The Plot Machine Read online

  What Do We Have?

  EPIC STORIES OFTEN start with a setting, one that may exist in great detail in the writer’s mind. The setting could be geographical, institutional, or historical.

  Much of the entertainment value comes in the exploration of this setting. That implies a quest to new lands filled with scenery, action, and thrills.

  The scope of such stories could be vast, spanning great stretches of time and geography. If the goal is to explore the far reaches of this realm, then we must have a story that takes the audience hither and yon. This will likely involve several protagonists from different corners of the region.

  What we don’t have is a threat or desire that serves as the spine for this exploration. As scale is part of our entertainment value, we need a premise that is BIG.

  What is the Goal?

  THIS COULD BE A treasure story, with a hero or heroes on a journey to obtain riches. Treasure stories rarely involve the masses, however, and we want a sprawling story. Threat stories can involve every citizen of a realm. The general goal is safety and the restoration of peace and stability.

  To design the goal, we need to design the threat. One dragon attacking a village isn’t enough. We want a story that explores the social and political make-up of the whole land. Perhaps the King has died without an heir, throwing the realm into civil war. Perhaps a terrible evil has arisen that can only be defeated by the collaboration of a disparate group of unlikely warriors. The specific goal could start modestly.

  Let’s say our heroes want to spread the word that an invading army is poised to attack.

  What is the Endeavor?

  AS THIS IS A quest, the design of our endeavor revolves around the destination and the obstacles in the way. Our hero’s want to raise the alarm so the local army can defeat the invaders. This local army could be several obstacles away. The obstacles could be features of the landscape such as mountains, rivers, and chasms. They could be man-made in the form of traitors and spies.

  What is the Framework of Act II?

  SPRAWLING STORIES TYPICALLY involve a group of heroes, each with their own personal goals and back stories. It can be helpful to establish subordinate goals and design the major turning points of the story.

  The second act will likely begin with a primary hero embarking on the sensible goal of raising the alarm. The fun and games section of the story could involve the introduction of allies and surviving various obstacles.

  A mid-point reversal can mark the end of the initial goal and beginning of a new one. Perhaps our heroes deliver the warning, but it falls on deaf or traitorous ears. This could motivate the heroes to carry their warning on to others, or to engage in alternatives such as building defenses or fleeing to safety. These shifting goals should become increasingly difficult and dangerous.

  The quest may only be part of the larger tapestry. An epic narrative can jump around from one location and story line to another, all linked by the mounting evil and the heroes’ attempts to stop it. Each hero’s story line could be plotted separately then shuffled together. Don’t forget the villain. He or she has a master plan and is moving pieces on their game-board. These moves may serve to spark the heroes’ reaction.

  Who is the Hero?

  EPIC STORIES TYPICALLY involve several heroes and perhaps several villains. The protagonists want to fend off the invasion and restore peace. The antagonists want to upset the current power structure for their own gain.

  Each character has their own back-story, flaw, strengths and story-arc. Each should serve to explore a different aspect of the realm. The heroes could be equally weighted or there may be one or two—often a mentor and novice—that are more prominent.

  Epic stories often require people from different backgrounds to work together. This collaboration supports themes of shared sacrifice and looking beyond your own tribe. Each character should embodied a positive or negative aspect of this thematic terrain.

  What is the Death Moment?

  CLEARLY, THE HEROES fail in their attempt to raise the defending army. Either they could not deliver their message, it was ignored, or the resulting preparations are too little too late. The death moment could mark not only their failure, but the villain’s apparent success as the invasion begins. Given that there are several protagonists and antagonists, each story line should be designed and arranged so the various death moments occur in close proximity to one another.

  What is the Climax?

  THINGS ARE BLEAK FOR the heroes. They may have sustained losses and are gasping for breath. The weaker among them flee and beg the others to follow.

  A new plan is needed, something to snatch victory from defeat. The heroes must embark on an even bolder endeavor. They initially wanted to merely warn others, but now must engage in battle themselves.

  The writer’s task is to design a sequence that connects the events of Act II with a plausible new plan for Act III. Perhaps the hero’s have learned about a weakness in the villain’s army or plan of attack. Maybe they know what sort of weaponry or tactics will work effectively. For example, they could know the invaders are marching through a narrow mountain chasm and plan to start an avalanche that will block the way.

  This plan should relate to the dominant themes of the story, such as the benefits of collaboration and steadfastness in the face of great odds. The skills and self-awareness each hero picks up along the way aids them in their victory.

