a helpful guide to writing plot lines for stories

1. The Ever Elusive Plot
• Ever felt frustrated while trying to
begin your story?? Never know where
to start?
• Well in this presentation I hope to
help you solve those big plot
problems. I will be; explaining what a
plot line is, giving helpful tips on how
to come up with one, describing the
basics of plot line writing, and
revealing author tips.
• Just remember the BIG rule of thumb:
never think you CAN’T.

2. A plot/plot line is a literary term referring to the
sequence of events in a story.
According to Aristotle, plot is the most important
element of drama, more so than character. And a
good plot can arouse emotion in the
viewer/reader.
Aristotle also said, a plot must have a beginning, a
middle and an end. The events in the plot also
must relate.

3. The 5 Elements of a Plot
Gustav Freytag was the first to come up with the 5 basic
elements of a plot. He said that plot was a narrative
structure for a story, one in which any good story
should follow.
These 5 elements are:
• Exposition
• Rising action
• Climax
• Falling action
• And resolution

4. The exposition part of the story is
Plot when the reader begins to learn
element: about the characters and setting
of the story. Also the reader
Exposition should be able pick up on the
genre the story is. The most
important goal in the exposition
is making sure the reader gets to
know the main character
(protagonist). The protagonist
should also learn of there goal in
the story. This section ends with
the introduction of conflict.

5. Plot element: Rising action

6. Plot element: Climax

7. Plot element: Falling action
In this part of the story loose ends are being tied up.
However, it is often the time of greatest overall
tension in the story, because it is the phase in which
everything goes most wrong. In most cases this is
when evil seems to triumph over good, and the main
character must have the greatest resolve in this
section.

9. Plot
Outlining
Still feeling a little overwhelmed
about making a plot? While the
five elements are good rules to
stick by, it still isn’t quite enough
to feel like you can just jump into
it. If you can then great, if not
don’t worry.
Next up we will go over how to
successfully outline your plot for
your story. It’s only about an hour
long process, but worth it for a
story that will flow and come
together successfully.

10. The 8 easy steps to making your
outline
• The first element to include in your plot outline is
the Story Goal
• Next is the Consequence, which is the negative
situation or event that will result if the Goal of the
story is not achieved
• The third element is Requirements, which describes
what must be accomplished in order to achieve the
goal of the story
• Forewarnings are the opposite of requirements.
They make the reader anxious that the
consequence will occur before the protagonist can
succeed.

11. The 8 easy steps to making your
outline continued
• A good sign that the problem or goal for your story matters
to the protagonist is that they are willing to make sacrifices
or suffer pain in order to achieve it. Such sacrifices are called
Costs.
• Opposite of cost is Dividends. Dividends are rewards the
characters received during the story, though they are not
required to succeed with the main objective
• Prerequisites are events that must happen in order for the
Requirements to happen. They are an added layer of
challenges to your plot outline
• And the last element is Preconditions, which are small
impediments in the plot. They are stipulations laid down by
certain characters that make it more difficult for the Story
Goal to be achieved.

12. Author quick tips on kicking off a story
Some tips if your still struggling:
• Try writing an action scene that will
be in your book remember you
don’t have to write from start to
finish in order
• Try just starting with the problem
your character will have to solve
• For character develop use what you
see around, base them off people
you know.
• I hope this will help you on your
quest to writing the perfect plot

13. Work cited
Christakos, Caterina. "How to Come Up with Fresh Story
Ideas." How to Come Up with Fresh Story Ideas.
Streetdirectory, 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/10676/w
riting/how_to_come_up_with_fresh_story_ideas.html>.
Rippel, Marie. "Plot Lines." - Reading. Heidi Shelton Jenck,
2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37977.asp>.
Strathy, Glen. "How To Create A Plot Outline In 8 Easy
Steps." Create A Plot Outline In 8 Easy Steps. SBA, 2012.
Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.how-to-write-a-book-
now.com/plot-outline.html>.