Introduction

Plot is where reputations are made. Even if a reader has only an instinctive understanding of plot, they can tell when the essentials are missing. Authors like Stephanie Meyer and E.L. James may be extremely popular and have large followings, but most readers know that if they’re looking for a strong plot, these won’t be the stories to go to. This isn’t a negative thing, but since you’re here learning about plot, I’m assuming you want to use it as the great tool it is. Plot is one of those things that’s simple in concept but not always easy to implement.

Understanding these five elements is crucial for crafting compelling fiction because they give your stories, and more importantly your readers, a path to follow. Each element acts as a benchmark, like obligatory scenes in a genre, that readers expect to find at different stages of the book. Imagine each of these elements as a bench along a trail where readers can sit back and say, “Yes, this is why I’m here.”

Today, we’ll explore the basic concepts, how they work, and a technique or two for crafting the best version of each element. We’ll cover each thoroughly in future posts, but for now, we’ll build understanding a little at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

Element 1: Inciting Incident

The term “inciting incident” might seem like a buzzword in the writing community, often discussed with the same perplexity as themes. It can be stressful trying to nail it down—I’ve been there myself! Here’s a breakdown of the basics and why the inciting incident is crucial to your story.

In the simplest terms, the inciting incident is the event or situation that kickstarts the main plot. These events don’t just move the story forward—they propel the protagonist into the central conflict. They disrupt the protagonist’s status quo and really get the story going.

Your inciting incident shakes up the protagonist’s “normal world” and presents a challenge they must address. The story’s central conflict becomes their problem, whether they like it or not. There’s often an illusion of choice, but both you and the readers know that one path leads to a story, while the other leads to a return to normal life.

Take The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, for example. The inciting incident is clearly marked between part one and part two of the book. Without spoiling too much, when Todd Hewitt hears a quiet in all the noise, he faces a choice: run from it or investigate and risk encountering danger. This moment propels him into the main conflict of the story.

Element 2: Rising Action

Rising action is something that encapsulates a lot in one area. The rising action is a series of events that build tension and complications as your protagonist makes their right and wrong choices. Or, if you’d like another definition, the rising action is “a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest.” (Dictionary.com)

The best way to view the rising action is as the events that drive the protagonist toward the climax and resolution. When creating these events, consider a few key questions: Where does your character start? Where will they end? Then figure out everything that needs to happen for your character to shift from their beginning story self to their end story self. Don’t worry about getting too specific at first; you’ll need to adjust as additional factors come into play.

Once you’ve established the basic needs, layer in obstacles, rising stakes, and character arcs. It’s important to remember that characters can face setbacks and obstacles, even amid positive events. With a clear idea of where they need to be, shape your obstacles to reflect different aspects of what they need to learn. By doing this, you ensure that each challenge contributes to their growth and the overall tension of the story.

A quick warning, I’ve turned the following example into a dropdown to prevent spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. So open it at your own risk.

In The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, the rising action begins on page 67, starting with Todd Hewitt investigating the quiet. It continues through to the climactic moment when Viola kills Aaron in a cavern near a waterfall, which occurs on page 463 out of 479. This extended rising action demonstrates how plot essentials aren’t always of equal length, highlighting the extensive buildup and tension that propel the story towards its climax.

Element 3: Climax

Climax is the part of the story where the story promise is paid off with the highest tension and drama to act as an exclamation point to the book. Let’s go to Britannica for a more formal definition, “climax, (Greek: “ladder”), in dramatic and nondramatic fiction, the point at which the highest level of interest and emotional response is achieved.” Everything that has happened on the pages before this, leads to the inevitable results.

The climax is the moment where the protagonist faces their greatest challenge. One thing that’s helped me most in understanding the climax is knowing that there’s a start and an end to a climax. It’s not just one event. You can find examples of this in the Save The Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, when she teaches about the five part climax. It’s not just a pinnacle event, especially if you’ve layered your story with various sublots that will need to be tied up by the end of the book.

Creating an impactful climax requires you to keep your story goal in mind. What was the promise in the premise that drew readers to your book? Look back at your rising actions—these should have built upon each other to this inevitable point. What have they been leading up to? How can you use this moment to surprise the reader while fulfilling the story’s promise?

A quick warning, I’ve turned the following example into a dropdown to prevent spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. So open it at your own risk.

The climax in The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness crosses into the rising action where Aaron attacks Todd Hewitt and Viola in the waterfall cavern to the point where Todd realizes they’ve walked right into a trap in Haven. This sequence of events heightens the tension and stakes significantly, fulfilling the story’s promise with high drama and emotional intensity.

