Cheryl Klein: Principles of Plot

PRINCIPLES OF PLOT

1. The story of the book is what happens in the book. The plot of the book is the deep structure of those events.

2. We can identify a plot by a change. If you don’t have a change, you don’t have a plot.

3. The protagonist is the person to whom the change happens and in whom the change occurs. Who changes in your plot?

4. Two dimensions of the plot are the Action Plot and the Emotional Plot. Some authors call them External Plot and Internal Plot.

5. Your story will begin when one of these changes does.

6. And while the entertainment of a book may come from its Action Plot, the deeper emotional effect and meaning of the book comes from its Emotional Plot.

The key structures of this speech are in a post on Cheryl’s blog.