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Plot is not something students use often once they get into Junior year (11th grade) of high school. Normally the focus turns to informative, argumentative, and analytical writing once students reach this age and “plot” gets forgotten.

Plot is used in creative writing to help a person make a story that has a beginning, middle, and end. Sadly, creative writing is not taught often in the higher levels and students forget what “plot” is. Remember how the old saying goes, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” As an English teacher I have witnessed students share that they believe plot to be a single thing such as conflict or the main idea in a story. They aren’t entirely wrong but the plot is actually both those things and more.

WHAT is PLOT?

Plot as you may remember looks like the figure below:

This is the most common plot diagram taught in the United States. It contains the following elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. As you can see the plot is much more than simply the conflict and main idea of a story. The plot is essentially the story itself, it’s the skeleton of the story, it’s what holds all the muscles together.

Muscles of a Story (what plot holds together):

1. Characters – the muscles that move the skeleton. Without them, the plot can’t actually “walk.”
2. Conflict – the tension that flexes the muscles, making the story dynamic instead of stiff.
3. Dialogue – the movement that shows how characters interact and react.
4. Emotion – the tone, mood, and feelings that make the “body” of the story alive.
5. Theme – the connective tissue that links everything together, giving purpose to the motion.
6. Imagery & Detail – the texture and definition, like the muscle fibers that make movement vivid.

Here is a short example of how to use PLOT for a story: LION KING

Introduction
Simba is born as the heir to the Pride Lands, loved by his father Mufasa but envied by his uncle Scar.

Rising Action
Scar tricks Simba into believing he caused Mufasa’s death and convinces him to run away. Simba grows up far from home with new friends, Timon and Pumbaa.

Climax
As an adult, Simba returns to the Pride Lands and confronts Scar. The truth about Mufasa’s death is revealed.

Falling Action
Simba and Scar battle. The hyenas, angry at Scar’s betrayal, turn on him.

Resolution
Scar is defeated, Simba reclaims his rightful place as king, and the Pride Lands flourish again.

Interactive Reflection Questions

Here are Interactive Reflection Questions for each section of plot to help guide your thought process when trying to make a story:

• Introduction
  • Who is the main character, and what do they want?
  • What is the setting, and why is it important?
• Rising Action
  • What events make things harder for the character?
  • How does the character change during this stage?
• Climax
  • What is the biggest turning point or most dramatic moment?
  • What’s at stake for the character here?
• Falling Action
  • How does the story begin to resolve after the climax?
  • What loose ends are being tied up?
• Resolution
  • How are things different for the character now compared to the beginning?
  • What lesson or theme might the reader take away?