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Writers Retreat > Student Talk > Course Lessons > Incident vs. plot
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Beth Consugar
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« on: May 23, 2010, 10:38:03 PM »
Can someone explain what the difference is between an incident and a plot?  My instructor has told me twice that I have an incident and not a plot.  I seem to be missing something.  I know if I can grasp the concept that eludes me right now, I would probably be just fine.

Thanks for your help!
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« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2010, 10:51:36 PM »
An incident is just something that happens. A plot involves the resolution of some kind of conflict, and the main character's growth. The MC wants something, but stuff gets in the way; s/he tries different ways to get it/make it happen/whatever, failing repeatedly, and finally succeeds (or doesn't, but there's some growth and change involved to make a satisfying ending.)
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Mikki S
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« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2010, 11:23:11 PM »
Hi Beth,

Okay, I'll try to explain, but I imagine Jan will do a much better job.  First, the plot: it is the structure of the story itself. It's comprised of action, dialogue and narration.  The story has characters, and what happens to them and how they react to what happens is what makes up the plot.  It has a beginning, a middle and an end.   The plot includes all the events and incidents that tie in together to make the story come alive.

Remember these points?  a) your character wants something or has a goal to accomplish; b) someone or something is in the way or trying to prevent MC from getting what she wants; c) conflict occurs, obstacles set up in the way of accomplishment; d) what the MC has to do to attempt to overcome this conflict; d) the resolution of the conflict, wherein the MC either does obtain what she wants, or she doesn't, and how she deals with what the outcome is, either negative or positive.
An incident is just one of the things that happen in the story.  Real life is made up of all kinds of incidents, a  lot of them accidental or kinda hap-hazard, but in a story, an incident can be something that really isn't very important, but which may lead up to another event ( or incident) that is important.
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« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2010, 07:24:01 AM »
Hi Beth!

I struggled with plot early-on as well, and still do sometimes.  There is a "Talk About" on plot at the Student Center: http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/ms/PLOTTING.pdf .

Also, Jan has excellent advice here:  http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/wt09/plotstuff.shtml .

Both are excellent resources.

Best wishes to you, Beth!!  Smiley
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« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2010, 07:43:02 AM »
I think the confusion for many of us comes because we often talk about things that happen to us as "stories." For example, if I tell y'all about my college bowling classes, it's going to be a series of incidents...funny things that happened to me. But they're not really stories. They're funny things that happened to me.

A STORY occurs when your main character is under pressure. He/she might have something he wants desperately. He might have something he needs deperately. He might have something that he must prevent happening. Whatever, the pressure must be so intense that the main character MUST act on that pressure.

So, let's take a pressure...a bad storm is coming and your main character is too far from home to make it back in the storm. Now if the main character just stands in the rain until someone comes along and rescues him -- that's an incident. He didn't DO ANYTHING about his story pressure. Even if he stands in the rain, cries, whines, dashes back and forth in a panic, and feels his sopping wetness intensely, it's still not a story because he doesn't do anything ABOUT his story pressure. He doesn't attempt to relieve the story pressure.

Other examples of incidents might be -- a family goes to the beach for the day, plays and goes home.

-- a boy believes there is a monster in his room so he yells for his parents who come in and give him a long lecture about monsters...then they leave and he hears the monster again, and calls again...gets a fresh and slightly grumpier lecture...then hears the monster again just before his cat jumps up on the bed and he realizes the grumbly growl of the monster and the rustle in the dark was just the cat.

What all of these have in common is that the things that happen, occur without any "help" from the main character. An incident may be scary or upsetting or cozy or sweet but it'll mostly be events/actions without strong purpose.

In a plot, the main character is acting to relieve pressure. To change all those above incidents into stories I would have to make the main character(s) act on the pressure.

