Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 10:02:41 EST From: tink again Subject: EXERCISE: Plot #2: Adventure: 20 Master Plots [for those who may be interested, all exercises I do are available at http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/exercises/exercises.html ] Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8. Master Plot #2: Adventure I suspect I may have misled some of you with Plot #1, the Quest. I forgot to stress that the Quest is a character plot, a plot of the mind. The adventure, in contrast, is an action plot, a plot of the body. The difference is that in the quest, we are watching a person making a journey; in the adventure, our attention is on the journey. Exotic, strange, dangerous, new! A venture into the unknown, a look at the unexpected or unusual... The Plot in Outline: One--set the scene and motivate the adventurer. Consider the "unwilling" adventurer and the "willing, even eager" adventurer--often the same person starts as one, then becomes the other. Two--on the journey. Events, difficulties, excitement. Don't forget to put some thought into reasons for your hero(ine) to be venturing into the wilderness. Three--we have arrived (somewhere). Fairly often, there are also romantic twinings and other rewards to having gotten there. Or perhaps you can remember--setting out for the top of the mountain; the trails, stumbles, and cliffsides along the way; and the glorious view from the top! Checklist 1. Focus on the journey more than the person 2. The story concerns a foray into the world, to new, strange places and events. (make sure they really are interesting!) 3. Fortune is "out there," not at home--we have to search for it 4. Give your hero(ine) a good kick by someone or something to start the adventure 5. Make sure that your acts have some cause-and-effect links -- watch out for the overly episodic adventure. 6. Your hero(ine) may not change much. It goes with the territory. 7. Don't forget the seasonings--romance, suspense, etc. Okay, it must be time to play. Have you got some numbers? One to six, for example? 1. A kitchen (four star restaurant? truck stop? The golden barfers? You decide) 2. backstage (at the all nude review? Broadway? rather far off broadway, in our own little high school? pick one) 3. at a shelter (homeless? running away from home? pick the shelter...) 4. in the mink-wrapped lap of luxury (homes of the rich and famous, you know the type) 5. in a home (you pick the family, you pick the striations of wildness and oddity, you design the little steps that lead from the common world outside into the heart of deepest, strangest suburbia...no one knows what goes on behind... picture windows?) 6. institution (school, prison, asylum, monastery or other place, at your insinuation) [I skipped bathrooms, but if someone draw an ace, I think the bathrooms of the other sex are one of the great mysteries of the American culture. What strange devices lurk behind the couches in the ladies' room? What oddities hang out where urinals grace the walls? And who knows what disasters may be unleashed if someone dares to enter against the markings?] So we have a bit of a framework for where we might go. Take a moment and think about the character(s) in your world. Remember that we want them to explore this strange new world, to go boldly where we dare not peek. Stop now and consider at least five wonder enriched moments (touched by a rainbow? spangled with silver bangles? full of the finest whipped lard? You decide what makes these moments, views, escapees from the cupboards, or other touches of drama truly esoteric and lightful--delight must be the lack of light, right, so these are lightful?) Ponder them, smell their savory excitement, and then pick...the best two or three. And back up one more step, pick a number from one to six: 1. To help a friend 2. To win a bet (on a dare? you betcha!) 3. Because someone said "You can't!" 4. Following someone (something? the flickering shadow of the little man that wasn't there?) 5. You answered the phone (read the message, read the closed captioning?) and it said to go... 6. To get away from...(daddy? the bentnose boys? the rat race of daily life, rolling along in its ruts...) So that's why we are making this detour through the wonderside. Interesting, isn't it, how that little pebble started a landslide of adventure that day, taking you through the steamy side of the world and out again to... Pick your number, please? 1. an arroyo - a steep-sided gully in an arid region, carved by heavy rains 2. a caldera - large basin formed by the explosion and collapse of the center of a volcano 3. a fen - low boggy land partly covered by water 4. the weald - forest, wilderness; rolling, upland region of woods 5. a pool - a deep, quiet place in a stream; a small body of water 6. an estuary - the point where the river mouth meets sea's tide; the arm of the sea at the river mouth Okay? That's the place we're going to end up. Note that it need not be literal, it may be the veriest hint of a metaphorical background enveloping the apparent physical setting, but think about that natural resting place, that peaceful presence as something that flavors the last act of your tale. Got it? Pick your characters, move them out, take a walk on the weird side of life, and end with a grand trope, trope, trope the metaphors are roiling, a simile of place that resounds within the echoing minds of your readers...let the adventure begin! [One little sentence, a part of a phrase to kick off the chains that bind our fingers from dancing on the keys? How about: Under the carnival disguise beat the heart of an old youngster who was still waiting to give his all. Adapted from a line from The Waltz of the Toreadors [1952] by Jean Anouilh, quoted in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. You may use (or ignore!) this line. Sometimes it starts things, sometimes it ends things, and sometimes it doesn't do anything at all...go ask alice, when she's ten feet...have fun!] as the ticking keyboreds idle on, with the empty hum of silence filling the networks, buzz-click-crackle to the sound of a different modem, let them multiplex to the sound of the modems they hear? tink ------- End of Forwarded Message