Date:         Fri, 18 Jul 1997 10:30:55 EDT
From: tINK blots <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Subject:      EXERCISE: Plot #10: Temptation: 20 Master Plots
To: WRITERS@mitvma.mit.edu

[for those who may be interested, all exercises I do are available at
http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/exercises/exercises.html If you don't
have web access, send email to mbarker@mit.edu and be patient...]

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

Master Plot #10: Temptation

(p. 138) "To be tempted is to be induced or persuaded to do something
that is either unwise, wrong or immoral...."

It may be difficult for some of you to believe, but there are those of
us who sometimes are attracted by things which we probably shouldn't
indulge in, whether they are strictly illegal or just undesirable...yes,
it is true, some of us feel tempted.

Structure

Phase 1.  Establish the nature of the temptation and show the
protagonist succumbing to it.  May be some resistance, rationalization,
and lots of opportunity for denial...

[You can do anything, but don't open the door...]

Phase 2.  Show the effects of giving in.  Denial, lying, etc. are all
part of the package, with the effects growing.  The protagonist tries to
deal, but the more she attempts to wriggle free, the more oppressive it
becomes.

[You did it?  No, I didn't, really, not...]

Phase 3.  The Crisis.  The effects are unbearable, the conflict has
risen, the stakes are so high...and will our protagonist continue to
agonize or confess?  Repent and be forgiven.

"The temptation plot isn't about action as much as it's about character.
It is an examination of motives, needs and impulse.  The action supports
the development of character, and as such, it's a plot fo the mind
rather than of the body."

To write about temptation, think about the nature of the 'crime' your
character will be tempted with.  What is gained, what is lost, what are
the prices that are paid for giving in?

"Don't focus your story completely on the temptation and the cost of
giving into it.  Focus your story on the character who gives in to the
temptation.  Define the internal struggle raging inside the character.
Is it guilt?  If so, how does that guilt show itself in the behavior and
actions of your character?...Temptation can reveal a wide range of
emotions in your character.  Don't create a character who is capable of
only one emotional note.  Your character will probably go through a
variety of emotional states.  The result of all the turmoil will be a
realization about himself.  He will reach a conclusion about giving in
to temptation.  What is the lesson learned, and how has your character
matured?..."

Checklist:

1.  What are the motives, needs, and impulses of human character
underlying your temptation plot?
2.  What are the changes in morality and the effects of giving in to
temptation that drive those changes in your story?  Where does your
character start in terms of morality and where do they end, and what are
the lessons taught about temptation?
3.  What is the inner turmoil of the protagonist?  What does she know
she should do, and what does she do instead?  How do you show this
interior conflict, and how is it manifested in the exterior actions?
4.  Does your first dramatic phase clearly establish the nature of the
protagonist (and antagonist, if there is one)?
5.  Does your story clearly show the nature of the temptation, the
effects on the protagonist, and the struggles over the decision that the
protagonist makes?
6.  Does your protagonist clearly give in?  Are there short-term
gratifications?
7.  Does your protagonist rationalize giving in?
8.  Does your protagonist deny the whole thing, refusing to admit that
they yielded to the temptation?
9.  Does the second dramatic phase clearly reflect the effects of
yielding?  Do you show how the short-term benefits go sour and the real
drawbacks start to become apparent?  Is it clear that this was the wrong
decision?
10.  Does the protagonist try to find ways to escape responsibility and
avoid punishment?
11.  Do the negative effects build up, growing and increasingly
involving more and more of the protagonist's life?
12.  Does the third phase resolve the internal conflicts?  Is there
atonement, reconciliation and forgiveness?

So, do you feel tempted to write about Temptation?  Feel that old
snake slithering around the bottom of a tree?  Those surges of sap
rising?

How about a number from one to six?

1.  finding a wallet filled with money (with ID or not?  you decide)
2.  finding an expensive piece of jewelry
3.  an opportunity to look at something forbidden (what?  porno?)
4.  a chance to try out the forbidden fruit (a call boy?  strip joint?
gambling?  you decide...)
5.  an opportunity to secretly (and nastily, with emphasis on the
prejudice) scuttle the competition's work
6.  a chance to cheat on an important test (in school and life, we face
many tests...and who is to say which part is the test?)

Take a few moments, a deep breath, (cold shower optional) and list at
least five different ways that this could be a temptation.  Ten is
better, but dash them off as quickly as possible.  Oh, and yes, write
them down...

Now stop and think a moment.  Perhaps a number from one to six again?

1.  Eastern city
2.  Eastern small town in the country (yes, they do exist)
3.  West Coast city
4.  Western small town
5.  Southern city
6.  Southern small town

[Don't like what you got?  Okay, you may select slum, West Virginia back
roads rough, ranch, Lower Sbogada, or other place at your delight...]

This is where the protagonist (yes, a real character) has grown up.
Take a few moments to get inside their skin, to block out a key incident
or five that has shaped our little twig, to make sure you know who this
is...what's the backstory (yep, there's that word) behind the story
we're going to write?

Now let's start putting it together.  We need a scene where we discover
the temptation--and the reasons our protagonist has for struggling.
Then we need a scene or two where we intensify the struggle, define the
moral agony, make the conscience of the reader sweat...leading into the
climax, where we learn...well, what do we learn?

Roll your die, roll and choose:

1.  "All men are tempted.  There is no man that lives that can't be
broken down, provided it is the right temptation, put in the right
spot." Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit (1887).

2.  "When temptations march monotonously in regiments, one waits for
them to pass." Frank Moore Colby, "Some of the Difficulties of
Frollicking," The Colby Essays (1926), v. 1.

3.  "No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object."
Colette, "Human Nature," Earthly Paradise (1966), 4, ed. Robert Phelps.

4.  "There are several good protections against temptations, but the
surest is cowardice." Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar,"
Following the Equator (1897), 1.36

5.  "We are punished by our sins, not for them." Elbert Hubbard, The
Note Book (1927).

6.  "There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably
desirable." Mark Twain, Notebook (1935)

There you have it!  A quotation from The International Thesaurus of
Quotations by Rhoda Thomas Tripp, ISBN 0-06-091382-7, suitable for
pondering.  Consider our character (add in a few...the opposition...the
watching chorus of modern-day noninvolved bystanders...characters to
suit your tastes), the temptation (and why is this a temptation?  pick
one from your list, and roll with it), and how this puzzling little
quotation might tie the whole package into a Gordian knot binding the
Freudian slip of our tempting tale in place.

Write it up.  Review it against the checklist above, revise it against
your best standards, and make us feel every detail of this person's
journey into temptation.

tink