Unfortunately, having thousands of ideas and dozens of pictures in your mind is not enough to develop a compelling story. Creative writing can also be structured, even though it might sound contradicting.
So, you have an idea, but how do you assemble an emotionally resonant narrative that will speak directly to the readers and captivate their attention? Should you just start writing, or is there an additional step? Here's where a plot diagram comes into place.
A plot diagram helps you follow the story arc and create a compelling narrative with a strong plot. In this article, you will learn what a plot diagram is, follow the essential plot elements, and discover how to create a plot diagram.
The Definition of a Plot Diagram
A plot diagram can be defined as a visual representation of the story, including its structure and other essential components that aid both writers and readers in comprehending the narrative arc. To put it simply, it helps navigate and track the main events within the story.
It might also be hard to differentiate the plot and the story. Though this topic keeps being highly debatable, there is a general and easiest way. The story (the what) includes the main actions, while the plot (the how) provides a logical connection between the actions.
So, how does the plot diagram work? Essentially, it serves as the backbone of the story. It outlines details of the literary work like:
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main characters
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necessary context
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the setting of the story
A plot diagram represents a linear graphic that illustrates the narrative arc of the story's progression. A high-quality plot diagram with a lot of details can become an invaluable tool for writers as well as readers since it visualizes the main story element.
Such a graphic organizer is an irreplaceable tool to remember how the story progresses throughout the writing process. The basic structure of the line plot diagram is divided into three major segments: beginning, model, and end. Within these segments, the main story elements are spread: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
Key Elements of Plot Diagrams
Outlining a story map is essential to help writers and students understand the entire narrative, which keeps readers engaged with a quality story structure. As we already mentioned, the main plot of every story arc includes exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Let's break down each plot element.
1. Exposition
Expositing is the starting point of the linear diagram that serves as an introduction to the general story arc. In this part, the author provides all the necessary information to understand the central conflict.
The introductory details provided in the exposition usually include the names of the main and supporting characters, the setting, and the general mood of the story. The writers and students learn to include time and place descriptions as well.
2. Conflict (Inciting incident)
Conflict is a plot element that introduces the key issue that is going to enforce story development. There, an event occurs that leads to inevitable conflict. Based on the type of the story, it can also be called an inciting incident or an inciting moment since the goal is established as something the main character should achieve.
In a more common story structure, the main conflict is put at the center as something the main character should resolve or as a roadblock the protagonist must overcome. Exposition and Conflict are both parts of the beginning.
3. Rising Action
The rising action is usually the lingering part of the narrative arc. This is the part where the story rises, and the main character tries to resolve the main conflict, setting the stage for exciting events in the climax.
The rising action is the part with the most intricacies on the character's journey that adds depth to the story. At the same time, not everything should be connected to the main problem.
There, the writer can explore themes of the story, resolve and set up more subplots, and provide additional character development. This is used in creative writing to foreshadow future events and improve the involvement of the character arcs.
4. Climax (Turning Point)
The rising action leads to the culmination part, which is called the climax or turning point. This is the plot structure element with the highest tension.
The turning point in the story or the goals can be achieved in several ways. The main character can resolve the main conflict, overcome the roadblock, or have a significant revelation.
Additionally, the resolution might not always be in the hero's favor. Several sacrifices can be made, and some characters might even die to keep the stakes high.
Sublots and other character arcs are getting a resolution along with the main issue. The turning point usually has a visual representation as a pick of Freytag's pyramid.
5. Falling Action
When the rising action is the longest part of the act structure, the falling action is a much shorter phase. However, the length of this part can differ from one story to another.
Surely, when the climax passes, the story continues. The falling action is the part where you provide the closure that leads to a satisfying conclusion of the plot. This is where the characters are trying to adjust to the new reality to fit in the new narrative.
6. Resolution
Resolution is the final part of the plot diagram that leaves the most impression on the people. It might not always be a common 'happy ending', leaving readers with questions, making them confused or frustrated. It's all up to the writer.
Resolution ties all story elements and plotlines into the story's conclusion. The goal is to make sure the story reaches the final points, leaving no loose ends and plot holes.
Why Should You Create a Plot Diagram?
Creating a plot diagram has numerous purposes for both writers and students. There is a reason why it is often a part of the English language arts classes.
A Plot Diagram for English Language Arts Students
When it comes to students, a plot diagram is one of the effective tools that help them learn about plot structure and improve their analytical skills, creative and critical thinking, and comprehension of the written piece. By having such additional understanding, students understand the narrative better and engage more by applying learned knowledge.
The skills allow them to compare different pieces, make predictions, and improve their own writing. They learn to outline the ideas in a logical flow, keeping all important elements in mind when creating a short story as part of the assignment.
