Drama: July 28, 2010 Issue [#3862]
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Drama


 This week: Plot Points
  Edited by: Joy Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

"My stories run up and bite me on the leg - I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off."
Ray Bradbury

"There is no way of writing well and also of writing easily."
Anthony Trollope

"What a blessed thing it is, that Nature, when she invented, manufactured, and patented her authors, contrived to make critics out of the chips that were left!"
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jnr

Hello, I am Joy Author Icon, this week's drama editor. In this issue, we are going to focus on plot points.


Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

A gift to me


Welcome to the Drama newsletter


          On July 11, Sunday, while we watched the final match of the World Cup Soccer games, our neighbor's granddaughter made this comment. "They should give a yellow card to God." I just froze, not knowing what to say. The little girl was mourning her grandmother who had passed on a couple of weeks ago.

         This incident, I thought, would make a good plot point; so, I decided to tackle plot points in this issue.

          What is a plot point? A plot point is an occurrence or sometimes a hint of it that gives direction to the story arc, as it highlights something specific inside the story or in one of the characters' thoughts or actions that will determine where the story or the protagonist is headed. One thing to keep in mind is, turning points and complications can be plot points, but not all plot points are turning points and complications.

         To illustrate what plot points are, let's take a look at a few of the plot points in three dramatic works. First is Hamlet, a tragedy full of twists and plot points.

         *Bullet* Hamlet returns home for his father's funeral.
         *Bullet* Horatio tells Hamlet that he has seen his father's ghost.
         *Bullet* Hamlet sees the ghost of his father.
         *Bullet* Hamlet stages a play to prove Claudius's guilt.
         *Bullet* Ophelia drowns in a river.
         *Bullet* Hamlet and Laertes duel.

         Second is the movie, In Cold Mountain.

         *Bullet* Ada is incapable of working the farm.
         *Bullet* Ruby comes to the farm to help Ada.
         *Bullet* Inman is disgusted with the violence he witnesses.
         *Bullet* Because of the disgust he feels, Inman escapes from the hospital to go back to Ada.
         *Bullet* Inman meets a corrupt preacher.
         *Bullet* Together they meet Junior who reports them.
         *Bullet* The Confederate Home Guard arrests and chains them.
         *Bullet* Inman escapes though wounded.
         *Bullet* Ruby and Ada put the farm in working order.
         *Bullet* Inman meets several people and adventures on his journey back.
         *Bullet* As deserters, Ruby's violinist father, the banjo player Pangle, and the mandolin player Georgia enter Ruby and Ada's life.
         *Bullet* Pangle unintentionally lets it slip to the Home Guardsman Teague that they are a bunch of deserters.
         *Bullet* Inman reaches Cold Mountain.
         *Bullet* Inman and Ada spend a night together.
         *Bullet* Home Guardsmen shoot Inman. He dies in Ada's arms.
         *Bullet* Ada has Inman's child, Grace Inman.

         Third is another movie, Casablanca.

         *Bullet* City of Casablanca, the importance of it, and the music of La Marseillaise.
         *Bullet* The importance of Rick's Café Américain
         *Bullet* The importance of the piano in Rick's Café
         *Bullet* Rick's cynicism and neutrality, which changes at the end
         *Bullet* Ugarte arriving at Rick's Café
         *Bullet* French Police announcing the murder of two German officers on the radio
         *Bullet* Rick hiding the letters of the murdered German officers inside the piano
         *Bullet* Ugarte dying in police custody
         *Bullet* Ilsa's arrival with Victor, the fugitive leader of the Czech Resistance who escaped from a German concentration camp
         *Bullet* Ilsa's asking for the letters
         *Bullet* Rick's inability to shoot Ilsa who was his lover before, but now, is married to Victor
         *Bullet* Victor and Rick's conversation about Ilsa and the importance of the letters to her life
         *Bullet* Victor's arrest on a fake charge
         *Bullet* Rick's convincing captain Renault to let Victor go
         *Bullet* The last fog scene with Ilsa, Rick, and Victor in which Rick makes Ilsa escape with Victor
         *Bullet* Renault and Victor deciding to leave Casablanca and join the French Resistance.

         As you see, there are more plot points in a story than there are twists, turning points, reversals, or complications. The plot points in the three stories above are by no means complete. As such, some plot points are strong; others are weaker. All plot points, however, serve to advance the story.

         A strong plot point complicates the previous action. A weaker one prepares the readers for the events in the future. Generally but not always, the inciting incident is the first plot point.

         Locating the plot points exactly is important in preparing an outline or a synopsis for a story. A plot outline is less detailed than a synopsis, but a good synopsis has to contain all the major plot points to show what propels the story forward.

         A plot point is the link in the chain that ties the story together; therefore, each plot point has to mean something important for the success of a story and has to keep the action moving.

.           Until next time...
*Clock* *Peace*


Editor's Picks

                    *Gold**Pencil**Pencil**Gold* *Reading*    Enjoy!    *Reading* *Gold**Pencil**Pencil**Gold*

Short Stories

 The Kitchen Open in new Window. (13+)
This is a short-short, written for a competition...
#1689971 by bibliophile Author IconMail Icon

 
Image Protector
STATIC
Savior Open in new Window. (18+)
A SciFi story set during a second civil war in the US
#1685748 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈 Author IconMail Icon

 Home is Where the Heart Lives Open in new Window. (E)
When you just know it!
#1689717 by Fyn Author IconMail Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1684166 by Not Available.

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1688652 by Not Available.

 Metamorphosis  Open in new Window. (13+)
Kenosis; the voluntary renunciation of divine privilege.
#1690092 by bob county Author IconMail Icon

 Modern Warfare Open in new Window. (13+)
In war, your only enemy is stupidity.
#1689958 by JackFlak Author IconMail Icon


Novels

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1637607 by Not Available.

 Far Sighted Open in new Window. (13+)
She was an orphan girl, who was far more important than she could have ever imagined.
#1576709 by Far Sighted Author IconMail Icon


Poems

Tattered Wings Open in new Window. (E)
Soaring on hope's wings. (Form: Ottava Rima)
#1690269 by 🌕 HuntersMoon Author IconMail Icon

 Embryo (two poems) Open in new Window. (E)
Inspired by a picture of a plant growing in an eggshell
#1690231 by Cynaemon Author IconMail Icon


 
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Ask & Answer

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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: esprit Author Icon Adriana Noir Author Icon Fyn Author Icon Joy Author Icon
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.

*Bullet* This Issue's Tip:
For image making, use motion. Things that move are noticed more easily.
For example:
"The only unsettling moments were at night, when they walked along the beach together. The dark sea rolling in with its momentous thud and the sky lavish with stars made Phoebe rapturous but frightened him."

From Everyman by Philip Roth

*Bullet* Since we have only one reader letter from the last time, here are a couple of dramatic word searches for you.

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


 Dramatically Speaking, Volume Two Open in new Window. [E]
25 more terms from the last 25 drama newsletter issues I've edited.
by Turkey DrumStik Author Icon


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BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful Author Icon
Whemn I need some drama in my life, I head here and read some of these stories. After all, they are all great. *Bigsmile*


Thank you, BBWolf. *Smile*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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