Plot Elements

A plot's not anything but a sequence of events. And every story has a plot, because a story without a plot is like a fish out of water! Or like pancakes without syrup. Or like a shoe without some laces! You wouldn't wear a shoe without laces, would you? Would you?

You got a story to tell? You better have a plot!
If it doesn't, am I listening? Um, no I'm not…
First introduce the conflict and characters,
Then the action rises, it may get scarier.
The climax is when things go nuts,
The action falls away, then we wrap it up.
Yup, yup — that's the conclusion,
Make your plot hot and you're never losing.

Let's take a second now to focus on plot,
You wanna learn to tell a cool story or not?
The beginning of the story is the introduction,
We get to meet the characters, find out something
About the main conflict, or main problems,
We're dying to know how the characters will solve them.
The conflict unravels in three phases:
Rising action is the first stage, it's
The middle of the story where you build suspense,
Whatever the problem is, it gets intense,
Until the turning point hits, that's called the climax,
The character changes, accepts new facts,
And may have to make a choice based on what happened,
The tension decreases, that's the falling action.
With the conflict resolved, you can wrap up loose ends,
In the last section that we call the conclusion.

You got a story to tell? You better have a plot!
If it doesn't, am I listening? Um, no I'm not…
First introduce the conflict and characters,
Then the action rises, it may get scarier.
The climax is when things go nuts,
The action falls away, then we wrap it up.
Yup, yup — that's the conclusion,
Make your plot hot and you're never losing.

Let's break down the plot of a story called “The Date,”
With two characters who are not the same.
In the introduction Joe says he's not popular,
That's an important fact about his character.
The conflict? He wants to date a popular girl,
Her name is Lisa and she's out of this world.
She only dates jocks but he still makes the offer,
When he asks Lisa out on a date to Red Lobster.
She says yes and the plot thickens,
The rising action adds a little tension.
But then Joe is grossed out by the way she chews,
It's the climax, that information is new.
It's a turning point for Joe and things change after,
Their relationship ending is the falling action.
So the resolution to this conflict
Or conclusion is: Joe and Lisa didn't stick.

You got a story to tell? You better have a plot!
If it doesn't, am I listening? Um, no I'm not…
First introduce the conflict and characters,
Then the action rises, it may get scarier.
The climax is when things go nuts,
The action falls away, then we wrap it up.
Yup, yup — that's the conclusion,
Make your plot hot and you're never losing.