PRIEST: Novelist | Powerful Plots

The PLOT WEAVER

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

-- George Orwell, Politics and the English Language

Okay, foxes and hounds, here's where you get to play with the pernicious and perplexing perquisites of Powerful Plots! Alliteration aside, the primary focus of the Plot Weaver is building a skeleton of your narrative bone by bone, all the while analyzing the purpose of each bone and its relationship to every other bone. In short, each part of the body serves a purpose. Knowing what each part does allows you complete mastery (or, at the very least, an understanding) of the body.

This form is based on the premise that each event is a result of a previous event and a cause for another event. A story is merely a sequence of events, but a Plot focuses on causation. One thing leads to another. This Weaver threads these plot points together into a cohesive, consistent chronology.

Okay, now I'm just running the alliterative prose into the ground, aren't I?

PLOT WEAVER

Using the Plot Weaver, you'll name your Chapters and Scenes. Don't worry none -- you never need to use them outside of the Weaver. Each Title should briefly describe what the Chapter or Scene will be about. This way, you only need to glance at the title to get an idea of what do do with that scene or chapter. Under each title, there's a place to put your Comments. In this area, you should place little reminders, references to theme and continuity, and other nifty tidbits of info you might need accessible as you work on those scenes.

Under the Comments section is another text area for describing the Purpose of a scene or chapter. It forces you to think how the scene or chapter actually serves your story. This is where you remind yourself what you're trying to say -- what is implied by the scene. If the scene is simply an obligatory action scene, you'll know this at a glance. If there is deeper meaning to it, you'll know this at a glance as well. Remember that Plots focus on causation -- X leads to Y. If this scene supports an implication in an earlier scene, or will have a profound effect on a succeeding scene, mark this down as its Purpose as well.

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