The Relationship Between Story and Plot
Thy name is plot
Looking back on the second month of story production, there is one thing that seems to be an important process but is missing. “Plot creation” I feel that this “plot” is like a mid-boss standing in the way when creating stories in modern Japan. Since I am not well-versed in overseas circumstances, I will limit this to Japan.
When you seriously engage in creative work after becoming an adult, there are many times when you are grateful that what you learned in elementary, junior high, and high school was by no means foolish.
Beyond just basic grammar in Japanese, the way of thinking behind simultaneous equations sometimes comes in handy when drawing up a story. It goes without saying for science and social studies as well. You mobilize all your knowledge to build a story.
However, there is a character unique to story production that makes you stop and wonder, “What is this?” and that is “plot.” I don’t remember learning it in school. Maybe I just forgot. It must have had a faint presence.
Story and plot are treated as a set, to the point where they might be lifelong companions. Despite that, when enjoying a work as a reader, you never feel like “the plot is...”, and even though you are not a critic, if you say things like “the plot is this and that,” you are thought of as an insufferable person. Even if you look up the synopsis of a work on Wikipedia, I have never seen an item called “plot.” The moment it is established as a work, the plot hides away. However, the moment you declare yourself a creator, you suddenly encounter a “plot.” It is truly a “A plot has appeared!👾” state.
Is plot something you “make”?
When researching how to write novels on the internet, you are told to “make a plot” at a relatively early stage. “Plot” appears to play the role of a box into which fragments of a story are fitted.
Even when reading Robert McKee’s “Story,” the word “plot” is used frequently. However, the concept of “working on it as a task” seems thin.
What you create are more subdivided parts like “beats,” “scenes,” “inciting incidents,” “dialogue,” and “characters,” and it is not “plot” that brings them together.
What harmonizes a story is “controlling idea (theme),” a single sentence that conveys the intention of the story without omission. The controlling idea is the core of important storytelling, but even that does not need to be decided from the beginning. It is something that the author explores and discovers while writing.
Plot is, if anything, something that can be perceived as a signpost for the author and production team to scrutinize whether the assembled story is what it should be, or if the plot is acceptable to the reader.
At some point in production, there is a need for a time to share the story with an editor in charge, an advisor, or a planning team. The plot exists as a common language when presenting the story to outsiders, and I do not believe that an author who intends to create based on free will needs to be dragged around by a plot as a framework.
On the other hand, I know that “plot creation” as a work process certainly exists in the world of screenwriting. I think there must be some different world line that exists.
What is plot?
My current relationship with plot is that it is neither a work process nor a technique. Just as a character is not necessarily unable to be established if their resume is not filled out, I do not think a story cannot be made if a plot is not assembled.
Even so, the fact that “plot” itself is important remains unchanged.
According to Mr. McKee’s book, plot appears with the following terms.
Archplot
Miniplot
Anti-plot
Non-plot
These each refer to a type of story structure.
Archplot
Also known as classical design. It can be said that this is the quintessential plot type used in storytelling. The story progresses through an active protagonist, external antagonistic forces, and a chronologically consistent, continuous narrative.
I sometimes think that what is generally called "creating a plot" is just another way of saying "constructing a story by fitting it into an archplot." That is how fundamental it is to all stories.
Miniplot
This is a type that aims for the minimalism of the archplot. It is a method of paring down the elements of classical design, yet it still retains the form of a story that the reader (or audience) can fundamentally perceive as beautiful.
Anti-plot
This is a story type that resists classical elements. It tends toward flashy and exaggerated expression. Fellini's "8 1/2" and "The Clowns" are said to fall into this category.
Non-plot
While the three types above involve life moving to varying degrees, in non-plot, the life depicted in the story ends in a state of stagnation.
In addition to these,
Main plot: The central narrative
Subplot: One or more stories that run parallel to the main plot. Subplots also have "acts," but they do not need to align with the "acts" of the main plot.
A story can be compared to architecture, but it is not a building.
There is no doubt that plot is one of the magnificent intellectual achievements refined throughout the history of human storytelling, but it is not the essence of creation.
Even at nearly forty, having thrown away my social life to say "I want to create stories," I should not be a tool drafted to reinforce theories created by humans, even if I were a sage.
To "want to create stories" and to "love stories" means not only that I have spent decades reading books, reading manga, and watching movies, but also that I have a life of my own that I have built alongside them.
I have chosen an adventure where I break down the elements that make up a story—inciting incidents, dilemmas, characters, dialogue, climaxes—and scatter into each of them a metaphor for life that I believe to be the truth so that when they all come together, I can create it with a feeling that is nothing more than a prayer, hoping that the story will begin to sing.
A story is not finished once it is written; after finishing the draft, the process of revision continues endlessly. In that process, I believe the concept of plot is utilized as a focal point for organizing your work—comparing it against the 'mold' of the plot you are aiming for, thinking things like 'maybe I should build this part up a bit more,' 'maybe I should tone this down,' or 'maybe I should differentiate the main plot and subplots more so the reader doesn't get confused.'
Even after a story is built, it is something that can be added to or subtracted from, and what creates the backbone that keeps it from collapsing feels like it enters the realm of 'conviction,' 'obsession,' 'experience,' or even 'prayer.'
Of course, rather than writing blindly and failing or being unable to continue writing, I think you should rely on frameworks or whatever else is available. However, I do think it is better to understand why those frameworks exist.
<Announcement>
The release of the manga 'Eschatologia' will begin on Thursday, August 8, 2024, at 8:00 AM.
▼ The synopsis and main character settings have been posted.
▼ The magazine has been released.
I have compiled all the efforts made by an ordinary woman in her late thirties to complete a 350,000-character story into this magazine. If you find it even slightly interesting, I would be happy if you could 'like' and follow.