[Michael Stuart Kelly]

20 Master Plots

This is a small report on an amazing little book I bought called 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them by Ronald B. Tobias. It is published by Writer’s Digest Books. I will give an overview of the essentials, but I highly advise anyone interested in writing fiction to purchase this book and study it.

Frankly, when I got it, I was interested in seeing what the cliché plots would be. What I got was something much more special. The first six chapters deal with plot essentials and are some of the most enlightening observations on plot I have ever read.

I will comment on those chapters. Then I will cover each of the 20 types of plot in separate posts as I study them. But before that and to kill the suspense, I will give the titles of 20 types of master plots:

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension

Now on to the chapters.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 12 – Master Plot #6: Revenge

The revenge plot pattern is has not changed in over 3,000 years. Revenge is predominantly an action plot, but it can be a character plot too. It appeals to a deep emotional level and is vigilante justice. Simply stated, the protagonist suffers a real or imagined injustice and retaliates.

Most often, the hero must take justice in his own hands, since the system is inept, incompetent, full of loop-holes, extremely limited in some manner. This appeals to the audience’s frustration with bureaucracies.

The main rule is that the punishment must equal the crime. This holds absolutely true if the hero is the one seeking revenge. (Eye for an eye…)

If it is the villain is the one who seeks revenge, then blowing the injury and/or the punishment all out of proportion will make the audience despise him. It is also a good means to reveal a psychopath. From the book about a villain who managed to obtain revenge by killing the new wife of her former husband and the villain’s own children by him (Medea): “Even though she must suffer the same fate [loneliness and grief], it will always be tempered by the sweetness of her revenge.”

Older revenge tragedies wanted to show that there is a high price attached to revenge. Usually the hero dies (and many times, lots of people on both sides are killed).

More modern revenge tales let the hero “bask in self-righteousness,” feeling “justified and liberated by the act of vengeance.” There is very little emotional suffering by the hero at the end. This makes a strong appeal to the audience to feel cleansed – catharsis.

The revenge plot is a story about the dark side of human nature. Revenge is the intent, but the motivation can be two: (1) the hero remains a sympathetic person retaliating against injustice, or (2) the hero’s values become distorted through the desire for revenge. Revenge tends to emotionally possess the protagonist, so in addition to intent, it works well as a simple motivation.

As an interesting aside, Tobias mentioned a classic Western plot (which is not exactly a revenge plot, but close). From the book: “The hired sheriff cleans up the town, but the townspeople get fed up with all the violence associated with the clean-up and ask him to leave.”

Violence usually accompanies a revenge plot. Most revenge is violent. In comedies, however, fraud or less violent retaliation is more common. Once again, the rule prevails that the punishment must fit the crime.

Many sting and con-man type films are revenge plots (not all). (David Mamet is mentioned as a famous author of sting and con-man stories.) This type of plot takes a long time in the setup and usually delights the audience.

Works mentioned

The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd
Antonio’s Revenge by John Marston
The Revenge of Bussy d’Ambroise by George Chapman
Tragedy of Hoffman by Henry Chettle
The Revengers Tragedie by Cyril Tourneur
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe
Medea by Euripides

Movies mentioned

Death Wish
Sudden Impact
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Ulu (from New Zealand)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The crime.

A crime is committed against the hero, who is unable to rally a defense. He can be absent, or he can be present and made to watch (increasing the horror and outrage).

Some stories start after the crime has been committed, but Tobias advises against this. The audience is less likely to feel empathy for the protagonist. The crime sequence creates a strong bond between the audience and the victim (the protagonist).

Tobias gives some really good action advice here. This is one of the tricks of the trade that should be learned well. Then it can be followed or broken as needed.

From the book: “Generally it’s good advice for any writer to start a scene late and get out early; that is, don’t drag your reader through every detail leading up to the action, and don’t “hang around” after it. (…) But I don’t recommend cutting the scenes so tightly that the audience doesn’t witness the crime, because it may be an important element for the reader to experience emotionally.”

Another gem from the book: “One of your primary goals in this plot is to build a strong emotional bridge between your readers and your main character.”

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

The hero’s plans for revenge.

This phase often includes pursuit.

Also, there is frequently a third character who tries to stop the protagonist. (Police officer, superior, etc.)

In a serial revenge plot, where several people have to pay, the hero normally starts handing out justice in this phase.

In a non-violent revenge plot, especially one involving a con or sting, the plans are normally “complicated, unwieldy and seemingly impossible.”

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

Confrontation.

This is the moment of triumph for the protagonist. If the hero also dies, his death is usually heroic.

If there is a serial revenge, the ringleader or most psychopathic villain is saved for last.

Often the plans go crazy and the hero has to improvise.

Checklist

1. Protagonist seeks retaliation against antagonist for injury (real or imagined).

2. Most revenge plots focus more on action than character.

3. Most often, vigilante justice is used – outside the law.

4. One positive and powerful impact on the audience’s emotion of frustration at bureaucracy is by the hero avenging injustices that the normal justice institutions are too restricted to handle properly.

5. Hero should have a moral reason to seek revenge.

6. Hero’s vengeance must equal, but not exceed, the crime.

7. Act 1. First attempts to redress the wrong should go through normal channels and fail.

8. Act 1. At the beginning, plainly display the hero’s normal life so that the impact of the crime disrupts him so much that he seeks revenge. (Especially as he will probably step outside the law.)

9. Act 2. Plans for revenge and often pursuit. Usually pit two characters against each other.

10. Act 3. Confrontation between protagonist and antagonist. Often hero needs to improvise as his plans fall apart. He can succeed or fail. In modern revenge plots, the hero doesn’t pay a high emotional price for the revenge, so the audience feels catharsis.

My comments

Morally speaking, when revenge is an action plot, it is a simple one of black-and-white (justice). When the villain seeks revenge, it is still good against evil. When it is a character plot like Hamlet, the black-and-white fades to shades of gray.

In fact, Atlas Shrugged could be seen as a revenge story (a subplot to Dagny’s quest): Galt’s revenge on a humanity that adopted altruism, thus committing many crimes against producers.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 13 – Master Plot #7: The Riddle

All chapters except the last start with a quote and I have decided to not include them (buy the book). The one at the head of this chapter is so charming, though, that I felt that I had to give it.

“The mystery story is really two stories in one: the story of what happened and the story of what appeared to happen.” – Mary Roberts Rinehart

Obviously a mystery story is a riddle plot.

However, Tobias first starts with discussing riddles themselves. He states that one of the delights of a human being is in solving riddles, brain teasers, conundrums, i.e., finding hidden meanings and searching for clues. He calls a riddle “a guessing game, often with a twist,” that is usually witty, shrewd and sometimes insightful.

A Riddle has three parts, (1) general, (2) specific, and (3) answer. Also, it is a mental test, not a physical one.

In ancient literature, it involved gods, ogres and beasts, where the hero must answer a riddle before he got the bride, freedom from captivity, access to someplace or something else he wanted.

In modern literature, it has transformed into the mystery story. The whodunit.

The heart of a mystery story is a paradox and the plot is physical, despite the intellectual appeal, since it must focus on events (who, what, where, when, and why) and not character development. From the book: “Things are not what they seem on the surface. Clues lie within the words. The answer is not obvious (which wouldn’t satisfy), but the answer is there. And in the best tradition of the mystery, the answer is in plain view.”

He also warns that a mystery plot, “… requires a lot of cleverness and the ability to deceive the reader.” Clues are important and the parlor game charades is discussed as a form of understanding how they work insinuation-wise.

A good clue is not obvious and does not have an absolute solution. It can mean one thing as well as another. It has to be understood, but it should be able to be easily misunderstood. It should be causal, but look casual. The best hiding place is in plain view. A clue should blend in with its background and not stand out. (Hide a chicken in a chicken coop, not in a living room.)

Tobias warns against using red herrings in mysteries, since that makes the reader mad. (A red herring is a clue “added for the sole purpose of throwing the reader off track.”)

Readers (the audience for films) usually think of mystery stories as contests between themselves and the author, where they try to figure out the riddle before the protagonist does. Thus it is important for the author to treat his story as a game and play fairly. The author has to find the tension balance between making the solution too easy and making it impossible to figure out.

The protagonist is usually a detective.

One of the conventions that evolved in mystery stories was the “intrusion of the dark, cruel criminal underworld into everyday life.” When used, this creates a good/evil imbalance that increases tension.

Works mentioned

The riddles in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carol
Folklore since ancient times.
Fairy tales where the hero must answer a riddle before he gets the bride, access to someplace or something he wants.
“The Lady or the Tiger” by Frank R. Stockton (as example of unresolved paradox)

Authors of whodunits mentioned

Agatha Christie
Raymond Chandler
Dashiell Hammett
P. D. James
Georges Simenon
Mickey Spillane
Arthur Conan Doyle
H. P. Lovecraft
Dorothy Sayers
Ambrose Bierce
Guy de Maupassant
(Tobias says the list is too impossibly long to list.)

Movies mentioned

The Blue Dahlia
The Maltese Falcon
And Then there Were None
D.O.A (Originally Der Mann, Der Seiner Morder Sucht – A Man Searches for his Murderer)
Chinatown (with two riddles running throughout)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The riddle (Usually who did it and why?).

