Plotto pamphlet chapter 5

FIFTH LESSON
Original Conflict References
from
PLOTTO
A New Method of Plot Suggestion
for Writers of Creative Fiction.
By WILLIAM WALLACE COOK
The fourth lesson concerned itself with the Conflict references. It had
previously been observed that of all the hundreds of millions of people in the
world, there cannot be found two whose experience with life, and whose spiritual
reaction to all the circumstances of environment are identical. The experience
of each one of us will vary, widely in most cases and at least in some degree
in all cases. This fund of individual knowledge is what we draw upon when
we achieve originality in any line of human endeavor. If we are too lazy, or
too indifferent, to dig into the soil of our own experiencce in interpreting suggestion,
we become imitators. If we go too exhaustively into the experience of
others for what we want, we become plagiarists. The highest honor, and the
greatest success of course, comes from turning over the soil in the Field of
Originality.
Interpreting Suggestion Originally
" Style, " says Buffon, "is the man himself. " Dickens has a style of his own,
and so has Thackeray. The great Samuel Johnson had a style running to the
depth of polysyllables. If he wrote of minnows, it is said that he would have
made them talk like whales. " Style is the dress of thoughts, " according to
Chesterfield. And if we interpret suggestion originally, we should clothe that
interpretation in a style of our own, a style that is original with ourselves
—natural, easy and anything but "forced. " Here again the imagination is to
be rightly controlled.
Be Yourself
In writing your plot into story form, interpreting Conflict suggestion originally
in narrative prose, be yourself. An individual style in narration will give
due attention to restraint. The way an idea is expressed may make or mar the
idea itself. We discover our own style by refusing to copy the style of others, by
trying to be individual and natural in what we write, never disregarding the
limitations or the technicalities of written narrative but adjusting to them our
own virgin abilities. The way in which we shall write naturally and most
forcefully, usually comes only after much painstaking effort in which we try
simply just to be ourselves ; in other words, to exercise originality. I write a
story in one way, and you will write the same story in another way. The complete
story will show a difference of style, a difference of phrasing ; but we will
be working with our own tools, and the result in each case should he original—
and admirable, as everything original is bound to be.
Human Nature
The author of Plotto has selected certain suggestions, and he has called the
suggestions Conflicts, and has brought a large number of these Conflicts together
in a book. He has gone to LIFE for these Conflicts, and has endeavored to
show their possibilities in the form of written narrative. There is nothing
original in the Conflicts ; for, before ever " Omer smote 'is bloomin ' lyre " human
nature has been at work throning or dethroning the fortunes of Men. The
si mplicity of the ancient days has given way to the complexities of modern life,
and yet human nature is much the same now that it was in the time of Cain and
Abel, or of Helen of Troy. Here and there will be found the refining touch of
the centuries, and yet you have only to scratch the veneer of the highest civilization
to find the primitive man beneath. Selfishness and greed may be restrained
by custom and convention, but when the white-hot emotions boil into action,
they overflow convention and we have primitive drama or tragedy, as the case
may be.
The References
Reference suggestions prefixed and affixed to the Plotto Conflicts are the
random selections of the author of Plotto. They fall in with his ideas as
indicated by his experience ; and they may not conform to your ideas or agree
with your experience. You can take the author of Plotto ' s suggestions as shown
by the references and give them an original interpretation ; or, you may search
the Conflicts for something that comes nearer harmonizing with your own ideas.
A very successful editor suggested to the author of Plotto that he indicate
these supplementary suggestions, primarily for the purpose of familiarizing the
student with the Conflicts and with the possibilities of their manipulation. The
suggestion was adopted ; and so the Conflict references, thousands of them, are
given to you in the book as you have it. Bear in mind, however, that they are
merely the author's suggestions and that it is your high privilege to discard the
suggestions and be original in making your own references. Perhaps it is not
only your privilege, but your duty as well as your pleasure. There is a fascination,
too, in discarding the Conflict lead-up and carry-on suggestions and in
calling upon your imagination to supply you your own. Among its other uses,
the Classification of Conflicts by Symbols is designed for this purpose.
Broken Conflicts
" Broken Conflicts " are those Conflicts whose terms are broken, and divided by
a star or stars. For instance, Conflict 545 reads as follows: `B' s husband, A,
fails to return home. A blizzard is raging, and B fears A has suffered a
misfortune in the storm * B meets her death while searching vainly in a storm
for her husband, A ** This is a broken Conflict, and the whole, or either part
of it, may be used. If the first half is to be used, that fact should be expressed
by a dash and a star, indicating that the Conflict is to be used up to the first
star. If the second half only is to be used, the fact would be indicated by a
star, a dash, and a double-star.
Classification by Symbols
All Conflicts are classified in the Classification by symbols. Conflicts not starred
are given entire, while broken Conflicts are classified as fragments. The number
of the Conflict is appended to each whole or broken Conflict in the Classification,
and is thus easily referred to in the Conflict groups. In the Classification
by Symbols, also, the Conflicts are brought together under their various sub->
group headings, so that a situation in Love' s Beginnings, Married Life, Mystery,
etc., may be quickly referred to in the sub-group for which a situation is desired.
As an added convenience, possible terminal situations are indicated by the numbers
of the C Clauses of the Masterplots.
Searching For Original References
Let us experiment with the second half or broken Conflict 690: "A, taking
a sea voyage, is shipwrecked and cast away on a desert island**"
The first half of the Conflict gives us a motive for A ' s taking the voyage:
"A takes a sea voyage in the hope of recovering his health* " We are assuming
that this will not serve, and we are looking for some other motive for the sea
voyage on the part of A. We turn to Conflicts in A in the Classification by
Symbols. Numerous suggestions are offered for the imagination to work upon.