  What is the Shape of Act I?

  WE WANT TO SEE EACH hero’s normal world. We want to care about it and its survival. The writer can indulge their imagination with creative scenic detail. The introduction of the army presents an obvious inciting incident.

  Often epic stories have a slow-burn quality to their first act. The intrigue by the villain is subtle and slow to manifest. Heroes may respond tentatively and in half-measures, coping to sustain their normal existence, rather than risking everything on a desperate journey.

  Don’t forget the villain. Their actions likely spark the inciting incident and send the heroes on their adventure.

  PART SIX

  Writing

  Design and Writing

  This is a design guide, not a writing guide, but the end labor of any design hovers over the entire process. Architects know their plans will eventually be built. Cement will be poured. Steel will be welded. Wood timbers will be nailed together. Their marks on paper will become a physical thing that people will inhabit.

  Likewise, writers should be aware of writing and marketing their stories even as they design them. External factors can exert a heavy influence on design. Our creative muse is weighted by practical considerations of audience expectations, deadlines, and market forces.

  Even independently published writers, unbeholden to any publisher’s schedule or editor’s scrutiny, should consider the meta-issues of story design. Do you have time to write an epic novel? Will your established readers migrate to a new series? Should you write shorter works to generate more titles faster? What is the competition doing?

  Design is inevitably wrapped up in writing and marketing. Fortunately, solid design skills can help with these larger issues. Writers may be especially well-suited to view a process from every possible angle. After all, our art is the process of taking events and arranging them into meaningful sequences.

  As you design keep the following external issues in the back of your mind.

  Writing Style

  EVERY WRITER HAS A unique voice and style. How you write should be lurking in the back of your mind as you design a story. Perhaps you are a master at poetic description. Allow room for that in your design. Maybe you’re great at character and lively dialogue. Make room for that as well.

  Just as every writer brings something unique to their telling, every story can present different challenges. An epic tale would probably utilize a third-person narrator, but a gritty crime story may be told in first-person. Some narrators are objective while others have sharp personalities and biased agendas. As you design,
keep in mind who will be telling your story.

  Just as important is how the story will be told. Is your narrator reflecting on historic events, or describing an adventure as it happens? Will your story be told in a linear sequence, or will the narrative skip around in time, location, and perspective? A well-designed story can be told in a number of ways.

  Who is your Audience?

  WE WRITE TO BE READ. Who is doing that reading? Knowing your customer is perhaps the most important external factor of design. I use the word customer with some hesitation. We like to call the people who read our work readers or fans and take the commerce out of the equation entirely. But they are also customers who will not only invest their time in your story, but their money as well.

  Writing for the market is as frowned upon as the over-reliance on structure. Authors are supposed to exist on a higher plane of creativity, and any commercial quality of their work is an unintended and surprising coincidence. At least that is the image favored by traditional publishers and creative writing programs.

  The reality is we have to eat just like everyone else. And a new car every few years is a nice thing. To that end, keep your customers in mind. This is easier than ever with a vibrant presence on the internet. Work to find the balance between what you love to write and what a good number of readers love to read.

  Genre or Literary?

  HUMAN BEINGS ARE HABITUAL organizers. When you tell someone you’re a writer, they will immediately ask, “What do you write?” They want to know your genre. Crime? Romance? Science Fiction? Children’s? Of course, writers are just as guilty of asking readers, “What do you read?”

  The rise of online sales has resulted in an increasingly sub-divided marketplace. Entire new genres such as Young Adult and Steamy Romance have been carved out of the literary firmament. There doesn’t seem to be an end to the micro-categories a novel can be assigned to. Much of this is practical. Retailers need a means to organize the millions of novels being uploaded every year and readers need a system to locate other works similar to the story they just enjoyed.

  As you design your story, keep in mind the process by which is will be filed, sorted, and labeled. Some authors take advantage of this by intentionally writing for obscure or trending categories. Others are stymied by a process that has no place for their genre-bending work. Either way, be aware of the categories in which your work will be placed.

  Solo or Series?

  OUR PERSONAL-MEDIA world has forever changed the process of marketing books, movies, and television. There is no easy way to reach an audience that no longer reads the same newspapers or watches the same handful of TV networks.

  Just as novels have been categorized, the audience for them has been fractured and sub-divided. Publishers, movie studios, and television networks all recognize that marketing to such a diffuse audience is expensive. The preferred solution is to create franchise entertainment where one movie or novel leads to another and another.

