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raesoflightSkipping this week's WIP Wednesday due to New Years and continuing the exercises on plot:
We all know that complex internal struggles are one key in creating well-developed characters, who feel real to the audience. The External plot (action) of the story can often trigger the Internal Plot right from word go, the easiest example being the traditional coming out story: the main character falling in love with someone of the same gender forces them to re-think certain biases or ideas that they had been raised with.
External Plots can also trigger chain reaction Internal Plots as multiple characters react to the External Plot in very different ways. Your main character may willingly jump into an adventure while other characters may be more reluctant, making their Internal Plot the conflict between stepping out of their comfort zone or not.
Meanwhile, Watership Down is an example of a story that introduces a character by giving them an Internal Plot that the audience doesn't expect. When Big Wig is first introduced, it's established that he has a rather high rank in his culture, one that comes with a lot of privileges that most would be reluctant to give up. So when the main characters are about to illegally leave the warren, the audience assumes that when Big Wig appears, he is going to stop them. Instead he announces that he's coming with them, and his Internal Plot becomes dealing with the loss of those privileges and the danger that incurs.
Unexpected Internal Plots are one way to hook an audience with a character and make them stand out. Internal Plots primarily deal with the motivations of the character, and how those motivations are challenged by the External Plot. This week's exercise is to simply list the External and Internal Plots for your main characters and how they interact.
We all know that complex internal struggles are one key in creating well-developed characters, who feel real to the audience. The External plot (action) of the story can often trigger the Internal Plot right from word go, the easiest example being the traditional coming out story: the main character falling in love with someone of the same gender forces them to re-think certain biases or ideas that they had been raised with.
External Plots can also trigger chain reaction Internal Plots as multiple characters react to the External Plot in very different ways. Your main character may willingly jump into an adventure while other characters may be more reluctant, making their Internal Plot the conflict between stepping out of their comfort zone or not.
Meanwhile, Watership Down is an example of a story that introduces a character by giving them an Internal Plot that the audience doesn't expect. When Big Wig is first introduced, it's established that he has a rather high rank in his culture, one that comes with a lot of privileges that most would be reluctant to give up. So when the main characters are about to illegally leave the warren, the audience assumes that when Big Wig appears, he is going to stop them. Instead he announces that he's coming with them, and his Internal Plot becomes dealing with the loss of those privileges and the danger that incurs.
Unexpected Internal Plots are one way to hook an audience with a character and make them stand out. Internal Plots primarily deal with the motivations of the character, and how those motivations are challenged by the External Plot. This week's exercise is to simply list the External and Internal Plots for your main characters and how they interact.