For instance, the A Conflicts in Love ' s Beginnings has this: "A, who knows
nothing of the sciences, pretends to be engaged in scientific research." His
pretentions involve him in a sea voyage, and the shipwreck results. Thrown
"on his own," and compelled to battle with Nature for his very existence, he
develops most unexpectedly the scientific side of his character.
Another suggestion from A Conflicts in Love 's Beginnings: "A has taken
vows that proscribe the love of woman." Suppose, now that a woman, B, is
shipwrecked with A on the desert island, as in Louis Tracy's "The Wings of the
Morning. " A new situation develops.
A suggestion from Love's Misadventures: "A seeks to escape annoying
manifestations of love." He takes a sea voyage to get away from the fair sex.
Suppose, as in the previous instance, he is cast away on a desert island with an
attractive young woman? Here the imagination will find the beginning of tense
drama.
Another suggestion from Love's Misadventures: "A is a crabbed, disagreeable
person whose misfortune it is to find no pleasure in life." He takes a sea
voyage, is shipwrecked and cast away with, or without, an attractive young
woman. In one case, his character will undergo a change through his battling
with Nature for existence ; in the other case, he falls in love with the young
woman, and the necessity of supplying both her wants and his own, will give
him an interest in life through love and cause his nature to undergo a change.
A suggestion from A Conflicts in Misfortune: "A, a doctor, is a fugitive
from justice." He is escaping from the authorities, and that is his reason for
the sea voyage. What follows? Almost anything may follow, for the opportunities
for tense drama depend merely upon the circumstances attending the
shipwreck. The attractive young woman may also be a castaway, love interest
develop, A concealing the fact that he is a fugitive from justice. Suppose the
woman, B, A's companion in misfortune, is involved in the transgression our
doctor protagonist has committed. Suppose, through B, he discovers his supposed
crime was never committed?
Thousands of possibilities will suggest themselves through the scanning of
Conflicts in A. When B enters the situation — if she does — the A and B
combinations will offer a wealth of suggestions.
A, cast away on his island, will not be limited by the A Conflicts. As a
carry-on, glance for a moment at combinations in A and X: "A loses a valuable
diamond, X." Or, "A finds a valuable object, X, apparently of great value."
Or, "A finds a valuable object, X, between the leaves of a Bible." Or, "A
highly prizes an object of mystery, X, carries it about with him and is unaware
of the fact that his possession of X is fraught with terrible danger." And so
on, ad infinitum.
Some of these suggestions would deal with A's experiences after the
shipwreck, and while he is on the desert island. In A and, A-8 combinations, a
lead-up might be used involving the suggestion: "A, against his wish and inclination,
has been left a fortune by a deceased relative, A-8." He finances the
sea voyage with his inheritance, is cast away, taught a lesson which proves the
value of the inheritance, and when he is finally restored to home and friends
has undergone a beneficial character transformation.
Any of the Conflict groups involving A might offer a suggestion for the
i magination to work upon ; or even the B groups with, or without the changing
of B to A. Manipulation here is always possible, often with surprising results.
Let us consider Conflict 466a: "B is married to A, and they have one child,
CH* B loves CH, but she does not love A** B loves A-3 and elopes with him
leaving her child, CH, with her husband, A*** " Looking through the sub-group
Transgression, B and A-3, we find this: "B's friend, A-3, mysteriously disappears
while in B' s company* B is arrested on suspicion of having murdered
A-3**" In the combinations, A, B, A-3 and B-3 we find this: "B deserting her
husband, A, for A-3, discovers that A-3 is in love with another married woman. "
In the combination, A, B and CH, we have this suggestion: "B's love for her
child, CH, left with her husband, A, when she deserted him, draws her back
to CH and A. " And so on, again, ad infinitum.
Any conflict for which you wish to find a reference of your own will offer
a lead-up and carry-on suggestion if you will take the character symbols of the
situation you are studying and then look for that combination in the Classification
by Symbols. If it should be a long combination, or an unusual combination
with only a few Conflicts to choose from, drop one of the lesser symbols and
look for the suggestion in the combination that remains. Symbol after symbol
may be dropped until only A or B or A and B offer the combination to be
studied. Usually the A or B, or the A-B, Conflict combinations will yield
suggestions for any of the Conflicts.
By discarding the author' s references and searching for your own lead-ups
and carry-ons, you will develop your situations in accordance with your own
experience and ideas.
Your Short Story
You are to write a short story during this course. In accordance with that
idea, you have selected a Masterplot that appealed to you, you have selected a
B Clause Conflict to exemplify the Masterplot, and you have used the author ' s
Conflict references to build up the plot, translating the references originally.
You are now asked to search out references of your own for leading up to the
main Conflict and for carrying the action onward and to a conclusion.
Use the Classification by Symbols, exercise your imagination and draw upon
your own experience in interpreting the suggestions. Compare the lead-up and
carry-on suggestions of your own selection with those of the author ' s selection.
You will find, undoubtedly, that you can work to better advantage with the
lead-up and carry-on suggestions that you have selected for yourself.
If you find it necessary, you may change the C Clause of your Masterplot
to harmonize with any finale which appeals to you as better suited to the working
out of your plot, or to accord with any fresh idea that may be evolved
during this period of plot construction.
Fifth Lesson: Original Conflict References
WORK SHEET
The Plotto Method
1. What was the A Clause of the Masterplot you selected?
Ans...............................................................................................................
2. What original Conflict are you now selecting to illustrate the B Clause?
Ans	
3. What was your original C Clause?
Ans	
4. If you have changed the C Clause to harmonize with a new B Clause, please
give the New C Clause here:
Select originally another B Clause Conflict.