  Independent authors have also adopted this practice. Building an audience for a series is easier than marketing solo works. This is not to say that writers should abandon the solo novel, just that they should be aware of the marketing challenges inherent to one-off titles.

  Marketing

  DID I MENTION WRITERS have to eat? We do. And more than just macaroni and cheese. This means selling our work and that means marketing. Again this touches upon the crass world of commerce. In an ideal world, a writer’s unique voice finds a suitable audience and both live happily every after. And that audience need not be large. Ten thousand readers paying five-bucks a year for your latest novel isn’t a bad income. People have lived on a lot less.

  Building that audience may take time. It may also take a consistent product, either a series involving the same heroes and setting, or solo works within the same genre. Marketing also requires obvious things like a compelling title and cover art. As you design your story, keep an eye out for a logical title that sparks the imagination. Look for a compelling visual that distills the essential conflict of your story. In the movie business, this is called the poster image. Often this is the hero engaged in the fun-and-games portion of the story.

  Final Thoughts

  WE LIVE STORIES. EVERY new day presents a new set of goals, the endeavors to reach them, and the obstacles that stand in our way. My own endeavor of writing this guide was to reach a specific goal: a process to design better stories faster.

  At some point a writer must stop designing and start writing. Every writer will mark this transition differently. Some will take the main sweeps of a story and dive into prose. Others will create beat-sheets outlining each chapter and scene.

  The transition need not be definite or permanent. If outlining sparks a compelling scene, go ahead and sketch it out. If the writing isn’t going well, check your outline and see if it needs adjusting.

  Hopefully, the process of designing from general to specific and asking the right questions in the right order will result in more efficient writing and less writer’s block. There should be no further need to stare at the blank page or computer screen, waiting for lightning to strike.

  Designing a story is simply a process of gathering elements and arranging them in sequences. Part of writing is collecting the elements and sequences we see in the world around us. Newspaper and magazine articles are good sources of goals and endeavors. As you watch movies and television shows, make a conscious effort to identify the framework and sequences the screenwriter has created.

  Make lists of elements. Study them. Develop the mental muscles needed to arrange parts and customize their connections to other parts. Think in sequence. Start with Act II.

  Good luck.

  Now start designing.

  The Plot Machine

  From Blank Page...

  What do you have?

  What are natural extensions?

  What is the Entertainment Value?

  Consider Scale, Tone, and Theme.

  Identify the General Goal.

  Experiment with different Endeavors.

  Experiment with Act II Framework.

  Obstacles or Sub-Goals?

  Do you need a Midpoint Reversal?

  What is the Death Moment?

  Design a Hero to fit these Elements.

  Identify their strengths and flaws.

  Design the Failure to Success Sequence.

  Design the World to Endeavor Sequence.

  Break the hero’s Growth Arc into steps.

  Link these steps to the Endeavor.

  Design the hero’s Normal World.

  Link hero’s Flaw to their Circumstances.

  Link Circumstances to Need.

  Link Need to Goal with Inciting Incident.

  Link Goal to Endeavor.

  ...to Story

  Classic Story Structure

  ACT I

  Hero’s World

  Strengths and Flaw

  Hero’s Need

  Logical Solutions

  The Inciting Incident

  Rejecting the Endeavor

  Added Pressure

  ACT TWO

  Begin the Endeavor

  Fun and Games

  Shifting Goals

  Allies and Obstacles

  Mid Point Reversal

  Complications and Set-Backs

  Death Moment

  ACT III

  Catharsis and Resurrection

  A New Plan

  Race to the Climax

  The Climax

  Denouement

  About the Author

  Dale Kutzera worked as a screenwriter for over ten years. He is a recipient of the Carl Sautter Screenwriting Award, the Environmental Media Award, and participated in the Warner Brothers Writers Workshop. He writes about writing and filmmaking at DaleKutzera.com.

  His novels include the crime novel Manhunt and the middle-grade adventure Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds.

  If you enjoyed The Plot Machine please tell your friends and po
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  Did you love The Plot Machine? Then you should read Bio Adversity by Dale Kutzera!

  "It's X-Files with a medical twist."Fans of Michael Crichton and William Gibson will love this techno-thriller.Taylor Foss, an investigator with the CDC's Special Pathogens Division, is sent to a small northern town to investigate a bizarre case of birth defects. There she uncovers a plot to change human genetics forever. This break-neck page-turner is packed with action, plot-twists, and compelling ideas based on technology in use right now.

  Also by Dale Kutzera

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  The Plot Machine Box Set

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