Date:         Sat, 29 Mar 1997 00:32:39 -0500
From: "who, me?" <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Subject:      EXERCISE: Plot #6: Revenge: 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 #6: Revenge

(p. 99) "In literature the dominant motive for this plot is loud and
clear:  retaliation by the protagonist against the antagonist for real
or imagined injury.  It's a visceral plot, which means it reaches us at
a deep emotional level.  We bristle against injustice and we want to see
it corrected.  And almost always, the retaliation is outside the limits
of the law."

(p. 100) "At the heart of the story is the protagonist, who is generally
a good person forced to take vengeance into her own hands when the law
won't give satisfaction.  Then there's the antagonist, the person who
has committed the crime, who for some quirk in the natural progress of
events has escaped punishment for his crime.   Last, there's the victim,
the person whom the protagonist must avenge.  As a character, the victim
obviously is expendable; his purpose is to arouse our sympathies, for
him and for the protagonist (who has been denied love, companionship or
the like).  Sometimes the victim is the protagonist himself.  The more
heinous the crime (rape, murder, incest), the more the protagonist is
justified in seeking vengeance. "

Phases:

1.  The Crime.  Establish the hero and his loved ones, and terminate
their happiness with an awful crime.  The hero cannot defend.  Either he
is not present or he's restrained (may be forced to watch).

Sometimes the crime is committed before the beginning of the story.
This may weaken the reader identification--their emotional experience.

The hero may try to get justice from other sources.  But these should
not provide satisfaction.

2.  Revenge.  Planning, perhaps spiced with a little pursuit, and
preparation.  There may be some resistance, some friends or others who
point out what will happen and try to dissuade the protagonist from this
mad pursuit.

3.  Confrontation.  If there are more than one criminal, the biggest,
baddest, and worst must come last.  Make the punishment fit the crime,
and make it a real struggle, where the protagonist has to work to
triumph.

Classical revenge revolves around violence.  But there are also the con
man conned and other non-violent possibilities.

(p. 108) "Revenge is an emotionally powerful (and one might say
dangerous) plot to work with.  You manipulate powerful emotions in your
reader by creating a situation that cries for justice.  We respond at a
deep level when someone violates us or anyone else who doesn't deserve
violation.  In many cases, victims are like Everyman.  It's as if you
say to the reader 'If it could happen to this person, it could happen to
you, too.'  Chilling.  And to protect ourselves from that kind of
outrage (murder, rape, mayhem, etc.) we demand swift and complete
justice.  You put yourself in a strong moral position as you write this
plot.  You say what is proper and what is improper behavior.  Be
careful.  What you recommend may be wild justice, but that too may have
it's price."

Checklist

1.  Does your protagonist seek retaliation against the antagonist for a
real or imagined injury?

2.  Do you focus on the act of revenge? Have you really provided some
motivation, some depth to your characters?

3.  How "wild" is the hero's justice?  How far outside the limits of the
law does your vigilante justice go?

4. Did you engage the feelings of the reader by showing them a man or
woman of action forced to avenge the injustices of the world by events
when the institutions that normally deal with these problems prove
inadequate?

5. Does your hero have moral justification for vengeance?

6.  Does your hero's vengeance equal by not exceed the offense?

7.  Did your hero try to deal with the offense through the traditional
means, such as the police, and fail?

8.  Does your first phase establish the hero's normal life and the
disruption that the crime made?  Show the audience the full impact of
the crime, what it costs in physical and emotional terms.

9.  Does your second phase show the hero planning the revenge and
pursuing the antagonist?  Does your antagonist escape early attempts by
chance or design?

10.  Does the third and last phase show the confrontation between the
hero and the antagonist?  Are there holes in the revenge plan that force
the hero to improvise, some good twists and shocks to make the reader's
heart thump?

Most modern revenge plots don't require the hero to pay too high a price
(emotionally or otherwise) for revenge, thus allowing the audience the
luxury of a cheap cathartic release.

[since I am on vacation, let's recycle some pieces from previous
exercises...]

1.  Let's start with a character.  Your choice.

2.  Now write one sentence about what this character needs to learn.
Perhaps they haven't found out that other people hurt?  Or maybe they
just need to learn that what they want doesn't come by wishing?

[pssst?  Having trouble?  Pick a number from one to six, grab one of
these oldies, and refine it.
    1.  The best things in life are free
    2.  The bluebird of happiness is sitting in your own backyard
    3.  Parents are people too
    4.  Home is where the heart is
    5.  Don't burn your bridges until you get across them
    6.  Learning grows out of the broken shells of mistakes

well, some of them are kind of strained, but maybe you'll figure out
what I meant.]

3. and a bit of fresh stuff--pick a number from one to six, okay?

    1.  Because they lied
    2.  Because they hurt someone
    3.  Because they scared someone
    4.  Because they destroyed it (the sacred object)
    5.  Because they betrayed the trust (revealed the secret?)
    6.  Because they upset/enraged/angered you...

This is our reason for revenge.  But right now it's pretty sketchy, so
take a few moments to think about five to ten possible detailed
expansions of this motivation.  I.e., who are "they" and exactly how did
they lie?  What did they say, and what did it do to the protagonist (or
their proxy, if there is a separate victim)?

Pick the best of those, the one that makes you really want to do
something to the antagonist.

4. Pick a number from one to six?  (you've played here before, haven't
you? I thought I recognized the sparkle on your terminal screen...)

    1.  spouse (significant other?  spice?  you know...)
    2.  parent-child
    3.  mister (mistress?  sexual involvement, anyway)
    4.  teacher-student
    5.  doctor-patient
    6.  friend (really, we're just friends)

There you go.  We have a relationship!  So our protagonist and our
victim are related.  Spend a little time thinking about how long they've
had their relationship, how deep the bonds are, how well (or poorly)
they know the other person...

5.  Now, go back and answer the questions in the checklist.  Fill out
the basic plot outline with details.  Work with it, revise and correct,
then when you're ready, show us what you've done.

[Quick start?  How about this one:

    There was blood in the tracks.

If you want to start your work with that line, please, feel free to borrow.]

tink