Element 4: Falling Action

Falling action is the immediate fallout or results of the climax. Dictionary.com defines the falling action as “the part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflict has been resolved.” This is the part of the story where your reader feels like they can finally breathe. Even if utter chaos breaks out after the climax, you’ve satisfied the story goal and are going to take a step back with your readers for just long enough to let them see what happens next.

What happens next is the entire purpose of the falling action. You’re resolving the conflict to show the readers that yes, you read this story for this reason, and here is your answer. It also drives the consequences, because there are always consequences to every action. As you see the consequences, you will start your transition into the resolution.

The falling action can take a line or two, or stretch for pages, it all depends on your book. Use this moment to highlight how the characters have changed and grown during the story events. This will help maintain pacing and tension to the end pages of your book.

A quick warning, I’ve turned the following example into a dropdown to prevent spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. So open it at your own risk.

Using The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, the falling action occurs after Todd and Viola realize they’ve walked into a trap in Haven. This segment of the story would include the immediate aftermath of this revelation, how they react, and the steps they take to deal with the consequences. The tension begins to decrease, leading the reader towards the story’s resolution.

Element 5: Resolution

Resolution is the final outcome and conclusion of the story. I like to think of the resolution as closing out the story, but showing that the characters continue on beyond the story. You might also hear the resolution referred to as the denouement. It’s where the aftermath of the entire story is addressed, and the characters’ futures are hinted at or clearly defined.

The resolution should offer a satisfying ending to readers, but how do you make it satisfying? Look at any story threads that you haven’t resolved. Can you clear anything up here, or is it not part of the book promise that you can answer in the next book in the series? The goal is that readers have all their big questions answered. Without this, readers will shut the book grumpy and are much more likely to leave a lower rating because you didn’t close off the necessary threads.

Use your resolution as a final moment to have your characters reflect on their journey and experiences. This will showcase their growth and the lessons they’ve learned. It also closes out the emotional arc that the character has struggled with throughout the story. Even if they end on a low note, the story’s emotional arc is complete, and the resolution sets up the next emotional arc.

A quick warning, I’ve turned the following example into a dropdown to prevent spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. So open it at your own risk.

Using The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness as an example, the resolution follows the dramatic climax and falling action. After the intense events in Haven, the resolution would address the immediate consequences of Todd and Viola’s decisions, providing a sense of where their journey might lead next. It ties up loose ends and hints at future challenges, providing closure while also setting up potential developments for subsequent books in the series.

Conclusion

Understanding these five essential plot elements—inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution—provides you with the fundamental building blocks of storytelling. While mastering them takes practice, viewing them as guideposts rather than rigid rules allows you to craft stories that both satisfy reader expectations and showcase your unique creative voice. Whether you’re writing your first novel or your fifteenth, these elements serve as a reliable framework for delivering compelling narratives that keep readers engaged from the first page to the last.

P.S. There’s no writing exercise today because this was just an overview post. We’ll be diving deeper into each of these sections in future posts where we’ll do individual exercises to make sure you lock in the lesson. If you want one added to this page later, let me know and I can build one.

Writing Update

I’ve been able to make some progress on both my story ideas and Please Subscribe. One challenge I’ve faced has been more of the mental battle than writing. With the potential of pitching agents at my upcoming writing convention, LTUE, I’ve been focusing heavily on the finished product. I had to be reminded by Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive “Journey before destination.” It’s not always easy to remember that, but if you find yourself in a rut or negative mental space like I was, remember that the writing of the story is the important part. Everything that results because of your journey is just a bonus. Yes, we all want to write full time, and the end goal is important there, but if you lose the joy of the journey you’ll be looking at writing the same way you look at your 9-5.

Additional Resources

For writers seeking to deepen their understanding of the five essential elements of plot, several resources can provide valuable insights and guidance. “Save the Cat! Writes a Novel” by Jessica Brody is an excellent book that breaks down plot structure with practical examples. Another great resource is the Story Grid by Shawn Coyne, which offers a detailed methodology for analyzing and crafting compelling stories. Additionally, the website Reedsy has numerous articles and tools, such as plot generators and writing prompts, to help writers develop their plots. For more in-depth exploration, visit the following links:

• “Save the Cat! Writes a Novel” by Jessica Brody
• The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne
• Reedsy

These resources can provide a comprehensive understanding and practical tools to enhance your storytelling skills.

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