For the Plot exercise, make sure you already have a revised raft of your story completed. It’s important that you get a chance to get down the elements of the story that come to you organically.
Next copy the 22 steps below into your own post, and next to each item, list any element of your story that match these elements. You may only have a subset, but you should probably have al the items in bold at the least.
If your story is missing any bold elements, or those elements are weak, you may want to add or revise them, and then revise your story accordingly–this would be Story 3. If your story is too short, you may be missing a few key elements, so try to think about how to add them . This need not be long and drawn out, a battle can be a few lines long, And some elements overlap.
Use this to craft a stronger and more organic plot for your story.
- Self-revelation, need, and desire
- Ghost and story world
- Weakness and need
- Inciting event
- Desire
- Ally or allies
- Opponent and/ or mystery
- Fake-ally opponent
- First revelation and decision: Changed desire and motive
- Plan
- Opponent’s plan and main counterattack
- Drive
- Attack by ally
- Apparent defeat
- Second revelation and decision: Obsessive drive, changed desire and motive
- Audience revelation
- Third revelation and decision
- Gate, gauntlet, visit to death
- Battle
- Self-revelation
- Moral decision
- New equilibrium
From: Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller (p. 266). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.