Why Do Writers Use a Plot Diagram?
The writers can benefit from a plot diagram as well. If you want to create an engaging piece that will meet readers' expectations and stay focused on the piece you are creating, this graphic organizer can help.
An author's block can happen to anyone. If you feel stuck in your writing, not knowing what the next step is, a plot diagram will help you get back on track. An outlined plot structure serves as a reminder of what you want to create.
Another reason to construct a plot diagram - is the final plot quality. You can create incredible characters that exist in an engaging setting, yet without the plot that stitches everything together, the story can not exist. Writers must keep track of all main plotlines and subplots, characters' journeys, interconnections, and established setting roles and complete the story without any loose ends. A plot diagram serves as a new, easy tool for constructing a quality story.
Storytelling Structure Types
While Freytag's pyramid keeps being the most popular type of structure for a plot diagram, there are plenty of other options you can use to better outline the key features of your piece. Let's look into some other structures that can boost your creative process.
Three-Act Structure
Everyone is familiar with the fact that stories have a beginning, middle, and end. The three-act structure uses this as a base for creating a linear plot diagram.
The diagram has more middle picks than the usual one main pick on Freytag's pyramid. It reflects how the story progresses based on the action distribution: Act 1 and Act 3 both take 25% of the story, while the second Act - is 50%.
Five-Act Structure
When developing the pyramid, Freytag was actually considering the five-act structure. It is very similar to the commonly used one, with a few differences.
Such plot beats structure was developed to write strategies to add more diversity to the general publishing amount. The public became more captivated since there was no guarantee of a happy end and got more engaged with the story and characters.
The structure became even more popular once the editor started using it from the Shakespeare plays. Nowadays, it has also become popular among TV series.
The plot diagram structure includes the following acts:
- Introduction. Includes both the exposition and conflict (inciting incident).
- Rising action. Reflects the progression towards the climax.
- Climax. A story point that changes the trajectory of the story.
- Falling action. The series of actions leading to a satisfying conclusion, whether it's a happy ending or a catastrophe.
- Catastrophe. The final story point that ties all storylines together.
Fichtean Curve
The Fichtean curve is another plot diagram you can use. This graphic organizer resembles a sequence of waves followed by the falling line, resembling a fin of a fish.
This plot diagram is commonly used for stories with rapid pacing. These include murder mysteries, detective stories, and thrillers.
The structure includes the following acts:
- Inciting incident. The main action starts the story.
- Rising action. In this plot diagram it is presented as a series of crises.
- Climax.
- Falling action.
The Hero's Journey
The hero's journey pattern was discovered by the American author Joseph Campbell. When studying the mythology of different cultures, he developed this monomyth to reflect the way the stories are told from one culture to another.
With the growing number of movies and TV series, this pattern became even more popular. It is drawn as a circle that reflects how the main character travels from the known, familiar setting to the unknown one, gaining the character's growth and transformation and then returning to the known world.
The plot diagram of the hero's journey includes the next acts:
- The call to adventure. The action, an object, or another plot thread acts as a reason to start the quest to the unknown world.
- Meeting a mentor. A higher figure, usually magical or supernatural, aids in starting the quest.
- The threshold. The crossing point between the known and unknown worlds.
- Challenges. The main character faces roadblocks, enemies, and other challenges that are trying to make him fail the quest.
- Revelation. The character gets a revelation or experiences rebirth.
- Transformation. After the revelation, the protagonist obtains new character traits.
- Return. The final part is where the hero returns to the familiar setting, with new knowledge changing the world.
Non-linear Plot Structure
A short story is much easier to print in a linear manner. However, for some stories that have numerous timelines and perspectives, not even time jumps or a depiction of a particular action, a linear plot diagram is no use.
Such structures are limited only by the writer's imagination. They are harder to illustrate, but they can help structure your story better than a linear option.
Storyboards
This graphic organizer is completely different from the previous plot diagram options. There is no graphic or familiar exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, or resolution depicted on the chart.
Storyboards are widely used in the cinematic industry to represent the scenes, yet they can also be applied to written pieces. Outline several boxes on a piece of paper or software - this will represent the story beats.
Each of the boxes can also represent each chapter or any other point of the story you want to depict. The next step is to draw a picture inside the box that will serve as a visual reference when writing a story.
Steз-by-Step on How to Create Your Own Plot Diagram
By now, you should be already familiar with each plot element or plot diagram, as well as the most common structures. At your hand, you have everything to create a captivating plot that will keep your readers engaged.
In this part of the article, we will walk you through creating the simplest plot diagram that is based on Freytag's pyramid, though the guide is applicable to any other plot diagram. We have mentioned it several times since it is a simple way to organize your plot by using a triangle. It was created by the German writer Gustav Freytag, who described the method.
