The Born Storytellers Prendiville Catholic College 2015

The Born Storytellers Plot and Structure

Basic decisions Genre What type of story are you telling and what are the conventions of that story type you need to keep in mind? Plot type How your protagonist works through the story’s challenges and how they end up determines the plot.

Basic decisions Ending Know where your story ends, and how your character has changed as a consequence of the story’s climax Beginning Know where your story begins and what your character wants and what holds them back from having it now

The basic shape

Breaking it down 1.Capture the interest of your reader by introducing your character through some ‘problematic’ history (ghost) and orientate them to the storyworld. 2.Develop a relationship with another character (or more) that brings the ‘main hook’ of the story to the fore. 3.Connect the two to create a potential new problem Steps in the Status Quo

Breaking it down 1.Sameer is gaming at Dryopus. We get to understand that she is in a virtual world. She discovers she has a strange ‘shadow’ which suddenly and aggressively erodes her grade points. 2.When she is unable to shake the shadow she turns to Uncle Neville for help, who helps her freeze her current identity and create an alter ego to go after the shadow. 3.Uncle Neville reminds Sameer of her father’s desires for her to stop gaming and attend to her school work. This exchange informs us of the value of Dryopus, and that we are now living in an ultra-connected world. Steps in the Status Quo

Breaking it down 1.Expose the character’s weaknesses. Show behaviour that the reader sees could lead to potential problems and hurt others. 2.Expose and test the main character’s desires. 3.Introduce allies that the character turns to for support. 4.Place the character before a dilemma which identifies some opposition or mystery that forces a decision from which they cannot retreat and results in an altered desire. Steps in the Inciting Incident

Breaking it down 4.Sameer’s father announces that he will be away for two weeks, and she is to go to boarding school for that time. Sameer argues that she is doing fine in her virtual education. Dad asks her to produce the evidence of how well she is doing in her virtual education. 5.She can’t produce the evidence, so Sameer delivers an ultimatum: if she is forced to boarding school, she won’t be around when he returns. 6.Sameer leaves the house and meets Boulder. They go for a parkour run. 7.Her dilemma is a decision to fight for what she believes in, or appease her father. She chooses to fight. Steps in the Inciting Incident

Breaking it down 1.Protagonist makes plans to unmask opponent. Plan fail because the protagonist doesn’t yet have the skills 2.Opponent plans and launches a counter attack featuring hidden attacks that are surprises to the protagonist 3.Protagonist is driven to act in increasingly desperate ways 4.Ally turns against Protagonist over morals of actions, causing the protagonist to question values and behaviour 5.Apparent defeat Steps in the first complication

Breaking it down 8.Sameer plans to unmask the ‘shadow’ on her identity at Dryopus and with the help of Uncle Neville, succeeds in destroying what turns out to be a ‘virus’. They manage to reverse the deprecation on her grades and build a protective shield against further attacks. 9.Zhang discards the virtual attack and launches a real-life attack on Sameer, coming after her in a parkour run. 10.She fights desperately but is saved only by the intervention of Uncle Neville. 11.Uncle Neville ‘grounds’ her for the remaining time Dad is away. 12.Sameer feels as though she is defeated on all fronts. Steps in the first complication

Breaking it down 1.Protagonist has another revelation and gains a new piece of information that victory is still possible, no matter how slim the chance, and continues with the moral decline 2.Audience revelation. A moment where the audience becomes aware of a new piece of information, but not the Protagonist. Shows the audience the true power of the opposition and exposes the Protagonist's hidden need. 3.A third revelation and decision to go after the prize. Usually this is where the protagonist catches up to the audience and makes a change in morality. Steps in the second complication

Breaking it down 13.Sameer learns of Zhang’s past connections to Dryopus and assumes that it was because she managed to shut him down in the game that he has come after her. She lures him to a crime scene she has staged, expecting him to be caught by Detective Darcy. 14.Audience revelation. Detective Darcy arrests Sameer, supposedly for truancy and lets Zhang escape, we learn that Uncle Neville tipped Darcy off about the ambush. 15.Sameer calls Uncle Neville to get her out of custody. Uncle Neville will only comply if she returns home and remains out of reach of Zhang. She learns that it was he who tipped off the cops, and she learns what she needs to defeat Zhang. Steps in the second complication

Breaking it down 1.Death and Rebirth. The conflict between Protagonist and Antagonist intensifies into a life or death struggle. The Protagonist looks death in the eye. 2.The Battle, the final showdown between Protagonist and Antagonist that takes them to the brink of survival. The battle is not between inferior and superior power, but between ideas, morality and values. Everything converges, Protagonist fulfils the hidden need and wins what is desired. Steps in the crisis

Breaking it down 16.One their way home from the police station, they are set upon by Zhang and his gang of thugs. Boulder is seriously injured, and Uncle Neville left to die as Sameer escapes. But Zhang is injured. 17.Sameer tracks Zhang to a boat in Fremantle harbour where he has been living. Their battle is to the death, but Sameer is fighting for Uncle Neville, and what it means to care for someone close. During the battle, Zhang reveals her father’s role, Sameer doesn’t believe it. Darcy shows up but is thrown unconscious into the water by Zhang. Sameer, who cannot swim, dives in after the policeman to rescue him. By the time she gets him to safety, Zhang is dead. Steps in the crisis

Breaking it down 1.Self revelation. The protagonist undergoes the change set out in the premise, learning what they did not know about themselves previously 2.Moral decision. A new dilemma arises and the Protagonist chooses between two courses of action, each standing for a set of values and a way of living that affects others. Steps in the climax

Breaking it down 18.Although there is no evidence of who killed Zhang, Sameer knows it was her father. At that moment she realises that Zhang was right when he said her father was behind it. But also that the whole thing got out of hand. She is looking for reconciliation. 19.Sameer is unaware of Uncle Neville’s condition and she feels she has to return home, but if she does, she has to face her father. She talks it over with Boulder, and decides to return home, where she learns Uncle Neville has survived. She keeps her father’s secret. Steps in the climax

Breaking it down 1.New World. Once the desire and need have been fulfilled everything goes back to normal, except the protagonist is now a changed character in a changed world. Steps in the denouement

Breaking it down 1.Sameer negotiates a new education deal with her father and the school, combining her virtual learning with the real learning. Steps in the denouement