Date:         Fri, 9 May 1997 23:53:22 EDT
From: "Plots of Gold, Frames of Silver" <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Subject:      EXERCISE: Plot #8: Rivalry: 20 Master Plots

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B.
Tobias.  ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #8: Rivalry

(p. 125)  "A rival is a person who competes for the same object or goal
as another.  A rival is a person who disputes the prominence or
superiority of another.  Nowhere else is the concept of deep structure
more apparent than in a rivalry.  Two people have the same goal--whether
it is to win the hand of another or to conquer each other's armies or to
win a chess game--and each has her own motivation.  The possibilities
are endless.  Whenever two people compete for a common goal, you have
rivalry."

"A principle rule of this plot is that the two adversaries should have
equivalent strengths (although they can have different weaknesses). ...
The point is that whatever the strength of one party, the other party
has a _compensating_ strength that levels the balance."

May be the classic struggle between good and evil, or both parties may
be deserving.  "The tension comes from their opposition.  Whether it's a
pitcher facing a batter or two politicians squaring off to run for
office, two people cannot occupy the same space.  One must win, one must
lose (with all its variations of winning and losing).  Rivalry is
competition."  (my note:  what happens when one party reframes the
struggle in a win-win framework, expanding the possibilities into both
gaining?)

That great classic, the Love Triangle (coming to a book near you
everyday!), often embodies a rivalry plot, at least from two of the
positions in the triangle...

First Dramatic Movement:  "The two rivals have a common ground.  They
meet and are perceived as equals."  Don't spend too much time on this
(you might even want to do it as a flashback), because there is no
conflict here.  Go on to:

Introduce the conflict, and pit the two against each other.  I.e., the
rivals take sides, and the stage is set.

A catalyst here often helps turn the posturing into real action.  "One
rival moves to gain the advantage over the other.  This is a struggle
for power.  One rival acts to overcome or overwhelm his competition."

One rival moves up the power curve (becoming more powerful, gaining
advantages) while the other moves down.  Typically, the antagonist takes
the initiative and makes the protagonist suffer.

Second Dramatic Movement:  Events occur that reverse the descent of the
protagonist.

Once the protagonist has fallen, they are able to learn, to study, to
gain power to challenge the antagonist.

(p. 128)  "The antagonist is often aware of the empowerment of the
protagonist.  (It heightens the tension if the antagonist continually
looks over his shoulder, anticipating the inevitable confrontation.)"

until "The stage is set.  The empowered protagonist's motivation is
morally justified.  The antagonist prepares to defend."  and...

The Third Dramatic Movement: The Confrontation

In most cases, this is the climax, the short, fast, action-filled scene
where all the blinders are removed, all the trickery fails, and the two
are forced to face each other in deadly reality.

(p. 129)  "If the basic premise of the rivalry plot is what happens when
an immovable object meets an irresistible force, you should structure
your characters and situations along those lines."

Establish two conflicting and competing characters who vie for the same
goal.  Give them equal but different strengths.  "Then create
circumstances that test your characters according to their strengths."
Make sure both characters win some, and lose others--make the reader
really wonder who will win.

This is a plot about human nature.  Make sure you know why both
characters want to overcome the other--is it anger, jealousy, fear, or
what that motivates the ambitions?  Then give the reader a real sense of
the depth of their obsession, and where it springs from.

Checklist:

1.  Does the conflict in your story come from an irresistible force
meeting an immovable object?
2.  What is the struggle for power between the protagonist and
antagonist that fuels the rivalry in your story?
3.  Are your adversaries equally matched?
4.  Does each rival have compensating strengths to match areas where the
other is apparently stronger?
5.  Does your story start with the point of initial conflict, or have
a fast demonstration of the status quo and then move rapidly into
conflict?
6.  Do you have a clear catalyst scene, where the antagonist begins
moving against the will of the protagonist and the action starts?
7.  Do your characters move up and down "power curves" during the story,
with one rising while the other falls?
8.  Does your antagonist gain superiority over the protagonist during
the first dramatic phase?  Is the protagonist clearly at a disadvantage,
suffering from the actions of the antagonist?
9.  Are there moral issues involved and clearly tied to the different
sides?
10.  What brings about the reversal of fortune and stops the
protagonist's descent on the power curve?
11.  Is the antagonist aware of the protagonist's empowerment?  Does he
take steps to block it, or does he simply laugh it off as
inconsequential?
12.  Does the protagonist reach a point of parity on the power curve and
then issue the challenge, or does something make them rush the
challenge?  (a favorite theme is the spunky challenger, coming back from
defeat, apparently not ready...and with a surprising twist, they win!)
13.  Is there a final confrontation between rivals?  (the third dramatic
phase)
14.  How does the protagonist restore order for himself and his world
after the resolution of the confrontation?  (Note:  there is often some
"balancing" that needs to happen to straighten out the events of the
first phase, when the protagonist was losing right and left.)

And let us get to work.  Can you select a number from one to six?

1.  The person in the middle (a desired friend, or perhaps just a
dreamed-of meeting of souls passing at midnight?)

2.  The desired job (position, etc.)

3.  The desired prize (you decide the contest, you decide the
rules--this is your world!)

4.  The chance for glory

5.  The desired recognition by others

6.  The race (goes not to the swift, but to the steady...)  A
competition, by any name...

There you have a very broad clue at a possible goal for our characters
to strive for, to act as the fuse for their rivalry.  Take a few moments
and refine this.  What is the prize that will be pulled and yanked
between the two?

While you are considering that, go ahead and sketch out (at least in
your mind) a little about the characters.  Remember, they should have
roughly equivalent strengths and weaknesses, and be a good match for the
struggle ahead.  Make sure that they each have solid reasons for
pursuing that goal.

Drop back a moment and consider a number from one to six.  You will find
your selection below:

1.  Competitions are for horses, not artists.  Bela Bartok, Saturday
Review, Aug. 25, 1962

2.  Every advantage has its own tax.  Emerson, "Compensation," Essays:
First Series (1841)

3.  Against great advantages in another, there are no means of defending
ourselves except love.  Goethe, Elective Affinities, (1809), 23.

4.  The folly which we might have ourselves committed is the one which
we are least ready to pardon in another.  Joseph Roux, Meditations of a
Parish Priest (1886), 4.84, tr. Isabel F. Hapgood.

5.  The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover
the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.  Max Lerner,
"Faubus and Little Rock," The Unfinished Country (1959), 4.

6.  There is no reality except the one contained within us.  That is why
so many people live such an unreal life.  They take the images outside
them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.
Hermann Hesse, Demian (1919), 6, tr. Michael Roloff and Michael Lebeck.

Allow yourself a moment to consider that quote.  You have your two
characters, the unifying goal which will drive them apart, and a little
quote.  How does that quote play with (or against) your thinking?

Now stretch all of this against the backdrop of that archtypal plot
for rivalry, and the questions in the checklist.  Lay out your scenes,
and consider: How are you going to introduce the rivals?  How about
the point of conflict that will bring the rivalry into focus?  Who is
going to fall first, and why?  How do they try to recover?  And
then...

Go on to the end, revise, polish, and don't forget the foreshadows.
Don't even forget the deep dark backshadows.

[Quick Start?

    Yesterday they had been friends.  Tomorrow, one of them would be
dead.

You are welcome to use this as a beginning if it helps you.]

WRITE!
tink


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