The general part is introduced, i.e., what/where was done and the main characters. The plot is physical. It is not character development.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

Specifics – clues.

Appearance versus reality is the main theme when working with clues. Tension comes from both things and language that appear one way and mean something else.

Tobias warns against telegraphing clues or making them stand out. A good clue blends into the background. Camouflage is the rule for clues – same coloration, same background. Create an environment that is natural for clues.

This is where the bulk of the contest with the reader happens. The reader is trying to figure out the mystery before the protagonist does.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

Solution of the riddle.

Tobias warns that the solution has to fit both the general part and the specifics.

The real sequence of events and the real motives are presented, as opposed to the ones that seemed to have happened.

Special consideration – Unsolved Riddles

There is a type of literature where life is seen to be absurd, so no solutions to the riddles presented are given.

Kafka is such an author (The Trial and Metamorphosis). There is no “why” in these stories, but there are riddles. The film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick is also mentioned, being full of riddles without answers.

Tobias very generously states that some people get fun from trying to come up with different possibilities, since ultimately nobody knows what is meant. But he also warns that other people think these things are “frustrating and unfulfilling, rather like someone telling you a joke without a punch line.”

From the book: “Writers who are serious about dealing with and reflecting on the true nature of existence often find it presumptuous to present life as finite and clear.” (I can just see Objectivists slapping their hand to their forehead with that one.)

As a precaution against this kind of riddle plot, Tobias says that the general audience does not like it. The general audience demands that its riddles be solved. So the author should decide for whom he is writing.

Checklist

1. Make the core of the riddle cleverness, hiding things in plain sight.

2. Tension comes from the contrast of what appears to happen and what actually does happen.

3. The audience tries to solve the riddle before the protagonist does.

4. The answer to the riddle should be in plain view without being obvious.

5. Act 1 – General: persons, places, events. (Also, the riddle itself.)

6. Act 2 – Specifics: details on how the persons, places and events relate to each other. (Also, clues.)

7. Act 3 – Solution. Present real sequence of events and real motives.

8. Choose audience and write to that one.

9. Choose open-ended (no answer) or close-ended (answer given).

My comments

Ayn Rand always said that Atlas Shrugged was a mystery story. Actually, the first big clue she gives is the unnamed worker Eddie Willers is always talking to. And she did use the mystery story device to put off introducing Galt until late in the book. However, as I mentioned earlier, Atlas Shrugged is essentially a quest plot about Dagny. The mystery is merely a subplot.

[Landon Erp]

Michael, this chapter has been especially helpful. The story I'm writing now is essentially a murder mystery and it was good to compare Tobias's notes to how I'm developing the story.

So far most of my choices stand up. And I think I was misnaming some of my characters as red herrings when there is a reason why they would be mistaken as the killer.

Sorry I can't get too specific (it is a mystery).

---Landon

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Landon,

Like a good selfish egoist, I am doing this study for myself. This thing is filling in gaps that have plagued me for years.

But I am simply delighted that it is helping you create better. Sharing is not a very respectable Objectivist value, but I get off on it.

There. I said it.

(uhhhh.... I feel dizzy all of a sudden..)

And I know that there are more of you out there. I really hope this stuff helps you all.



Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

As I mentioned in the edit to Master Plot #5: Escape, I was half way through a book with an escape plot when I wrote that. I finished the book and just posted the second edit to finish the thought.

I am giving both edits here so you don't have to go back. Still, I recommend going back and reviewing all this material from time to time so it will sink in properly. Even though I am the one writing it and learning oodles, I also do periodic reviews. My head is too hard to retain all that stuff in a once-over only.

:-k

Michael

Quote

Edit - By coincidence, I happen to be reading a book about a serial killer by Michael Prescott, In Dark Places, which is an escape plot (so far). However, it is in reverse. The villain is captured and escapes. Then the hunt is on. Also, the protagonist is, in part, one of the ones on the jailer's side, but then I believe she will become hunted by the villain as he is being hunted (or, at least her daughter will be). I will post a breakdown after I finish the book.

Second Edit - I did finish the book. It is a wonderful example of modern storytelling. Essentially it played out as an escape plot, but with a twist. Someone on the good guy's side was captured and needed to escape too. So it was a double escape plot, with the villain and a good guy both being captured. I hope I don't spoil anything by saying the following: the number of major twists and reversals at the end was extremely entertaining. Item of interest: Michael Prescott used to be an Objectivist. He changed his views before becoming a best-selling author. That is why his subject is about a serial killer and not, say, an architect.

Michael

[Rich Engle]

I was reading MSK's last post and got thinking after he mentioned "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

An excellent book that gets down to the primal stuff, and how it worked in "B" movie culture is Stephen King's Danse Macabre

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/042510433...glance&n=283155

It's worth mentioning just from the standpoint of how such a successful novelist as King views and incorporates those kinds of elements into his writing.

Another interesting thing about it is that it is one of his very few non-fiction pieces.

rde

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 14 – Master Plot #8: Rivalry

Tobias emphasizes that rivalry is the story of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object.

Rival: (1) one who competes for the same goal and (2) one who disputes prominence or superiority.

The mother of all rivalries is the beginning of Christianity, with rivalry between God and Satan. However all mythologies contain rivalries of gods.

The main principle is that the strength of the rivals must be evenly matched, but they can have different weaknesses. Making exact strengths for both rivals is boring for storytelling and more suited to sports. The best is the idea of compensating strengths, where one rival will be more physical (strong or skillful) and the other more mental (clever).

Tension comes from opposition. As strengths are balanced, the tension is maintained by one rival winning one time and the other rival winning another. If strengths are uneven, one rival wins easily and that is not good storytelling. It is a good idea for tension to keep the audience unsure about who will win each time – being obvious and then not being obvious (i.e., the physical rival wins by physical prowess at times and by being clever at other times, and vice versa). Tobias suggests that the author create situations specifically designed to test each rival’s strengths.

A rivalry plot is one ripe for deep structure (morality). Tobias claims that the deep structure concept is the most apparent in the rivalry plot and most suited to it. Normal rivals are simply good and evil. However, sometimes a rivalry plot will include opponents who are good guys. (This reminds me of Rand’s technique of main conflicts being competition between heroes, especially the rivalry of the big three for Dagny’s hand in Atlas Shrugged.)

Rivalry is competition – and there must be a winner and a loser (and all the variations on this). Intent is easy, since the goal is the same for each rival. Weaving in emotional motivations like anger, jealousy, fear, love, etc., and highlighting the source of the rivals’ obsession makes for a better story.

There is the concept of power balance also, not just competition for the same goal. As one rival gains in general power and prominence, the other should lose in equivalent measure. Tobias calls this the power curve.

The love triangle is a classic rivalry plot.

Works mentioned

Paradise Lost by John Milton (rivals, God and Satan)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (rivals, Captain Ahab and the whale)
Billy Budd by Herman Melville (rivals, Billy and Claggart)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (rivals, the children)
The Virginian by Owen Wister (rivals, Virginian and Trampas)
Superheroes in general and their nemesises
The Odd Couple by Neil Simon (rivals, Felix Unger and Oscar Madison)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (rivals, old man and fish)
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall (rivals, William Bligh and Fletcher Christian)
Comedies of William Shakespeare (two rivals competing for the love of a third)
Jules and Jim by Henri-Pierre Roché (movie by Francois Truffaut) (rivals, Jules and Jim)
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace (rivals, Ben Hur and Messala), made into several films, with the most famous one in 1959 with Charlton Heston

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The rivals are introduced and find common ground.

There is a catalyst episode, introducing the main conflict and pitting the rivals against each other action-wise.

The antagonist gains superiority during this phase and is the one to take the initiative. The traditional story makes the antagonist ascend in power and influence while the protagonist gets banished to somewhere and disgraced.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

This part is the gradual recovery of the protagonist. He ends up gaining superiority (or the threat of it) over the antagonist in this phase until he achieves a parity point. The protagonist is the one to take the initiative in this phase.

If the protagonist has been banished, this part is his struggle back to being able to confront the antagonist.

A good trick is to make the antagonist aware of the protagonist’s progress, so he is always looking over his shoulder and anticipating the final confrontation.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

The confrontation. This cannot happen until the protagonist has reached a point of parity with the antagonist. This stage is usually pure action.

Checklist

1. Source of conflict is irresistible force meeting immovable object.

2. There should be a struggle for power between protagonist and antagonist.

3. Rivals are equally matched.

4. Rivals do not have identical strengths, but compensating ones instead.

5. Begin story at initial conflict point, but show status quo before the conflict.

6. The catalyst scene is usually antagonist instigating the conflict against protagonist.

7. Power curve. As one rival ascends, the other descends.

8. Act 1 – Antagonist gains superiority. Make protagonist suffer from acts of antagonist,

9. Moral issues usually illustrate the sides.

10. Act 2 – Protagonist ascends.

11. Antagonist is usually aware of protagonist’s progress.

12. Protagonist must reach point of parity before final confrontation.

13. Act 3 – Final confrontation.

14. After resolution, protagonist restorers order.

My comments

I couldn’t help but think of the Ridley Scott’s film, Gladiator, while studying this.

