Let's have a conversation about plot.
Oct. 14th, 2011 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
delicataleMy lovelies, I have a dilemna. You're probably going to find this pretty stupid, but it stomped me a little and led me to do some research and wonder what you guys think.
I was, as I sometimes do, checking the bookmarks on my AO3 page, see if anyone put in a summary or comments. It's something I'm always curious about. Someone did put a comment on their bookmark of Months and miles from dreams, which made me wonder. It said 'There isn't much in the way of plot', surrounded by lovely things, so it's not like I'm upset, I'm just genuinely curious, because, to you, what does 'plot' represent? Because to me, Months and miles does have a plot, but maybe I'm fooling myself, and character development is not actually considered a plot, and I got it wrong?
So I went on to check a definition a plot in the literary sense, because, well, I need to know, somehow. Because I tend to write character development and this is what I enjoy doing and I'm not going to stop, but I don't think my stories are plotless, either. I found this:
"Plot - the arrangement of ideas and/or incidents that make up a story
Foreshadowing - When the writer clues the reader in to something that will eventually occur in the story; it may be explicit (obvious) or implied (disguised).
Suspense - The tension that the author uses to create a feeling of discomfort about the unknown
Conflict - Struggle between opposing forces.
Exposition - Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.
Rising Action - The process the story follows as it builds to its main conflict
Crisis - A significant turning point in the story that determines how it must end
Resolution/Denouement - The way the story turns out."
So, I don't know. What do you guys think? What does 'plot' mean to you?
I was, as I sometimes do, checking the bookmarks on my AO3 page, see if anyone put in a summary or comments. It's something I'm always curious about. Someone did put a comment on their bookmark of Months and miles from dreams, which made me wonder. It said 'There isn't much in the way of plot', surrounded by lovely things, so it's not like I'm upset, I'm just genuinely curious, because, to you, what does 'plot' represent? Because to me, Months and miles does have a plot, but maybe I'm fooling myself, and character development is not actually considered a plot, and I got it wrong?
So I went on to check a definition a plot in the literary sense, because, well, I need to know, somehow. Because I tend to write character development and this is what I enjoy doing and I'm not going to stop, but I don't think my stories are plotless, either. I found this:
"Plot - the arrangement of ideas and/or incidents that make up a story
Foreshadowing - When the writer clues the reader in to something that will eventually occur in the story; it may be explicit (obvious) or implied (disguised).
Suspense - The tension that the author uses to create a feeling of discomfort about the unknown
Conflict - Struggle between opposing forces.
Exposition - Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.
Rising Action - The process the story follows as it builds to its main conflict
Crisis - A significant turning point in the story that determines how it must end
Resolution/Denouement - The way the story turns out."
So, I don't know. What do you guys think? What does 'plot' mean to you?
