Plot Practice: Week 13, Summarize!

The Mood is Write

The Mood is Write

Mom-de-Plume
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  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. Multiple posts per week
Online Availability
It varies wildly.
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Nonbinary
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
I'm open to a wide range of genres. Obscenely wide. It's harder for me to list all I do like than all I don't like.

My favorite settings are fantasy combined with something else, multiverse, post-apoc, historical (mixed with something else), and futuristic. I'm not limited to those, but it's a good start.

My favorite genres include mystery, adventure, action, drama, tragedy (must be mixed with something else and kept balanced), romance (again must be mixed, and more.

I'm happy to include elements of slice-of-life and romance, but doing them on their own doesn't hold my interest indefinitely.
Everyone loves plotting! Plotting is a fabulous way to find new ideas, breathe new life into old ones, and otherwise just have a really good time.

I'm going to throw three basic plots (in various formats) a week, and users are welcome to post their takes and what they'd do with any given plot.

  1. A quest for the Macguffin through uncharted territory.
  2. A romance that explores two different cultures.
  3. A horror with heavy childhood themes.


Below are my examples.

  1. A quest for the Macguffin through uncharted territory.
    [spoili]
    Joseph Ortega hefted his backpack up and onto his back, then looked back at the office manager for the courier corps. "Yeah, I'll find it and deliver it. Got a map?"

    "Not a good one. Best of luck, Ortega."

    Joseph took the map and set out, eager to find the missing pet whose return from Deathspire Canyon would net him wealth enough to retire.
    [/spoili]
  2. A romance that explores two different cultures.
    [spoili]
    K, an American student, stared expressionless at the Japanese man that stood before him. The Japanese native bowed and introduced himself as K's new fiance. K bowed back with a mumbled 'yoroshiku' and then explained with nervous, stammering words that he was not only asexual and aromantic, but knew all he did about Japan because he was into anime.

    The man remained bowed, but explained that his family selected K for a reason, and though he didn't understand it, he wanted to see if they could make it work.

    K agreed to try a relationship, on the condition he was not forced into anything and there was no touching until he initiated it, and the Japanese man agreed and introduced himself, revealing his identity as a member of the Yakuza.
    [/spoili]
  3. A horror with heavy childhood themes.
    [spoili]
    You wake up in a nursery. All around you, toys stare. Outside the door, you can hear breathing.

    As you progress through the house and discover its secrets, you come to realize that one small girl from hundreds of years ago is your only link to escaping alive. You must track her last days spent in the mansion and find out how she got out.
    [/spoili]
 
I've gone back to look at one or two of your other plotting posts.


The goal behind your posts is unclear to me. The examples you provide feel like a writing prompt, and your follow-up feels like a plot hook, or an elevator pitch based on the one-line example you start with.

My method of plotting off a one-line or a hook usually involves some branching decision trees, if it's for a game, that eventually lead to key events I want the players to experience. If it's for writing, I generally would break it down into an outline format (e.g., "I., A., B., II., III., A., B...") and write using the outline as individual one-sentence prompts for each section or sub-section.

As my methods are radically different than yours, I'm ending up failing to get where you're going. Can you ELIF for me, so I understand how to draw plotting advice from your exercises? I'd like to learn a new tool, but this is one I can't yet grasp.
 
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Well, the point is to just take a look at the three prompts and see if they give you ideas and get your mind churning. =)
 
I'm dense, then. Sorry for not grasping it at first.

It's about generating plots, and not plotting as a process.

"Hrm. I wonder where I am. There sure are a lot of trees. What could that possibly mean?"
 
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It is, and don't worry about it. I'm glad you asked!
 
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