Obviously this plot structure is a good one for creating variations on it. For example, The Fountainhead could be seen as a rivalry plot between Roark and Keating. The variation is that the goal is merely architectural success (surface), but the definition of success is vastly different (depth). These rivals even share the same woman (Dominique). The wild-card (and triangle to make things interesting) comes in with the appearance of Gail Wynand. Another variation is that the villain, Toohey, is a secondary character.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 15 – Master Plot #9: Underdog

From the book: “The underdog plot is a form of rivalry plot (so you should read chapter fourteen before reading this), but it is distinct enough to be a separate category.”

A normal rivalry plot is based on matching strengths. In an underdog plot, the antagonist’s strength is far greater and the protagonist has to overcome impossible odds.

It is characterized as the prevailing of one over many, small over large, weak over powerful and apparently stupid over apparently smart.

The protagonist has to have tenacity and shrewdness, but he also much be virtuous.

Audiences respond more deeply to an underdog plot than to a rival plot. Everybody identifies with an underdog, since that is how all people feel at one time or another. This is heroism that can be felt by all, and most everybody comes up against situations in life where they have no chance to succeed.

Thus, to increase empathy, the protagonist should not have an emotional or intellectual level higher than the audience’s. That way the audience will identify with him more intensely.

The protagonist’s intent is to win. As the cost to himself and others is high, his motivation usually gets some attention – in addition to the action. Thus an underdog plot is essentially an action plot with a bit higher degree of emphasis on character development than normal.

This plot is pretty predictable, since people love it when the underdog wins. Tobias advises to pit the protagonist against overwhelming odds, but warns against making them so lopsided that the story turns into a cartoon.

Works mentioned

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and later very popular movie (underdog McMurphy against antagonist Ratched)
The Joan of Arc story (underdog Joan of Arc against antagonist The Church)
Cinderella (underdog Cinderella and the antagonists, the evil step sisters and stepmother)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The protagonist’s life is usually shown before the interruption that changes everything.

Then in an event, the antagonist gains the upper hand and the protagonist becomes disempowered.

As the nature of the protagonist is to resist, he does an action to reverse the descending movement of his life and start gaining strength.

Thus there are three parts to Act 1 – (1) the protagonist’s life before the change, (2) the change, with the antagonist on top and the protagonist on bottom, and (3) another change that turns the protagonist around toward ascent.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

Challenges. The protagonist is strong enough now to challenge the antagonist, either directly or indirectly.

In this act, Tobias suggests two events that the protagonist fails at and a third that puts him in a much stronger position, without fully winning. The contest with the antagonist is not completely resolved, the protagonist merely becomes stronger. Tobias notes the magic number of three (two failures and a success).

Thus this third event is a turning point for the protagonist. He goes to a position of much greater strength.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

The final direct confrontation with a much empowered underdog.

The protagonist has to play fair while the antagonist cheats. It is permissible to let the protagonist use the antagonist’s own dirty tricks against him.

Not only does the good guy usually win (but not always), he should strongly feel his triumph (or other climatic emotion), as this is a powerful empathy moment for the audience.

Checklist

1. Similar to rivalry plot except there is a discrepancy of strength, with underdog much weaker than antagonist. The antagonist can be a person, place or thing (like a bureaucracy).

2. The acts are similar to rivalry plot and the power curves are similar (including who initiates the actions).

3. The underdog usually overcomes his opposition at the end.

My comments

There are lots of marital arts films that fit this bill.

Although there are elements of the underdog in The Fountainhead, it involves more the imbalanced competition between Roark and the architectural world, not necessarily the one between Roark and Keating.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 16 – Master Plot #10: Temptation

From the book: “To be tempted is to be induced or persuaded to do something that is either unwise, wrong or immoral.”

There is a distinction that needs to be made for the purposes of plot – temptation is not for good things, only for bad things that appear to be good. This story is a powerful one because we all have tempting opportunities that appear daily. And it cuts across all classes and types of people.

From the book: “The story of temptation is the story of the frailty of human nature.”

On one end are the benefits that are gained and on the other are the penalties that are weighed and/or ignored. The inner struggle (“yes and no, pro and con, why and why not”) always comes from knowledge – from knowing what to do and from not doing the right thing, but doing the wrong thing instead.

Tobias calls the temptation plot the one that is the most religiously oriented. Frankly, it seems particularly suited to Objectivist type literature, since it illuminates moral choices so well.

Temptation is also very common in fairy tales.

This is a character plot, not an action one. It is good for examining motives, needs and impulses and supports a great deal of character development.

One interesting thing Tobias mentioned is that sometimes (like in the “Our Lady’s Child” story), there is no formal antagonist – the protagonist is the good side of the main character and the antagonist is the bad side. However, there is a concrete antagonist in many plots. Still, making both moral sides inhabit the same character is a nice resource an author can choose for character development.

From the book: “In many ways, this plot creates parables about behavior.”

Tobias warns against focusing the plot too much on the temptation itself and not enough on motivations (including inner struggles with guilt and anger). He advises to give the character a wide range of emotions resulting from the inner turmoil.

Regardless of whether the main character has matured or not at the end, a high emotional cost should be paid.

Works mentioned

The Garden of Eden story from the Bible
“Our Lady’s Child” by Brothers Grimm
Fatal Attraction (movie)
Doctor Faustus (books by Johann von Goethe and Thomas Mann and operas by Boito, Busoni and Gounod)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The protagonist and antagonist are introduced with emphasis on their natures.

The type of temptation is established, (maybe including an examination of gains and punishments).

The first event is when the protagonist succumbs to the temptation. Obviously the protagonist has to fight against himself before giving in.

Usually he rationalizes his behavior. Also, a period of denial can follow.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

The benefits enjoyed start going bad and the problems start arising. The protagonist tries to escape punishment. He can continue to deny.

The more he tries to get out of the punishment, the closer it comes to being a reality – the burden becomes heavier and heavier. It finally reaches the point where it is no longer bearable.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

Resolution of the inner conflicts. It can be a happy ending or a sad one. What is important is to show the impact on the main character – whether he matured or not, the emotional price paid and the lesson learned.

Checklist

1. This is a character plot with emphasis on motives, needs and impulses.

2. Morality oriented, with the main character usually moving from a lower moral position (giving in to temptation) to a higher one (lesson learned).

3. Conflict comes from protagonist knowing what to do and not doing it. Tension comes from the interior conflict, but can be shown in exterior actions.

4. Act 1 – Nature of protagonist and antagonist (or two sides of protagonist) is given.

5. Act 1 – Then the type of temptation is presented, its impact on protagonist and protagonist’s struggle against it.

6. Act 1 – Protagonist gives in to temptation, and this can include short-term gratification.

7. Act 1 – Rationalizations.

8. Act 1 – Period of denial after giving in.

9. Act 2 – Effects of giving in. Gains start going sour and the negative side emerges.

10. Act 2 – Protagonist tries to escape punishment.

11. Act 2 – The negative effects should increase in intensity until becoming unbearable.

12. Act 3 – Inner conflicts resolved. Atonement, reconciliation, forgiveness, lesson learned (or full regret of error and damage or destruction for sad endings).

My comments

Doctor Faustus is obviously a variation on this. Instead of giving in to temptation in Act 1, a wager is made between the devil and him. In Act 3, instead of resolving the inner conflicts from giving in, he actually gives in. But still, there are the three acts: setup, complications and resolution, with lots of inner conflicts along the way.

One of the subplots of Atlas Shrugged deals with temptation. It is the story of Dr. Robert Stadler. It is interesting how his story follows the above plot outline to a tee (with a tragic ending for Stadler).

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 17 – Master Plot #11: Metamorphosis

This is one type of plot that most Objectivists will not be interested in, since it is not grounded in reality, but still, it is a good idea to analyze it. I can even see possibilities for entertainment with some Objectivist overtones, like for comic books and movies aimed at the young people audience. This is because good literature, regardless of how fantastic it gets, is about human problems and human solutions.

From the book: “In the metamorphosis plot, the physical characteristics of the protagonist actually change from one form to another.”

This includes vampires, werewolves, princes coming from toads, men becoming cockroaches and things of this nature. This plot is always about a physical change in the basic form of a human being.

The grounds of this are in metaphor and allegory – mostly applied to the animal kingdom. The lion symbolizes strength, the fox cunning, and the wolf (in fairy tails) power, greed and evil, etc. Tobias notes that “we have maintained our animal links through the ages…” And that: “The modern era hasn’t diminished our fascination with the connection between beast and human.”

The metamorphosis usually happens because of a curse. The reason for the curse is wrongdoing or an offense against nature (or the supernatural, but it could be due to jealousy/envy by the one making the curse or even other motives). The curse always comes with a set of conditions, prohibitions and rituals. The person or entity who makes the curse is the one who sets these terms.

If there is a cure for the curse (not just a release from it through death), it is always love. The idea is that love can overcome our “beast” instincts. From the book: “Love can correct wrong, it can heal the wounded and strengthen the weak at heart.” Tobias notes that love comes in many forms, old, young, romantic, family, fraternal, and even the supernatural (God). Thus it becomes a plot that is concerned with the grotesque and the curative power of love.

