7/29 Excerpt from "Word Soup: Easy Recipe to Pen! Publish! Profit!"

There are four structural plots used in fiction.

·         LINEAR (7/29)

·         EPISODIC (7/29)

·         PARALLEL

·         FLASHBACK

   What plot type is most suitable for your story? The Linear plot follows a straightforward, sequential structure. The Episode plot is characterized by various episodes or events. Parallel plots involve multiple storylines unfolding simultaneously. Flashback plots begin with an event from the past. Linear and flashback plots typically focus on a single main storyline, while episodic and parallel plots incorporate a series of events or multiple interconnected plots.

LINEAR

      Your story may quite literally unfold with the birth of your character and follow the person through his or her life, event after event.

     Charles Dickens, David Copperfield told by a middle-aged David Copperfield, looking back and tracing his life from the time of his birth to his mature manhood.

      The first lines are: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.”

      Linear stories don’t have to start at the literal beginning of your hero’s life. Your reader can “drop in” on your character at whatever age and the story goes forward from that point. Wherever you place “start” your hero must be well developed regardless of the personality because that character must hold the readers interest. Of course you have to put obstacles in the way that your hero must overcome. In a linear or chronological structure the story unfolds in the order it happens. The reader finds out about the events in a progressive timeline, A to B to C. 

EPISODIC

      Episodic structure pertains to a storyline made up of various incidents that are loosely linked or can exist independently. The chapters are usually interconnected and serve as individual accounts of specific incidents or episodes in the character’s life. Each chapter neatly captures the complete narrative of a particular event, from its commencement to its conclusion.

      The larger narrative is fragmented into a sequence of smaller, typically standalone events or adventures, yet remains interconnected by a central theme or overarching story. When it comes to creative writing, adopting an episodic structure proves to be a powerful tool to narrate a tale that stretches over an extended duration or encompasses numerous characters or subplots. By dedicating separate episodes to various individuals, settings, or themes, a comprehensive view of the overarching story can be presented to captivate the reader.

      Television shows often employ an episodic structure, allowing each episode to tell a complete story while also progressing the overarching plot of the series. In a series, there are two categories for these installments: open-ended and standalone.

      Some producers interested in making a movie out of a series are sometimes reluctant to go with open ended books. If the first movie isn’t a success the producer is less likely to make the second book or the third that will have the overarching plot conclusion. Warner Bros. took an enormous risk committing to making eight films based on the J. K. Rowling novels. The books are open-ended because the overarching plot, the destruction of evil wizard Voldemort, doesn’t occur until the final book. Of course the novels were a tremendous hit, so the risk was worth taking and paid off big time.

      Certain books and films with episodic structures are self-contained, implying that the story or movie concludes with a resolution. Each installment will have the same hero with a different plot that will have a resolution at the end. Almost all of Agatha Christie’s books are standalone and can be read in any order.

      In a series with a standalone plot, the novel or film is less of a risk to undertake for a publisher or movie producer. A movie producer may choose to make the second film with the same characters, if not, the first film is complete.

      For novelists, Amazon self-publishing has a website with an episode format called “Kindle Vella.” A writer can tell his or her story in episodes. The episodes are similar to a chapter, but more dramatic. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger that leaves the audience in suspense. On Vella a writer can publish serialized stories, one short episode at a time. The reader then purchases each episode.

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