“As far as I’m concerned, in the abstract, there is only one plot and it goes like this—A person, or group or an entity (an animal, or an alien, or whatever) wants something. Perhaps it’s to survive a blizzard, to get married, to dominate the world, or to save a child trapped in a fire, whatever. Another person, or group, or entity (nature for example, or a destructive inner self) throws up every barrier imaginable to stop that goal from being achieved. A plot doesn’t get any more basic. A quest and obstacles. That’s narrative’s unified field theory. The equivalent of E=MC2. To turn that story into a plot all you need to do is ask why each force wants what it does. In other words, add motive to conflict.”
Novelist David Morrell (“First Blood”—from where the Rambo movies came from— & former English professor at the University of Iowa.)
Quote pulled from his audio book The Successful Novelist
“There is only one plot”
September 16, 2011 by Scott W. Smith
One Response
[…] “As far as I’m concerned, in the abstract, there is only one plot and it goes like this—A person, or group or an entity (an animal, or an alien, or whatever) wants something. Perhaps it’s to survive a blizzard, to get married, to dominate the world, or to save a child trapped in a fire, […] Original Source… […]