Why is that?
I think I've decided it has to do with details. When you write your own story, whether its a mystery or romantic fiction, you are suddenly staring at 300 pages of details that speak out with equal noise. You might know that the fact that your devilishly handsome protagonist dropped that note in chapter two just so the beautiful and sublimely naive love interest could find it in chapter forty-two but that oh-so-important detail stands out equally to the fact that she trips in chapter eight, he joins the glee club in chapter nineteen and for one hundred pages he has that one song stuck in his head.
My point is, the critical and important plot turning details that would stick out to a first time reader can drown among the everyday action that is necessary to make a story real. All of a sudden when you sit down to make that plot diagram, voices from all of the subplots seem to speak up for attention and your main plot is eerily quiet.
Am I the only one who notices this phenomenon? It takes me a few moments to silence the details and truly identify the spine of my story - which is there, holding it all together just like a good plot should. *sigh* Well enough of my rambling. Here is a good little plot diagram that I happen to like.
Exposition - Everyone always defines this as the area where we are introduced to the characters, the location, the initial interaction between characters etc....which is accurate. But I also think it's important to note that you've got to hook your reader here. Even the coolest Inciting Moment (as mentioned next) will not resonate with the reader if we aren't hooked on the basis of the story. So basically, in my opinion, an Exposition needs to be informative...but not boring.
Inciting Moment - I sometimes refer to this as the first turning point. This is the reason this story is important and starts the action you will focus on throughout the plot. This is the moment that changed your protagonist's world from going along smoothly to the path that will be covered in this book. Some writers start their novel with an inciting moment and then flow into the Exposition - for others the Inciting Moment directly leads into the Rising Action.
Rising Action - If you'll notice by the yellow dots, the Rising Action is the culminating layers upon which your story is built. You may have small peaks and valleys in your Rising Action which is normal but you will continually raise the stakes for your protagonist to move your plot along.
Climax/Turning Point - I despise this part of the plot diagram because so many times it gets confused with the idea that there is the 'most' action at the climax. This definition is partially correct and yet not that simple. This is the moment the protagonist makes the critical decision that will lead to the end of your story and YET, the outcome for your reader may not be clear at that moment. BECAUSE when your protagonist makes that pivotal commitment to their decision, it is possible they made the wrong choice. Yes, the hero can fail and the reader will get to experience this agonizing tension in the falling action of the story. Can you see why this moment might be a little tricky to pinpoint and yet extremely important? *sigh* yeah me too.
Falling Action - Like I just mentioned, the falling action will be the area of the most tension and the directly resulting events that occur because of the protagonist's decision. Plus, there will be a good chance that the Antagonist will be working just as hard in this portion of the plot to win.
Resolution - This might be the part we all truly understand more than most. When you reach the end of your novel, you feel like throwing a party. It's over! And yet if all of the loose ends are not neatly tied up and the ending doesn't fit the anticipation you've built...you will be guilty of the worst single word adjective that no one wants used when describing their novel....Unsatisfying. Whether it ends the way they want or the complete opposite, a description like 'unsatisfying' or 'humdrum' means you didn't compel the reader. The ending should hit every note with conviction. There is no room for gray area unless its a small note to set up for a sequel. Even a first in a 'Series' should be satisfying to a level that makes the reader salivate to read the next one. Unsatisfying does not an avid fan make.
Well there you have it from my point of view. Happy Diagramming!