A boy is caught out in a storm far from home and must find shelter. He begins by running for home but the wind is picking up, making running a struggle and he sees a flash of lightning followed immediately by the boom of thunder. THe storm is right on top of him, he needs to get to shelter. He struggles to a deep furrow in the field, knowing he's safer from lightning if he's the lowest thing in the field instead of the tallest. As he slips down into the furrow, he sees that part of a massive boulder overhangs a section of the furrow. He slips under the rock just in time as the pounding rain turns to hail. When the rain finally stops, he struggles out and heads for home and when he gets there, his dog barks at him...not recognizing him under the thick coat of mud. The boy calls the dog and then laughs as his dog jumps on him and begins washing his face clean of mud.

A family is set for a day at the beach, but on the way it begins to pour and they have to go home. The kids don't want to give up the beach day. They drag an old brown blanket into the living room and push back the furniture. They make a "sand castle" out of the old Play-Doh. And they come up with other beach-fun activities they can play. By giving them things to DO to overcome the PROBLEM, it stops being an incident and becomes a plot.

The boy with the scary monster in his room could do the same first action -- yell for the folks, but that has an unsatisfactory ending so he needs another idea. He tried hiding under the blanket, but that only makes him hot and he can still hear the scary rustling. So he decides to hunt for the monster. He gets his flashlight from under his pillow, put on his explorer hat from the end of the bed and begins tracking the sounds. The rustling is coming from the closet! He leans close and hears a rumble...something in the closet is growling! He runs for the room light, flips it on and opens the closet door. His cat Mittens is laying in the pile of his dirty clothes...with kittens!

Do you see the difference? An incident may have pressure. It may be scary or worrisome, but the main character won't be active in trying to relieve the pressure of the piece. When the main character is under so much pressure that he MUST act and his actions affect the situation...and he continues to act until the story pressure changes...then you have a story.
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Beth Consugar
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« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2010, 10:06:29 PM »
Thanks for the info! 

Marie, I have read and re-read the TALK ABOUT on plotting.  It seems to make sense, but I think there was something that was missing.  The link to Jan's explanation is great.

Jan, thanks for the explanation.  I think the contrast really helps me.  Now I see that I had an incident.  I simply relayed what happened, rather than make the MC take some action.  She did something logical and simple.  I think I need to make it more challenging.  I am working on lesson 8, and I am taking a critical look at my ideas. 

Thanks again!!!!
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"It's not about how hard you hit.  It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"  Rocky Balboa

"Life's like a novel, with the end ripped out" ~ Rascal Flatts

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain.
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« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2010, 08:54:05 AM »
Is it okay to sometimes go with incident instead of plot when writing for the youngest readers/listeners?  I was thinking about some picture books I recently read that simply detail an incident or routine. For example, Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino tells about a father and son who walk to the diner for breakfast every Friday.

I'm just wondering, because I think I also have a tendency to write about incidents rather than having a developed plot.
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jfields
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« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2010, 12:03:33 PM »
Those are called "concept books" -- in picture books, they're often warm cuddly books about sweet relationships between child and mom, child and dad, child and grandma, child and grandpa and they're meant to target those adults. Kids are often not wild about them, though they can become "event" books because they're the book the featured adult reads over and over when the child is really young. My daughter had a book like that about a daddy/daughter day out and the reading of it became an "event" between her father and her. Most of the large picture book publishers publish a few of those every year.

Another book that looks like an "incident" book is the character picture book like the first Olivia. They usually just feature a totally outrageous character doing her thing. They are often by author/illustrators who are introducing the whole character -- look and words -- in a book. Now sometimes character books also have strong plots but they can sometimes also just be incidents with the character.

You don't see either of those in magazines THOUGH BABYBUG and sometimes LADYBUG will sometimes have concept stories introducing a child to a concept -- like helping Daddy take out the recycling and watching the recycling truck. It's an incident and no plot but it's because magazines for very young preschoolers will introduce concepts (recycling) through incidents with fictional (but human) characters.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2010, 07:18:03 AM by jfields » Logged
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Lazydazy
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« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2010, 01:11:47 PM »
Thanks, Jan!  Smiley
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