One interesting thing Tobias implied is that the evil portrayed by a metamorph is essentially the evil within all of us, and the release from the curse is to restore the good that is within all of us.

There are a few metamorphs who are not capable of being redeemed by love, like Dracula and the werewolf. Still, death will release them from their curse.

Not all metamorphs are evil, either (fairy tales, for instance).

An antagonist (who may be the good guy or bad guy, depending on the nature of the metamorph and the curse) is usually put up against the metamorph to help him overcome the curse – usually as a catalyst. Often the antagonist has to do some kind of ritual for the release from the curse to happen. If this is the case, the metamorph has to wait on him to do all the stages of the ritual.

This is a character plot with some physical-change fireworks thrown in. (Focus for the author can be on both character development and special effects.) There is a mystery – what did the protagonist do to become afflicted with the metamorphosis and what needs to be done to free himself?

The protagonist is usually an innately sad person who carries his burden. He also usually dearly desires release from the curse, whether by love or by death. The curse not only affects how a metamorph looks, it also affects how he acts. His life also is governed by the rituals and prohibitions of the curse (avoiding daylight for vampires, effect of full moon for werewolves, etc.).

From the book: “The metamorph is cornered, looking for a way out. There’s usually a way out.” As mentioned, if there is a cure, it is love. If not, it is death. So if death is his only release from the curse, he resists it (which is what a lot of the action is all about), but ends up welcoming his own death on a very deep level.

Works mentioned

The Wolf Man (movie – including many myths, books and films about werewolves)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (including many myths, books and films about vampires)
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
“Frog King” by the Grimm Brothers
Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont (including many folk tales, and later books and films)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The protagonist (the accursed) is introduced. What he has become is given, but not why he has become that way. (Disclosure of the reason for the curse is usually reserved for Act 3.) So the story usually starts somewhere before the resolution of the curse.

The antagonist (“the chosen one”) is introduced. He is often a victim, but he is usually the one the metamorph has been waiting for. He will provide the means (as catalyst or otherwise) for the metamorph’s release. He is also usually repulsed by the metamorph, but falls under his spell, becoming a physical or mental prisoner. Showing the antagonist becoming a direct or indirect captive of the metamorph is one of the points of Act 1. From the book: “By the end of the first dramatic phase, however, the curse is evident, and the antagonist has felt the effects of it.”

An implicit law of the curse is that there is nothing that the metamorph can do or say to explain or hurry the antagonist along with what he has to do.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

This act explores the relationship between the metamorph and the antagonist. Most action centers on escape and recapture.

The metamorph shows both the full range of his dark “animal” side, and can also show a human side (like tenderness, etc.).

Both metamorph and the antagonist advance through complications toward fulfilling the terms of the release. One interesting observation by Tobias is that this advance toward release is the whole point of Act 2, but the audience is rarely aware of it.

Both metamorph and the antagonist also move toward each other emotionally.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

The terms of release come to the critical stage and an incident happens (catalyst or otherwise) that causes the metamorph’s release from the curse and/or effects a physical change.

The full explanation for the curse and its causes is usually given.

Checklist

1. The metamorphosis is usually the result of curse.

2. The cure is generally love.

3. Forms of love: parent/child, romantic, fraternal, God.

4. The protagonist is usually the metamorph.

5. The point of the plot is to show the metamorph’s “process of transformation back to humanity.”

6. This is a character plot, with more focus on the nature of the metamorph than on action. (I mention special effects and the escape/recapture parts for action, however.)

7. The metamorph is usually a sad character.

8. Lots of rituals and prohibitions for the metamorph.

9. The metamorph usually desperately desires an end to his curse.

10. There is normally a way out, called release.

11. The terms of release are most often carried out by antagonist.

12. When this is the case, the metamorph cannot explain or hurry the antagonist’s acts.

13. Act 1 – The metamorph is presented in his state of curse and usually cannot or does not explain why.

14. Act 1 – You should begin the story at some point before release from the curse.

15. Act 1 – The antagonist is presented, often being a catalyst who “propels the protagonist toward release.”

16. Act 1 – The antagonist often starts as a victim, but eventually becomes “the chosen one.”

17. Act 2 – Focus is on the evolving relationship between the metamorph and antagonist. (Action will be mostly escape/recapture.)

18. Act 2 – The metamorph and antagonist move toward each other emotionally.

19. Act 3 – Terms of release are fulfilled. The metamorph reverts to his original state or dies.

20. Act 3 – The reasons for the curse and its causes are given.

My comments

If I remember my vampire (and other metamorph) movies correctly, Act 2 can also gradually reveal details of the terms of the curse’s release ritual – at key moments – as a manner of reversing action, causing plot reversals.

A variation on this plot is that the protagonist can purposefully use magic for the metamorphosis, instead of being cursed by another.

One thing Tobias does not mention is that the attraction of this kind of story is rooted in the human psyche’s fascination with the grotesque. This is almost a view contrary to Objectivism, however fascination with the grotesque has been manifest throughout all of recorded history in various forms of the circus. This plot appeals to that innate fascination.

One good variation that I am thinking about for making some kind of Objectivist metamorphosis story is to make it a psychological story where the metamorphosis is all in the protagonist’s head, it is imagined, and only the protagonist’s love of his own mind, reason and truth brings him back and cures the “curse.” This reason for losing it like that could be drug induced.

(Hmmmmmmm…)

[Landon Erp]

Quote

One good variation that I am thinking about for making some kind of Objectivist metamorphosis story is to make it a psychological story where the metamorphosis is all in the protagonist’s head, it is imagined, and only the protagonist’s love of his own mind, reason and truth brings him back and cures the “curse.” This reason for losing it like that could be drug induced.

Kind of sounds like the plot for a Beautiful Mind.

---Landon

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 18 – Master Plot #12: Transformation

Transformation is a character plot. It is close to the metamorphosis plot, except the transformation is internal, not physical.

Tobias remarks that the study of humanity is the study of change. But some things do not change. From the book: “Time, however, hasn’t altered certain aspects of humanity, and we share much with a Greek citizen in Athens three thousand years ago or an Egyptian trader in Memphis five thousand years ago. The denominators of basic human psychology have remained the same. We’re born, we grow up and mature and we die.

The transformation plot concerns the process of change during the many stages of life. The protagonist moves from one significant state of character to another. The change in character is the result of the action (however what he does is governed by what he thinks). The main character is different at the end than at the beginning.

What the transformation plot does is focus on the nature of the change and “how it affects the character from the start to the end of her experience.” Since different people react differently to the same situations, the core of interest is how the main person is affected by a situation (as people are affected differently, also).

Tobias gives five examples of situations that prompt transformation:

1. Lessons of the adult world.

2. The lessons and impact of war.

3. Search for identity. (Tobias gives the dark side, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Invisible Man, but I see this category rich for Objectivists, like leaving the fold of religious or cultural groups where they grew up, or abandoning a collectivist mentality.)

4. Dramatic moments of transition in life (like divorce, death of a loved one, a time when using violence is unavoidable for a nonviolent person, etc.).

5. Someone tampering with the protagonist’s life (like in Pygmalion). (How’s this one also for Objectivists? How about a plot where a depressive collectivist is force-fed Objectivism? Or vice-versa? Wonderful comedy idea…)

It might be interesting to do some serious thinking on this and come up with other possibilities than just these five. (For instance, in “The Kiss,” which Tobias analyzes, there is a small accident – a strange woman kisses the protagonist by mistake, and that spins him into an inner crisis. So “chance event” could be a sixth category.)

Works mentioned

“Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway
“I’m a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (play, then musical and movie as My Fair Lady)
“The Kiss” by Anton Chekhov

Movies mentioned

The Last Picture Show
The Paper Chase
Kramer vs. Kramer
Straw Dogs (from the book Siege at Trencher’s Farm by Gordon Williams)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The protagonist is shown before the change.

The incident that prompts a crisis, and thus the change, is presented. This is called the initial transforming incident, or inciting incident.

The first effects on the protagonist of the incident unfold. Tobias cautions the author to keep to action and reaction, and cause and effect.

(It is also important to foreshadow the transformation, showing there are lessons to be learned or insights to be made, etc.)

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

This act shows the “full effects of the transforming incident.” As this is a process plot, the process of transformation is developed by degrees.

Being a character plot, self-examination is used greatly. From the book: “Whatever actions the character takes are a direct expression of what the character thinks. The character’s nature determines the action…”

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

This act shows the incident that defines the outcome of the change (final transforming incident or clarifying incident).

Tobias mentions that in this act, it is common for the protagonist to have learned a lesson, or learned a lesson other than what he thought he would learn (where illusion is replaced by reality).

He also is usually a bit sadder but wiser. (This last is not a very Objectivist outcome, although it does have roots in human nature.)

Growth and understanding occur.

Checklist

1. This is a plot that covers “the process of change as the protagonist journeys through one of the many stages of life.”

2. A portion of the protagonist’s life is isolated, concentrating on moving from one significant state to another.

3. Focus should be on the nature of the change and how it affects the protagonist, both before, during and after.

4. Act 1 – Here the initial transforming (inciting) incident that prompts a crisis and starts the process of change is presented.

