Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 10

tion, selfishness, bitterness, confusion, lack of self-knowledge, lies, etc. must be reunit- ed in love and harmony involving humor- ous passages. tablished and reader is introduced to the hero/heroine, who is somehow constricted or unfulfilled. D REAM : The protagonist embarks on the road toward a possible resolution and ex- periences some initial success. T RAGEDY : A character falls from prosperity to destruction because of a fatal mistake or a tremendous loss. F RUSTRATION : The protagonist's limitations and the strength of the forces against him/her become more obvious, thereby making attaining the resolution seem in- creasingly difficult. R EBIRTH : A dark power or villain traps the protagonist in a living death or life- threatening scenario until he/she is freed by another character's loving or coura- geous act. N IGHTMARE : A final ordeal takes place that determines the resolution. This can involve a twist ending. R EBELLION A GAINST 'T HE O NE ': The protagonist rebels against the all-powerful entity that controls the world or a particular situation until he/she is forced to surrender to that power. M IRACULOUS E SCAPE /R EDEMPTION /A CHIEVEMENT OF THE P RIZE OR ( IN THE CASE OF T RAGEDY ) THE H ERO ' S D ESTRUCTION . In all cases, the entire plot led up to this, and subtle clues were dropped along the way.. M YSTERY : An outsider to some horrendous event (such as a murder) tries to discover the truth of what happened. F IVE S TAGES T HESE P LOTS C AN G O T HROUGH A NTICIPATION : After the initial setting is es- Who? What? Where? When? Character Development Locations Conflicts Successes F ALL 2019 P AGE 5 W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE