children prefer a balance between exposition and dialogue. Children especially enjoy dialogue as a realistic and convincing way of defining character.
Incongruity is the foundation of humor. We laugh at the tension resulting from something out of the ordinary. Humor is elusive. Humor tends to be age specific. Humor can be either sympathetic or negative. One prerequisite is that the victim must seem to deserve the fate or the harm must not be critical. A parody is a literary imitation of another piece of literature, usually using exaggeration for comic purpose.
A parody implies a degree of sophistication that deconstructs the original story and depicts the characters from a different perspective. Parodies can demonstrate the vitality of literature and can suggest new ways of interpreting old tales.
Condescending tones are inappropriate for children's stories, placing the adult narrator in a superior position. For examples, a moralizing, didactic, sentimental, or cynical tone is not appreciated in children's literature nowadays. Children's Literature. Method 2. Write a one sentence summary. The Snowflake method is often used to structure novels, but it can be used to structure short stories too.
This method allows you to work through the plot of your story in increments and structure the scenes required for your story in a spreadsheet.
Buy Creating Characters and Plots: Read Books Reviews - giuliettasprint.konfer.eu We're trained to be plot snobs, focused only on character We must learn to fuse plot and character together in order to create a story that feels.
To get started with this method, you will need to come up with a one sentence summary of your story. It should sell your story and highlight the big picture. Try to use 15 words or less and focus on tying a larger theme with character actions. Create a one paragraph summary. Once you have your one line summary, you should expand it to a full paragraph that describes the story set up, the major events, the climax, and the ending of the story.
The idea is that things only get worse and worse for the protagonist until they reach the climax and then the ending or resolution of the story. One sentence should describe the story set up. There should be one sentence for each of the three disasters. Then, one final sentence that describes the ending. But one night Amy disappears under mysterious circumstances and foul play is suspected.
Nick is soon accused of her murder and must defend himself in court. Nick discovers that Amy faked her own murder and is still alive, but determined to put him in prison. Nick confronts Amy and they argue, but ultimately, Amy blackmails Nick into staying in the marriage.
Create character synopses. Once you have your summary, you should focus on fleshing out your characters. Create a storyline for each of your main characters, noting important characteristics like the character's name, the character's motivation, the character's goal, the character's conflict, and the character's epiphany. Each character's storyline should be about one paragraph long. You will likely go back and tweak them later or deviate from them when you start writing scenes of the novel. But at least the synopses will help you get a better sense of your characters and where they fit within your story.
He has been married to Amy for ten years and views her as his golden bride, his ideal wife and partner. He struggles with his lack of employment, especially because Amy comes from a wealthy family and has recently inherited a large sum of money. He believes he needs to be the provider in the marriage and is threatened by Amy's financial independence and success in her career. When Amy disappears, he is conflicted by his need to find her and his unhappiness in his marriage to her. He eventually realizes that Amy has set him up and is trying to frame him for her disappearance.
Make a spreadsheet of scenes. Once you have written character synopses for each of your main characters and have your one paragraph summary, you should try to expand your summary into scenes using your characters. The list of scenes will help you get a better sense of the overall plot of the story.
Use a spreadsheet program to organize the scenes, as this will make it easy to write out each scene in order. Depending on how long your story is, you may have 50 scenes or over scenes. Create two columns in the spreadsheet, one for the POV character in the scene and another column to explain briefly what happens in the scene. Then, list the scenes one by one, using your summary as a guide.
POV character: Nick. What happens: Nick comes home for a long night working at the bar and finds the front door has been kicked open. He also finds a pool of blood in the hallway and signs of a struggle in the living room, with turned over chairs and scratches on the walls.
He searches the rest of the house but finds no sign of Amy. You should then have an outline of your plot and a list of scenes that correspond to your plot. This should make it easier to then put the scenes together and form a cohesive story.
Method 3. Divide the outline into three acts. To create a plot outline for a text that you were assigned in a class, not an original text, divide your outline into three acts. Most novels and books can be broken down using the three act structure. Plot outlines are usually one to two pages long, depending on the length of the book. Aim to be concise and focus on the key points of the plot. Summarize the opening scene and the inciting incident. Start Act 1 by describing the opening scene of the book. The opening scene will often establish the characters and the setting.
The protagonist of the book is usually in the opening scene as well. Keep the summary short, about words.
Note the key details of the opening scene, including the names of the characters, any physical details or personality traits mentioned, and the setting. The inciting incident may also lead to the main conflict in the novel. For example, in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird , the inciting incident of the book occurs when Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman.
Describe the main problem or conflict. The final section of Act 1 will focus on the main problem or conflict in the novel. The main problem or conflict will be the biggest obstacle the protagonist has to deal with or face. It will raise the stakes of the story and cause the protagonist to make a decision or act in a certain way. The inciting incident usually feeds into the main problem or conflict. Summarize the major disaster or climax. Act 2 will usually build up to the major disaster or climax of the novel. You may note several smaller incidents that occur as rising action, leading up to the climax.
Though Tom Robinson is acquitted of the charges, the white woman's father, Bob Ewell, still seeks revenge against Atticus. The climax of the novel occurs when Ewell attacks Jem and Scout.