Plotting the Short Story (by Culpeper Chunn - 1922)

STRUCTURE OF THE PLOT

Before we can hope successfully to develop the germ-plots we have so carefully gathered into well-balanced working plots upon which to build our stories, it is of course essential that we have a working knowledge of plot-form and structure. A great many writers, especially beginners, are unable to round out their plots sufficiently to give their stories the proper balance, simply because they are not familiar with the technicalities of plot construction, and the author who attempts to write a story around a poorly formed plot is almost sure to find himself with an unsalable manuscript on his hands.

There are a great many writers, of course, especially among those who have "arrived," who do not find it necessary to commit their plots to paper, but who work them out in their minds before they begin their stories, or build them up detail by detail after their stories are begun. To these writers plot BALANCE and MOVEMENT have become instinctive, and they find that their words flow easier and that their imaginations are more active when they begin their stories with only a half-formed plot in mind or, indeed, with no plot at all, their theory being, that the creative mental powers are given fuller play if permitted to invent while the story itself is in the process of development than if forced to form a fixed plot-plan before the story has begun to materialize. But in the main these writers rely upon word-grouping (style) more than upon plot to put their stories "over," and even the best of those who adopt this policy occasionally come to grief, for it is not an easy matter to fashion a plot and beautifully formed word groups at one and the same time. Such a plan, if consistently followed, usually proves fatal to the beginner. A technically correct plot upon which to build one's story is as essential to success as a thorough understanding of the language of one's country; and the only way for the novice to make sure his plots are free from technical flaws is for him to work them out on paper, according to fixed rules, with the same care that he would use in solving a knotty mathematical problem. Once the simple rules of plot construction become fixed in his mind, and he gets the FEEL of the plot, the writer can begin a story with nothing to build on but a vague idea and a burning desire with some hope of working out a well-proportioned plot after the story is well under way, but until he does master these rules he courts disaster each time he begins a story unless he has worked out his plot in advance. 

We venture to say, without fear of successful contradiction, that no really great short story was ever written the plot of which was not clearly outlined in the writer's mind before he began to write. Most of those writers who have exposed their methods of writing to public view have dwelt upon the importance of the plot, and many of them have explained the mechanical processes they used to build up the plots that made their stories famous. Poe, the father of the American short story, worked out the plots for his stories to a mathematical nicety, and even the framework or background of those of his stories which may be said to be devoid of plot received as much care and consideration as his more involved stories. Poe even went so far as to apply this principle to his poetry, and it may prove of interest to know that "The Raven," the most famous of his poems, was, according to his own words, the result of a process of mechanics and was not, as many people believe, dashed off in the white heat of inspiration. And so it is, and ever has been since the birth of the short story proper, with most of the great writers. 

Authors who have the leisure to do so, should therefore make an exhaustive study of the plot, calling to their aid several authoritative text books in order to get the teacher's point of view, and analyzing the stories they read in the current magazines so they can get a line on the plot as it is handled by successful writers, and at the same time become acquainted with the editorial preferences of the different periodicals. The system of plot building outlined in the following pages is aimed more particularly at the writer who has little time for reading and study, who writes only when he can snatch a few minutes from other labors that absorb most of his time, and who has to take his instruction in story-writing in concentrated form. The very simplicity of this system should recommend it to this class of writers especially. The system is well past the experimental stage, having been used by a number of writers with unvarying success since it was first originated by the present writer some years ago, and as it is based on the accepted principles of plot construction and offers a quick and never-failing plan for applying those principles to a practical end, we believe it will prove an inspiration to those writers, beginner as well as "old timer," who will give it careful study and a thorough try-out.