The Endless Possibilities of Plots: Breaking Free from Limitations
SUMMARY
Suggesting a limited number of plots to create a story is formulaic and restrictive. Plots are not to be confused with genres, style sheets, or themes. Plots need to be original and creative, and they should capture the complexity of life, relationships, conflicts, and character arcs. A writer should not be put in a box and restricted from creating an infinite number of plots.
EXPANDED DISCUSSION
The backbone of a story is the plot. When people label a story as having a mystery plot or a romance plot, I believe it becomes confusing. In my opinion, there are countless original plots, depending on how specific scenes are put together. Thus, I find the idea of a limited number of plots, as suggested by many for the past two centuries, to be formulaic and restrictive. Saying that something has mysterious or romantic elements is entirely different from implying a formulaic expression of a mystery or romance plot. After all, don't mysteries often contain romance? Don't romances often have mysteries? Genres and plots should not be confused. Limiting the number of plots in an infinite world of characters seems like an oversimplification. It should be as complex and inexhaustible as attempting to count the stars in the universe (which even today continues to multiply, much like stories). I know this contradicts the esteemed literary thinkers like Dr. Samuel Johnson, but I dare to disagree. If we are to write a fictional mirror of life, we must capture the complexity of life, relationships, conflicts, and character arcs that, when mixed with fresh characters, create an infinite number of plots.
Plots are not to be confused with supposed genres. Yes, there are genres and types of literature that the reader knows what to expect to fulfill a particular reading or viewing experience, but these are genres, not plots.
Plots are not to be confused with style sheets. Certain publishing houses have designated style sheets that demand what elements are to be in their stories, but elements do not create plots. You can take flour, sugar, and milk and make a multitude of different recipes by adding a few simple and otherwise unidentified ingredients. All a style sheet tells you is that you must be sure to include flour, sugar, and milk within your original plot. This is not a formula for a plot. Because I want to put a door in my story (or a courageous heroine who does not like the new sheriff in town) does not suddenly make this a door plot (or a romance, or a western). That’s ridiculous. The door is an element in the plot. Is it required that all mysteries have a door? Absolutely not. Many mysteries do, and I’d venture that many mysteries do not.
Plots are not to be confused with where a book is found in a bookstore or streaming network. Once again, these are a list of elements or maybe thematic similarities that help a reader or viewer find a satisfying reading or viewing experience. Still, these are not plots, and following some book that lists how a plot should be constructed is only to set oneself up for limitations and lack of creativity.
Plots are not to be confused with theme. The theme is what the story means, not what the story is about. The plot is about neither meaning nor even what happens. The plot is a series of scenes that show the character's transformation or the acceleration of events, all in a particular order. That order is endless. The theme has nothing to do with the plot, absolutely nothing.
We should not misuse the word plot or let snake oil salespersons sell us on the super plot formula. There is no such thing. To say there are definitively only three, five, six, seven, nine, twenty-three, thirty-six, or pick any other number of plots is to limit the expressiveness of a writer and set the writer up for formulaic fiction. Neither of these choices is ideal. So, in response to Dr. Johnson and others, I’d say leave writers to create, not put them in a box. As more and more writers write, more and more plots will be developed. They are endless and infinite, and the creative and innovative writer will write one plot for each story, a plot in each story that can never be replicated in any other tale now or ever. Be original. Write freely.
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