5. Act 2 – The effects of the transformation develop (the process unfolding). Lots of self-examination is made.

6. Act 3 – Final transforming or clarifying incident. This is where the change is completed. The protagonist understands his experience and how it affected him.

7. Often wisdom comes with a bit of sadness.

My comments

One extremely good piece of advice that Tobias unwittingly gave in the middle of the Act 1 discussion is a comment that a character was “primed” for an event to affect him. Tobias was discussing the disproportionate impact of a mistaken kiss on a Chekhov character. Had he not been “primed” (given proper description of his psychology and actions illustrating it), then the extreme impact would have fallen flat.

A common criticism about Ayn Rand’s characters is their black-and-white nature. This is because they rarely show any significant transformation. The good guys seem to be born that way and so do the bad guys. The only thing the heroes usually do is learn about the world (or “man’s nature”) for becoming wiser than they already are, not learning about an inner state so that they can move on to another more mature state (or better one).

In other words, transformation-wise, Rand’s good guys generally learn how to become “gooder” and the bad guys learn how to become “badder.” That’s all. I think that is why writing her kind of character is so hard for another person to do without coming off as being completely derivative and mediocre. I remember looking through Rand’s Journal and seeing “the curse” popping up as an initial character trait for heroes. This curse is always some innate goodness that the character has, but does not thoroughly understand, and is unable to betray.

The main Rand character that comes to mind where a personality transformation did happen is the subplot of the Wet Nurse in Atlas Shrugged. What made his transformation exceptionally poignant is that he was killed right after the transformation was complete. Rand might have written this to highlight the evil of altruism, but to me, the whole Wet Nurse subplot in itself is one of Rand’s finest dramatic creations.

In short, I see the transformation plot is a great one for Objectivists to use and show some originality, i.e., writing something that does not come off as a weak imitation of Rand.

Edit - After my first read of this chapter, I mentioned “coming of age” above as another name for this kind of plot, but that was not correct. So I deleted that reference. A transformation plot concerns adults. “Coming of age” is a maturation plot.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 19 – Master Plot #13: Maturation

This is the actual "coming of age" plot. The transformation plot is essentially about adults who are in the process of change (but I can see where it could apply to a younger age group for stories directed at youth). The maturation plot involves growing up – children becoming adults.

One thing usually not noticed is that this kind of plot is very optimistic. The lesson may be difficult, but the person will almost always become better for learning it.

From the book: “The maturation plot is a close relative to transformation and metamorphosis plots, and yet it’s distinct enough to have its own category.” Thus Tobias makes an interesting observation that maturation involves both metamorphosis and transformation. Although not a strict plot requirement, there is a physical change (metamorphosis) of a person from child to adult. And this plot moves the protagonist from innocence to experience.

Obviously it is a character plot, not an action based one. The young person is often a nice person, but his goals are confused or not yet formed. This plot also traces his moral and psychological growth.

The best place to start a story like this is at a point where the young person needs to be tested as an adult.

Many times the action is seen through the eyes of the young protagonist and involves other people, not him. From the book: “The position of observer is quite common, because the young person isn’t old enough to understand or to participate in the action in any meaningful way.”

Works mentioned

“Flight” by John Steinbeck
The Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway
“Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway (a Nick Adams story)
“The Killers” by Ernest Hemingway (a Nick Adams story)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
“Hansel and Gretel” by Brothers Grimm (although a fairy tale is not very psychological)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The full transformation from child to adult is a process that covers many years, however a maturation plot can set the time frame as one day, a few months or years. So deciding the time frame is important to setting up Act 1 properly.

The child is shown here as he is before his life gets changed. He can have a lot of negative or childlike traits. Typical ones are “irresponsible (but fun-loving), duplicitous, selfish, naive.” In other words, one who has not yet understood or accepted the responsibilities of adulthood. (Obviously for Objectivists, “selfish” here means the childish form of the term, not the Objectivist one.) Even though he will have these negative traits, he will probably be endearing, since the audience will forgive a child of many shortcomings at the start.

Then there is a catalytic event. The protagonist is happily in his “child” world when something comes along and shakes it up. This event has to be serious enough to get his attention and seriously challenge his beliefs. Tobias suggests possibly “the death of a parent, a divorce, or suddenly being cast out of the home” as typical events. Challenging a child’s belief in his own immortality and that of his family is emotionally very powerful.

One wise and interesting observation by Tobias is that sometimes and event that will be seen as normal to an adult will actually be world-shattering to a child. He cautions the writer to find those buried emotions in his soul and delve into the child’s psyche so that reactions to events will seem real. From the book: “Don’t let your reader react as an adult, because that will undercut the emotional upheaval your protagonist feels.”

He also cautions that there are some writers who simply cannot tap the inner world of children, so they should avoid this kind of story.

The protagonist usually needs to have a believable balance of maturity and immaturity. Too much on one side or the other will make the character seem phony.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

A child never becomes an adult from a single sudden insight. He resists the lessons he needs to learn and tries to maintain his own “child” beliefs, which the world is challenging. This resistance will be a driving force behind the complications.

In terms of the catalytic event (like the death of a parent, etc.), he usually denies it. From the book: “Denial is a strong emotion. It tries to protect the protagonist from reality.” (How’s that for an Objectivist theme for growing up?) Basically, children prefer to stay in their safe comfortable worlds over dealing with cruel facts.

The protagonist also might be trying to do the right thing, but simply not know what that is yet. So he can make many mistakes with severe consequences. He goes from innocence to experience (i.e., grows up some).

There is usually a price that comes with wisdom. Tobias suggests the possibility of loss of self-confidence or self-worth, or loss of worldly possessions, or he may go from his safe “child” world to an unpredictable and hostile adult one.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

This is where the protagonist will accept or reject the change in his life. Most maturation plots end upbeat and the protagonist will accept his new maturity in a meaningful manner, not in a token one.

This lesson will always be a turning point in the life of the protagonist, although it will be learned in stages (and even this lesson is usually just one stage of further growing up).

Advice from Tobias:
“Don’t rush all the growing in one day.”
“Don’t lecture or moralize.”
“Don’t try to capture all good an evil in your story.” (This will seem anti-Objectivist, but remember that this is a story about learning and maturing, not cops and robbers.)
“Find meaning in the seemingly trivial.” (What is extremely important to a child is not seen the same way by an adult.)

Checklist

1. Create a character near adulthood whose goals are confused or not clear.

2. Act 1 – Show how the protagonist thinks and feels before the change.

3. Contrast the naive child’s world (illusion) against unprotected adult’s world (reality).

4. Focus the story on the protagonist’s moral and psychological growth.

5. Act 1 – Create a catalytic event that challenges the protagonist’s child-world beliefs.

6. Questions to answer (from the book): “Does your character reject or accept change? Perhaps both? Does she resist the lesson? How does she act?”

7. Act 2 – Show the protagonist in the process of change. Make it gradual, not sudden.

8. For making a convincing character, do not give adult views to the protagonist until he is ready for them through the maturation process.

9. Act 2 – Don’t go into adulthood all at once. Make it gradual – where sometimes small lessons are major upheavals.

10. Act 3 – Decide on the psychological price of growing up and how the protagonist will deal with it.

My comments

There is a temptation to say that this is the most needed form of all in literature for Objectivists. Dayaamm!

But seriously, the maturation plot shows great promise. There is a wealth of Objectivist ideas that fit this plot. Just on one basic level, a child who is selfish in a “child” way can learn what being more responsibly selfish means, while he gives up his naive comfort but gains deeper happiness. Collectivism means very little to a child, but sharing means a lot in his world. So this could be another good theme to explore for growing up. The possibilities are many.

Rand’s literature for this kind of plot is not a good place to look, though. Her characters seem to be born good or born bad – and all they do is get more that way as they grow up.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 20 – Master Plot #14: Love

Next to the quest plot, this is probably one of the most important plots Tobias looks at. I believe that his characterization remarks on sentiment and sentimentality are some of the most illuminating and practical ones I have come across (see below).

This is a story that is at least five thousand years old and there are thousands and thousands of writers who have written it. Any writer doing it will join a long line of others.

From the book: “A love story is a story about love denied and either recaptured or lost.”

For some strange reason, Tobias starts this discussion with some examples of “Forbidden Love,” which will be his next chapter. I will list the works given both here and there. He probably did this to highlight that the crux of a love plot is that there must be an obstacle, so showing “forbidden love” obstacles like race, rank (medieval), incest and adultery are easy examples.

The first critical element of a love plot is an obstacle for the consummation or continuation of the love. For comedy and tradicomedy, Tobias mentions that this obstacle can be “confusion, misunderstanding and general silliness, such as mistaken identities.” Or it can be a gimmick, like one party being a ghost, having an overly-long nose or the being a mermaid or other creature. Or it can be some agonizing and tortured secret, like a hidden illness or previous marriage to a lunatic. Or the lover can even be dead (unbeknownst to the other lover).