There is no need to follow the guide to the core since every story and every writing process is different. You can always adjust any details to create a plot diagram that suits you.
Step 1. Choose a Story Idea
Deciding what to write about is probably the hardest part, well, except for the writing itself. Coming up with something worth hours of work or even choosing the idea from dozens of others you have in your mind is hard. However, at the same time, this is the most creative part, where you can completely rely on your imagination and go wild with everything you can possibly think of.
Look into various tactics that can be used to generate captivating ideas. These include brainstorming, mind mapping, or looking for inspiration somewhere outside.
At this step, you must also decide on what you are going to create. It is going to be a short story, adventure novel, or something completely different. Something might change along the way, and there is nothing bad with such a scenario, so be adjustable to unplanned modifications.
Step 2. Outline the Storyline
When creating a plot diagram based on Freytag's pyramid, start by either taking a sheet of paper or opening a new list using any charting software you are using. Since many structures still have a common beginning, middle, and end (which can also act like in an act structure), it can also be useful to divide the list with vertical lines into three separate sections.
- The diagram starts with a short horizontal line that ends almost in the middle of the first section.
- Next, from the end of the first line, start drawing a second line upward. It should end close to the border between the second and the third section.
- Draw the line downward until the middle of the third section.
- Add a short horizontal line.
The final result should resemble a pyramid. However, if you are using a hero's journey, Fichtean Curve, or another structure, the base will be different, for example, a circle.
Step 3. Add Plot Beats Tags
After you have outlined the bases, it's time to add all the plot beats: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Make sure that the lines drawn in step 2 are long enough to add all the necessary labels. Especially consider the length of the rising line and the amount of space you leave around the climax.
The beats should be placed as follows:
- Exposition - above the first horizontal line.
- Conflict - above the lower part of the rising line or intersection between the first 2 lines.
- Rising action - above higher the rising line that goes through the second section.
- Climax - the top of the pyramid where the rising line connects with the falling one.
- Falling action - middle of the third line.
- Resolution - above the final horizontal line.
Step 4. Add Main Events You Are Aware Of
Now it's time to go back to step one and all your notes on the idea you have chosen. Get all the plot details you have written and tie them to the created diagram.
Surely, the initial ideas do not have all the details, and there could be holes. The plot diagram can also tie everything you have together by helping you generate ideas that will suit the progression.
Step 5. Work on the Gaps and Plot Holes
In this step, you have to add a short description of the main point you have outlined previously. Create a one-sentence limit per description. It should be concise but provide all the necessary information to get the entire picture.
If you want to make more notes or add longer descriptions, you can always do this separately. However, it is better not to overload the graph. This way, you will be able to correctly distribute the actions and events throughout the storyline. With that said, the information on the plot diagram should provide enough context to tell the complete story.
Step 6. More Details!
At this step, you can finally use the plot diagram. Here, you start working on all the additional details that will help you complete the story. These include adding such information as:
- Setting - the where and when of the story. Make sure that there are specific rules that must be followed to make this world work.
- Protagonist - the main character or characters who are the main focus of the story and through whose eyes the readers experience the story.
- Antagonist - a character or a set of characters who are trying, whether successfully or unsuccessfully, to prevent the protagonist from reaching the goal.
- Conflict - the plot point that gets the story into action.
- Subplots - additional plots that are not as grand as the main plot and do not overshadow it. These are necessary for deeper character and world development.
- Themes - what are you trying to say with your story? Surely, it can be just a retelling of the event. However, no one will be interested in such a piece. Is it a story about eternal love? Friendship? Environmental issues? It's all up to you to determine.
Try to have some fun and let the characters and their decision take the story in separate directions. You should not restrict yourself to one specific set of character traits. Flat characters and predictable stories are not something the majority would like to devote their time to.
Step 7. And the Writing Begins
A plot diagram is simply a tool. A very useful and necessary one, but still a tool. Once you have completed it, the writing begins. Deciding whether it's time to start writing is completely up to you. This does not mean that you should keep wondering about the ideas without any action, but you should gather all your thoughts and just dive into the process when you are ready.
If, along the way, you decide that there is another way the story should go, then so be it. Your plot diagram is there to navigate you and assist in remembering all the main details of your story, and some adjustments can benefit your story in a way you never even thought of.
Conclusion
Creating a story that will capture the reader and leave a long-lasting impression is a goal of any writer. However, organizing all your thoughts and ideas can be very difficult.
A plot diagram is a simple tool that can assist many people not only when creating their own written pieces but also when consuming other media. So, grab a pen, your list of ideas, and start creating!
