#antiplot

Part 5 Archplot, Miniplot, Antiplot: The Story Triangle

Archplot = Classical Design

Classical Design means a story built around an active protagonist who struggles against primarily external forces of antagonism to pursue his or her desire, through continuous time, within a consistent and causally connected fictional reality, to a closed ending of absolute, irreversible change.

Minimalism/ MiniPlot = Reduced version of the Archplot. Strives for simplicity and economy while retaining enought of the classical to satisfy the audience.

Antiplot = reverses and contradicts the classical forms. (Ridicules them.) Extravaganet and self-conscious overstatement.

Miniplot and Antiplot wouldn't exist without the Archplot.

Closed and Open Endings

A Story Climax of absolute irreversible change that answers all the questions raised by the telling and satisfies all audience emotion is a CLOSED ENDING.

A Story Climax that leaves a question or two unanswered and some emotion unfulfilled is an OPEN ENDNG.

This chapter discusses other antitheses. It also has a Story Triangle filled in with example movies.

Active Protagonist, in the pursuit of desire takes action in direcvt conflict with the people and the world around him.

Passive Protagonist, is outwardly inactive while pursuing desire inwardly, in conflict with aspects of his or her own nature.

BAD TIMING film -  Antiplot Structure refelcts the theme. Their characters' sealed their fate: not their circumstances.

CONSISTENT REALITIES are fictional settings that establish modes of interactin between charactrs and their their world that are kept consistently throughout the telling to create meaning.

INCONSISTENT REALITIES are settings that mix modes of interaction so that the stories episodes jump from one realty to another to create a sense of absurdity.

The films of the antiplot "are not metaphors for 'life as lived' but for 'life as thought about.' They reflect not reality, but the solipsism of the film maker, and in doing so, stretch the limits of story design towards didactic and ideational structures."

Individual stories can be a mixture of these modes. Some will be perfectly classical, some will be a mixture. A popular mixture is a MULTIPLOT = less classical, more than minimal.

Change Vesus Stasis

The plots discussed all involve change. (Internally or externally).  There is a story arc.

The NONPLOT has no story arc. They don't tell a story. They narrate events. The audince may gain insight, but there is no emotional movement. They may also be circular. Absurd. The protagonists learn nothing.

POLITICS OF STORY DESIGN

"So as in all things, politics lurks inside the story traingle: the politics of taste, the politics of festivals and awards, and, most importantly, the politics of of artistic versus commercial success. As in all things plotical, the distortion of truth is greatest at the extremes. Each of us has a natural address somewhere on the story triangle. The danger is for reasons more idealogical rather than personal, you may feel compelled to leave home and work in a distant corner, trapping yourself into designing stories you don;t in your heart believe."

THE WRITER MUST EARN HIS LIVING WRITING

Writing while holding down a forty-hour-week job is possible. Thousands have done it. But in time, exhaustion sets in, concentration wanders, creativity crumbles, and you're tempted to quit. Before you do you must find a way to earn a living from your writing."

Fact is, the Archplot is the most popular with audiences.

"Classical design is a mirror of the human mind."

The Writer Must Master Classical Form

- The miniplot and antiplot are reactions to it.

"The writer works at his skills until knowledge shifts from the left side of his brain to the right, until intellectual awareness becomes living craft."

The Writer Must Believe in What He Writes