One form of obstacle is to give the lovers a taste of happiness, then have disaster strike. From the book: “This disaster could be anything from an automobile crash, to a disease, to the I.R.S. (mistakenly) deciding she owes a zillion dollars in back taxes or the I.N.S. (mistakenly) deciding he’s a former guard in a Nazi death camp. It doesn’t matter what the obstacle is: what matters is if the lovers can jump the hurdles and make it to the finish line.”

Tobias also reminds the reader of the soundness of using the rule of three – two failed attempts at overcoming the obstacle and a third successful one.

Part of the drive for love stories comes from fairy tales. From the book: “Love that hasn’t been tested isn’t true love. Love must be proved, generally through hardship.

Tobias makes an interesting comment that “the higher up you go in the hierarchy of literature, the more unhappy the love stories get.” One lover usually dies in a drama but in comedy, the lovers usually go off together. Federico Garcia mentioned that “life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.”

Obviously a love plot is a character plot, not an action plot. However there is an added ingredient to the interaction of the characters. It is “chemistry.” If the lovers don’t click together, then they will not convince the audience.

This is where Tobias starts to make some extremely perceptive comments about characters. In the publishing industry, romance is big business with big bucks. Publishers even have “do and don’t do” lists for writing it. It boils down to stock characters. If you wish to write for that market, then you have to learn these types. Of course, unhappy endings are almost taboo.

The popular romance category concentrates on the love story as a general end in itself, while more profound literature uses the love story to examine deeper issues like, for instance, the conflict between spiritual and carnal life.

Higher forms of literature do not make use of stock characters. The following section illustrates essential components of stock characters. Although this is given for love plots, Tobias’s analysis is so penetrating that it applies to all literature.

Sentiment and sentimentality

Tobias starts with fairy tale characters. The reason these stock characters work for children is because they serve everychild (everyboy and everygirl).

What a fairy tale character has is an appearance that allows a young reader to project his own world onto the character. Thus, the character will come from “Far Away,” or “The Kingdom” or “The Forest,” and rarely from “Buffalo, Biloxi or Bozeman.” Their names will be generic names like Dick and Jane. They will not have too many distinguishing characteristics (tattoos or scars, etc.), they are usually in full health and biologically normal. Their parents don’t even have names, having professions or roles instead (woodcutter, fisherman or farmer, wife, stepmother, etc.).

From the book: “The more the reader knows about the character, the less the character is a part of the reader’s world and more a part of his own world.”

Also: “If you as a writer intend to appeal to all readers, you must rely on types that will allow the reader to identify situations and project herself onto them.”

Thus the wider the appeal, the less specific the character can be, being more stereotyped instead. (Finding a balance here between the vague and the specific is extremely important to making individualized characters universal. Both aspects can be included in the same character.)

Now we come to sentiment versus sentimentality. Tobais calls this honest emotion as opposed to prepackaged emotion. He makes a masterful analysis of an Edgar Guest poem to illustrate the vague sentimental language of Guest, where the reader drawn on her own experience.

Tobias calls sentimentality “subject-ive.” What he means is that you write about the subject of love, not about the people and situations. So, like Guest, if you mention motherhood, or say that she is “prettier now” or that she is “more settled” without giving what she looked like or was like before, then the reader supplies her own emotions. She draws on her own feelings to fill in the blanks.

From the book: “What sentimentality does is rely on the reader’s experience rather than the fictional experience created by the writer.”

Tobias calls sentiment “object-ive.” The objects are people, places and situations. A world is created with them and the people are the ones who have their own feelings. Then the reader can empathize with their emotions, instead of drawing on his own.

Tobias states that “we never feel so alive as when we are emotionally aroused.” That is why writers try to depict emotions. He warns against taking a short-cut and faking an emotion. From the book: “Sentimentality is the result of exaggerating any emotion beyond what the context of the moment can express.” (That almost sounds like an Objectivist statement.)

However, sentimentality is necessary for popular romance stories. Sentiment is called for in deeper plots. It is important to know when to talk about love (and make the reader provide his own feelings) and show love (and make the reader empathize with a specific character).

Negative love stories

From the book: “For every thousand stories about falling in love, there may be one story about falling out of love.”

The focus of this kind of story is the end of a relationship, not the beginning.

The emotional environment of the characters is more love/hate than love.

Works mentioned

Aucassin and Nicolette by anonymous (legend of forbidden love)
Tristan and Isolde (myth of forbidden love)
Much Ado About Nothing (play) by William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night (play) by William Shakespeare
Cymbelene (play) by William Shakespeare
Measure for Measure (play) by William Shakespeare
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by Josephine Leslie (a.k.a. R. A. Dick – well known as movie and TV series)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Cyrano de Bergerac (play) by Edmund Rostand
“Orpheus and Eurydice” (myth)
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
The African Queen by C. S. Forester (well known as movie)
Adam Bede by George Eliot (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans, and an example of unhappy ending)
La Boheme (opera) by Puccini
La Traviata (opera) by Verdi
Il Trovatore (opera) by Verdi
Rigoletto (opera) by Verdi
Madame Butterfly (opera) by Puccini
I Pagliacci (opera) by Leoncavallo
Love Story by Erich Segal (well known as movie)
Adam Bede by George Eliot (pseudonym of Marian Evans)
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Psycho by Robert Bloch (well known as movie)
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (note unhappy ending as opposed to My Fair Lady)
My Fair Lady (musical – note happy ending as opposed to Pygmalion)
The Light That Failed by Rudyard Kipling
The Dance of Death by August Strindberg (example of negative love story)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (play) by Edward Albee (example of negative love story)
The Cat by Geroges Simenon (example of negative love story)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Heloise and Abelard (from their letters)

Movies mentioned

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (forbidden love)
Tis a Pity She’s a Whore (forbidden love)
Splash
Frankenhooker
The Player (as satire on happy endings)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

Note: This is for the typical love story of lovers being separated. If another type of story (negative love, sad ending, gimmick, etc.) is used, then the three acts must be adapted accordingly.

Lovers found. The two lovers are presented and their relationship begins.

There is an event that separates the lovers. This may be due to an antagonist, or to circumstances.

This act usually ends with the lovers being separated.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

Lovers split. Here one of the lovers assumes the active role and the other the passive role. The active lover seeks to “find/rescue/reunite” with the passive lover. The passive lover either waits or actively resists.

There are setbacks. Tobias suggests one step forward and two steps back. He also mentions that “short term, the protagonist only wins minor victories.”

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

The active lover finds a way to overcome all barriers and reunite with the passive lover.

Tobias suggest to not let the obvious way succeed, but make it surprising.

The emotional intensity of Act 1 is resumed and the bonds are stronger because the love was tested.

Checklist

1. The prospect of love must meet an obstacle.

2. Lovers are usually ill-suited to each other in some manner.

3. The first attempt to overcome the obstacle should fail. Love is proven by insistent dedication.

4. One lover is usually more aggressive in seeking love than the other. A nice image Tobias mentioned is that one lover offers a kiss and the other offers a cheek.

5. Most love stories have happy endings, but forcing a happy ending on one that clearly doesn’t call for it will be rejected by audiences. (There are successful and popular tragic ending plots.)

6. Avoid stereotypes and concentrate on making characters convincing. Feel deeply for you characters.

7. Emotions are important. Since love has many other emotions associated with it, the full range should be developed (“fear, loathing, attraction, disappointment, reunion, consummation, etc.”).

8. Choose when to use sentiment and sentimentality (and the bag of standard sentimentality tricks).

9. Take the characters through the full ordeal of love and test them both.

My comments

I cannot resist mentioning a section title of this chapter that I found especially charming: “SOFT RAIN, KITTENS AND MAKING LOVE BY THE FIRE.” (Anyone want to guess why?)

One thing that has always stood out to me in Ayn Rand’s fiction is the emotional range of her characters. They feel intensely and the feel a wide variety of emotions. I haven’t seen her work analyzed too much from an emotional angle, but her characters are fueled by strong feelings, even when talking about reason. However, their intensity is usually focused on one emotion at a time.

Rand’s love stories in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged usually have the woman as the active lover and the man as the passive one.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 21 – Master Plot #15: Forbidden Love

Tobias opens the chapter with the traditional “Love is blind” message, to show how powerful love is before examining the forbidden part. From the book: “We believe in the power and the strength of love to overcome all obstacles. It is the supreme achievement of human emotion. In the perfect world there is only love, and all the petty meanness that holds human beings down to such an earthly plane is left behind. Love is a transcendent state, and we spend our lives seeking it.”

Tobias also mentions that “love is more powerful than any human strength.”

Then here comes the catch. Although Tobias does not specifically state that forbidden love is a character plot and that the principal antagonist is society, he heavily implies this throughout the chapter. (Reality sometimes is the antagonist as well, as in the case of large age differences or deformities that impede sex.) Society defines love and states what is proper or not. It teaches others to adopt these definitions. Here are some of the situations where love is not acceptable, depending on the society:

Rank or social standing
Social class
Faith (or philosophy for a more Objectivist spin)
Race
Adultery
Same sex
Incest
Large age differences
Extremely ugly or grotesque partner

(Within the forbidden love plot, Tobias omits pedophilia, most likely because (1) a child is incapable of feeling romantic love in the same way an adult can, and (2) a published story like would probably be a crime in today’s society. Still, he cites Death in Venice by Thomas Mann where the protagonist is a man and the person loved is a 14 year old boy.)

