Plot Points & Turns

This is a plotting tool I invented myself, after researching narrative structures for a long time. (You can see the results of all that in my Storytelling course.) I saw that most of them had elements in common, often sharing the same label. So I turned that into a simple tool you can use to create a high-level plot.

What’s the idea?

Every plot has 4 types of events.

• Plot Point: least important. It progresses the story, but nothing more.
• Plot Turn: more important. It marks a shift or important action.
• Plot Pinch: even more important. It marks a big shift or decisive action. Usually, this suddenly raises the stakes and accelerates the plot (significantly). Major progress, major change.
• Plot Peak: flips the whole story upside-down. So important that it changes everything from now on. Reserve this for climaxes.

They are ranked based on how many should occur. Plot Points should be 90% of your story. They are the small steps, the bits of progress, the scenes that glue the major events together. On the other hand, most stories can only handle 1 plot twist (if that).

With this in mind, you get good pacing for free. You get a guideline for where to place important events.

For example, say you have 10 chapters. Then you’d want something like 5 Plot points, 3 Plot Turns, 2 Plot Pinches and 1 Plot Peak. On a timeline, that might look like this:

• Plot Point
• Plot Point
• Plot Turn
• Plot Point
• Plot Point
• Plot Pinch
• Plot Point
• Plot Turn
• Plot Pinch
• Plot Peak

Big moments (fast-paced, hold your breath) are followed by smaller ones (slower-paced, take a breather). The big moments get a chance to really stand out, because we have good contrast and variety. Also, the story slowly raises the stakes over time, creating that “rising action” we like.

About Plot Peaks

At first, I called it a Plot Twist. And yes, those fit the description, but they’re just one way to do it.

In my Plot Twist chapter (from the Storytelling course), I give the precise definition of Plot Twists. It’s not necessarily what most people think. Surely not all stories need a plot twist!

That’s why I renamed it to Plot Peak. To signal that this is merely the moment all plot comes together and the climax happens, not necessarily a Plot Twist or “surprise” or whatever.

Now write!

This tool works both for those who want to outline (beforehand) and those who improvise (while writing).

When it comes time to write (or plan) a new scene, simply look at the previous chapters. You’ve written 3 Plot Points? Surely, we need something stronger now, a Plot Turn or Plot Pinch. You’ve just written a Plot Pinch? Calm down in the next chapter, probably use a Plot Point.

As you continue, try to balance the numbers. Plot Points should have the highest number, then Plot Turns, then Plot Pinches. Finally, there should only be one (or maybe two) Plot Peaks.

Now write a story using this method!