Thus there are some kinds of love that cross the lines drawn by society and “thrives in the cracks.”

Although the different kinds of prohibitions are given above, Tobias highlights four main categories.

1. ADULTERY

This always includes a husband, wife (one being the betrayed spouse) and a lover – the traditional triangle.

The person who commits the adultery is often the protagonist and the betrayed spouse the antagonist. Revenge is a common motivation for the antagonist.

Sometimes the plot thickens as the lovers plan to kill the other spouse. Their motivation is usually the desire to get married or be together.

2. INCEST

This is one of the darker forms of forbidden love. Society does not tolerate it at all – and does not forgive it, so the end is almost always extremely tragic.

3. HOMOSEXUAL LOVE

From the book: “In pre-Christian times, homosexuality wasn’t seen as deviant behavior, but with the scriptural admonition against homosexuality and the rise of a puritanic frame of mind, we became less tolerant.”

(After adultery, this is the most common forbidden love theme. As society is becoming more tolerant, works are starting to appear with a less “forbidden” focus to them, focusing more on the love itself instead. But society is still intolerant enough for homosexuality to be considered in this category.)

4. MAY-DECEMBER ROMANCES

This is one field where not only society, but reality is an antagonist, since time literally runs out for one of the partners.

Works mentioned

Aucassin and Nicolette by anonymous (legend – repeated from "Master Plot 14: Love")
Tristan and Isolde (myth – repeated from "Master Plot 14: Love")
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Jeanette by Jean Anouilh
Heloise and Abelard (from their letters – repeated from "Master Plot 14: Love")
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
“The Miller’s Tale” (from Canterbury Tales) by Geoffrey Chaucer
Oedipus Rex (play) by Sophocles
The Sound and the Fury by William Faukner

Movies mentioned

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (repeated from "Master Plot 14: Love")
Tis a Pity She’s a Whore (repeated from "Master Plot 14: Love")
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Diabolique

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The characters are introduced and the affair is set up. The nature of the prohibition or taboo by society (or reality) is highlighted.

The affair is almost always found out and society usually becomes an antagonist bent on punishing the lovers.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

Here the lovers go into the heart of their relationship. This usually starts out very positive. By the middle of this section, seeds are planted of destruction of the relationship itself between the lovers, and by the end, the relationship is on the decline.

These seeds can come from the force of society (or reality), or from within one of the lovers.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

The lovers pay for violating the rules of society (or reality). This kind of plot most often has a tragic ending. Death is usually involved.

When the death (or other kind of removal) of one partner is the case, the surviving partner can have the love continue to burn in his heart, or he may “surrender to disillusionment and despair.” Often he loses everything.

Society is almost always the winner in this kind of story

Checklist

1. From the book: “Forbidden love is any love that goes against the conventions of society.” Society exerts force (explicit or implicit) against the lovers.

2. The lovers ignore society, usually ending in disaster.

3. Adultery is the most common of forbidden love stories. The adulterer can be either protagonist or antagonist. The same goes for the betrayed spouse. (Actually, Tobias doesn’t mention it, but this also could be the lover.)

4. Act 1 – Define the relationship and social context. Taboos. How do lovers react? How do the people around them react? Are the lovers blinded by love or realistic about society?

5. Act 2 – This goes to the heart of the affair. It usually starts idyllic, but gradually disintegrates under the different pressures.

6. Act 3 – The relationship ends and moral scores are settled. (Read society’s moral score here.) From the book: “The lovers are usually separated, either by death, force or desertion.”

My comments

I believe adultery is the only forbidden love in Ayn Rand’s works. She used this theme to great effect to illustrate her sanction of the victim principle in Atlas Shrugged (Hank Rearden and Dagny).

The issue of society being able to dictate what is proper or not in romance is very strong in Rand’s writing, even from the beginning (see “The Husband I Bought” in The Early Ayn Rand). Rand seemed to have an overly-strong aversion to sexual scandal. She gave extreme importance to it. For example, in Atlas Shrugged, there is a great deal of highlighted secrecy of affairs, then Hank wanted to punch out a casual stranger (during his car trip with Dagny) who insinuated that he was aware of the affair, and Dagny collapsed into tears after her tell-all radio broadcast.

I simply cannot imagine Rand writing about any of the other types of forbidden love, although she did live through an experience of a large age difference and adultery. It is interesting to see how society was an antagonist.

This theme could be a very rich one for an Objectivist-type story. Also, homosexual love.

[Landon Erp]

As I was reading this chapter (I checked the book out of the library). One objectivist take on the subject seemed obvious. A happy ending a situation where the couple takes on society and wins.

---Landon

[Ellen Stuttle]

MSK wrote:

Quote

The issue of society being able to dictate what is proper or not in romance is very strong in Rand’s writing, even from the beginning (see “The Husband I Bought” in The Early Ayn Rand). Rand seemed to have an overly-strong aversion to sexual scandal. She gave extreme importance to it. For example, in Atlas Shrugged, there is a great deal of highlighted secrecy of affairs, then Hank wanted to punch out a casual stranger (during his car trip with Dagny) who insinuated that he was aware of the affair, and Dagny collapsed into tears after her tell-all radio broadcast.

I simply cannot imagine Rand writing about any of the other types of forbidden love, although she did live through an experience of a large age difference and adultery. It is interesting to see how society was an antagonist.

You said a mouthful there, Michael -- although one which would probably be better to discuss on some other thread. IMO, Rand was VERY conventional in her attitudes about sexual relationships. Truth is, this bothered me from the start (since I was very unconventional): I saw resemblances, for instance, between Dagny's and Fransisco's "forest glade" first encounter and my own relationship at the time with a certain person, but...(see my post about Rand's characters, if considered as real persons: I couldn't imagine myself being so ignorant as Dagny apparently was -- she's even presented as surprised that she could be interested in an activity she'd vaguely heard of others participating in).

Rand grew up in a Russian cultural scene. She seems to me, though in one respect to have rebelled against the mores, in other respects to have accepted them. And I wonder if Anna Karenina, which she read in highschool -- and hated -- didn't leave a lasting residue of fear of what would happen to the woman in society-flaunting, publicly-known circumstances. The odd thing is, for instance, that at the time of the break between her and Nathaniel, "society" -- the then-"in" mores -- were at the height of "sexual liberation." And yet she feared what the public would think. In truth, there probably wouldn't have been a more auspicious time, in terms of her winning points with cultural leading lights of the era, for her to have been upfront about her unconventional relationship. What I think is that basically she didn't sympathize with "bohemianism" or anything resembling it.

Ellen

___

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Ellen,

For the record, earlier I copied your above post to the following thread for discussion.

I'm just mentioning this because shortly I will continue my report on the plot book.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 22 – Master Plot #16: Sacrifice

Before we even get started here, it needs to be stated that, in discussing this kind of plot, Tobias buys into the concept of altruism – that doing something for others is morally superior to doing it for yourself. For Objectivists, the tendency is to skip the value of this kind of plot, but it is useful if you use Rand’s adage, if you sacrifice a lower value for a higher one, it is not a sacrifice, but a gain. So please, keep this in mind in the following discussion.

From the book: “Originally, the concept of sacrifice meant to offer an object to a god to establish a relationship between yourself and that god.”

The ancient Greeks held sacrifice in high regard and even their own spin on it at times. There are stories where one must die, but he could live if he found someone to die in his place (Alcestis by Euripides).

In modern literature, the gods are gone, but replaced by “a concept such as love, honor, charity or the sake of humanity.” Thus a sacrifice plot is a character plot where the character sacrifices something extremely important to himself for an ideal.

(For Objectivists, such an ideal would have to be a higher value that what is sacrificed, like Galt saying that he would kill himself if Dagny fell into the hands of torturers in Atlas Shrugged. Such a situation is mentioned in an analysis of High Noon, but not with respect to the main character. Kane’s wife is a Quaker, but she finally takes up a rifle to protect her new husband. This is a secondary sacrifice, the sacrifice of her religion. In Kane’s willingness to sacrifice himself for a code of honor, he forced a situation where his wife sacrificed her beliefs.)

There are two important points to a sacrifice plot:
1. It must come at great cost to the protagonist (and this especially goes for the Objectivist version of sacrificing a lesser value).
2. The character should undergo a major transformation. Thus the sacrifice plot is a form of transformation plot.

Tobias suggests starting the character at a lower psychological level where he is unaware of the nature and complexity of what he about to face. Also, have him balk at doing the right thing because of the cost. The more he balks the greater the underlying tension.

A sacrifice made instantly and intuitively, like a hero suddenly taking a bullet for his sweetheart, is merely a plot device, not a full sacrifice plot, which should involve inner conflict. Usually shame (the easy way out) and honor (losing life) are the two major options.

It is important to establish a proper foundation for the character to be believable. If he has a low moral profile at the start, he also has to have the seeds of being able to make a noble decision.

Tobias does an interesting analysis of Casablanca.

As asides, he noted that in this film, the setting was a bit claustrophobic. The exits essentially were blocked and the antagonists were at arm’s length from each other, thus highly increasing the tension (as mentioned in an earlier chapter). Also, a nice symbolic touch was used for Rick’s lost love of Ilsa during a flashback. The rain blurs the ink on the farewell note.

Works mentioned

The story of Abraham and his son from Genesis
Alcestis by Euripides
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Movies mentioned

On the Waterfront
High Noon
Casablanca (originally a bad play, Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Jean Allison)

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

The foundations of the main character are presented. If he is too highly principled, sacrifice comes easy, thus other elements of conflict must be presented. An inner conflict is the best. At the very least, the two values and what they mean to the protagonist must be presented. Great value should be placed on underlying tension and the moral dilemma.

The need to choose one of the values (usually provoked by an event) is presented.

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

The confrontation of the moral dilemma is developed with increasing tension. The protagonist’s motivation is a strong dramatic factor.

If he is not a normal idealist, then the conflict with his other value will be the motor driving all situations. The truth of the choices to him can be vague at the start and gradually become clear.

One important point is that the reader should not be entirely sure what the protagonist will choose. The stakes should be high. From the book: “Trivial events and trivial people usually make for trivial stories. Certainly the fate of at least one person should hang in the balance.”

Tobias makes a rather amusing reference to this plot being a Freudian drama of the id and the superego. He likens the id to a devil sitting on one shoulder and the superego to an angel sitting on the other. Both are whispering in the protagonist’s ear. Devil Id tells him what he wants to do and the Angel Superego tells him what the right thing to do is. (This is not Objectivist at all, but still, the symbols are useful in a practical manner for writing.)

Once again, the cost must be high on both ends. An important point is that sacrifice will tend to show the human spirit at its best. Even people of lesser moral worth become heroes by standing by their ideals. The supreme sacrifice is the protagonist’s own life, since self-preservation is probably the strongest human impulse.

A very good driver for Act 2 is if the character seems incapable of making a sacrifice, but gradually comes face to face with the need to do it.

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

From the book: “The idea of sacrifice is to give up something in return for accomplishing a higher ideal.” I caution Objectivists to hold onto their dinner when they read the following phrase: “We attain a higher state of being when we put others before ourselves.” However, the kernel of truth that can be gained from this observation is that we attain a higher state of being when we hold onto our ideals – when they are true and rooted in reality.

Tobias also mentions that sacrifice often entails more than doing the right thing. It can mean doing the best thing.

Obviously in this act, the sacrifice is made. That is the main event. However, two impacts should be shown and developed: the impact of the sacrifice on the protagonist and the impact on the others around him. Both stories are extremely interesting to readers.

This act tends to be highly charged emotionally. Tobias warns against getting too sentimental or melodramatic, stating that underplaying the scenes here has far more effect than overplaying them.

As a final tip of the hat to his altruistic stance, Tobias writes in the last paragraph: “You might also want to avoid trying to make a saint out of your character.” (Like I implied, this is a rather hard chapter for Objectivists to swallow.)

Checklist

1. The sacrifice should come at high personal cost to the protagonist. Go for high stakes, physically or mentally.

2. The protagonist should undergo a transformation from a lower moral state to a higher one.

3. Use events to force the decision.

4. Provide adequate foundation for the protagonist, especially if he starts out at a low moral plane. Otherwise his progress toward the sacrifice will not be believable.

5. Make events reflect, test and develop the character of the protagonist.

6. Make the main character’s motivations clear to the readers.

7. Provide a running line of thought in the protagonist that reflects the line of action.

8. Make a strong moral dilemma be the central focus of the story.

My comments

It is almost ironic that this chapter came up at the same time as other discussions that are ongoing right now. One thing this kind of plot could do for an Objectivist writer is highlight where he has his own doubts. If any doubts come from deep inside him, where his core convictions reside, then the tension he will project will be extremely engaging to the reader.

Probably the worst thing an Objectivist could do is make this kind of plot a teaching session. If one has a preachy tendency in his writing, he better have the talent of Ayn Rand to pull it off, because mostly it falls flat. He would do better to focus on the inner conflict, not make a formal presentation of a denunciation of society or altruism. Show, not tell, is better storytelling. Even in Rand, only after she “showed” in a highly emotional manner did she make the “tell” (lectures) come off.

But, once again, I am reminded of Wet Nurse in Atlas Shrugged. He is a superlative example of Objectivist sacrifice mixed with character growth. I also am reminded of Kira in We the Living, although she has little moral character growth, being essentially good from the start.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Chapter 23 – Master Plot #17: Discovery

This plot is a character plot about the meaning of life. It is similar to a riddle plot, since it presents life as a riddle to be solved for the protagonist, but it is more slanted toward self-discovery and learning about the self than figuring out other kinds of riddles. (“Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”)

The basic premise behind this kind of plot is that people do not change, although times do. From the book: “It is a plot of character, and to this effect perhaps it’s among the most character-oriented plots in this collection. Discovery is about people and their quest to understand who they are.” The focus of the main character is on finding out something fundamental about himself.

It also usually covers the lifetime of the protagonist, or a good portion of it. Tobias mentions that one important form of the discovery plot is that it is a good children’s plot, since children are usually more interested in figuring out who they are than adults are. He advises against preaching, though. From the book: “If you write well, your intention will be clear.”

(I emphasize this because many Objectivist writers tend to try to include lectures in their writing like Rand did, and it is extremely difficult to pull that off. You have to have a natural inclination to preach to begin with for that to even have a chance to work. Most of us do not have such an inclination.)

The main difference between the discovery plot and the maturation plot is that discovery is about analyzing the meaning of life. A maturation plot moves the protagonist from innocence to experience (normally a childhood view to an adulthood view).

Basically, this will be in three parts: what the character was like before the journey, the events that lead him to examine life and then what he becomes after his revelations.

One caution about style. Tobias warns that these types of stories tend to become highly dramatic, so there is the danger of them becoming melodramatic. This is because the extremes of emotions involving love, hate, death, etc. are involved.

From the book: “When does a story become melodramatic? When the emotion being expressed is exaggerated beyond the subject matter’s ability to sustain that level of emotion.”

Works mentioned

Death of a Traveling Salesman by Eudora Welty (do not confuse with the play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller)
Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen (play)
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (play)
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Act 1 (or Phase 1) – Setup

This act gives the protagonist as he was earlier in life before his journey. (It can be called the state of unawareness.)

There also is a catalyst event that starts him on his journey. Tobias’s advice is to start the story near the catalyst event so as to not bog down the beginning.

From the book: “Very often the main character is satisfied with his life and isn’t looking to change it. But then life happens. Events force change.”

Act 2 (or Phase 2) – Complications

Tobias states that this is the phase that is the most complicated to write. The character is fleshed out in depth by events. He often resists change because it brings uncertainty and pain.

Tobias warns against making the protagonist’s struggle too trivial. The example he gives is having someone reevaluate his life because his goldfish died.

(This phase can be called gradual awakening.)

Act 3 (or Phase 3) – Climax and resolution

This is when the revelation takes place. How the protagonist becomes afterward is shown.

The same warning as given in Act 2 is given here, i.e., to not let the revelation be too trivial. The example given is a long story of struggles resulting in the conclusion that the hero needs to go to church more often. This will leave the reader dissatisfied.

Tobias’s analysis of Mrs. Alving in Ghosts is really well inside the Objectivist orbit. She realizes at the end that by basing her actions on duty instead of love, she has been responsible for the tragedies in her family.

(This phase can be called full awareness. Thus the protagonist moves from a state of unawareness about some critical aspect of life to one of full awareness of the truth of his life.)

Checklist

1. This plot is more about the character making the discovery than about the discovery itself. Focus should be more on the character than on what he does.

2. Show who the main character is before circumstances force him to start on his journey of discovery.

3. Don’t linger on the protagonist’s former life. Integrate it into the present and future. Start the action as late as possible, but be careful to make his “before” character strongly drawn and clear.

4. Don’t let the catalyst event be trivial (going from “equilibrium to disequilibrium”).

5. Move the protagonist into the clash between present and past as soon as possible, but keep the past-versus-present tension going throughout the story.

6. Proportion. Keep emotions and action in balance. Make the final revelations proportionate to the events.

7. Do not force or exaggerate emotions. Avoid melodrama.

8. Don’t preach. Show through characters and events and let the reader draw his own conclusions.

My comments

This kind of journey in Rand is Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged. His whole story is a discovery story. He is so unaware at the beginning of his life that he marries the wrong woman. He gradually moves to full awareness of how his acceptance of sanction of the victim has impacted his life.

Right before attacking this chapter, I saw the 1969 film of David Copperfield (Charles Dickens). This is essentially a discovery plot with a lot of subplots running throughout. For Objectivists, the revelation theme is not so bad. Copperfield concludes that we must be strong to face life’s challenges, not just flow with what we are given. To emphasize this, three people very close to Copperfield (his mother Clara, his friend Steerforth and his first bride Dora) are fortunate people who end up not amounting to much and dying. Of course, the girl he gets in the end (Agnes) is a strong person too. They fight for their values whereas the weaker, but more fortunate ones did not.