This post was first published in August 2019 and last updated in March 2025.
What exactly is plot? Is it just what we call “story” or “narrative” … or is it something else?
While many elements of storytelling – like dialogue – are easy to point to, plot can be trickier to pin down.
Here are a few definitions of plot:
A plot is a sequence of events in which every cause has an effect, pulling the story towards its conclusion.
(from What is Plot?, Ruthanne Reid, The Write Practice)
Plot is the chain of connected events that make up a narrative. It refers to what actually occurs in a story and is one of storytelling’s major pillars. Some will say that if characters are the who and theme is the why, then the plot is
the what of the story.
(from What is Plot? An Author’s Guide to Storytelling, Reesy)
The plot of a film, novel, or play is the connected series of events which make up the story.
(from “Plot”, Collins Dictionary)
Does Your Plot Structure Need to be Complicated?
I’m a more character-driven than plot-driven writer, so I have to fight against my tendency to worry that “good” plots are supposed to be complicated, convoluted, and tricky to work out.
Plots needn’t be super-detailed and
intricate in order to work well.
Often, a “good” plot simply means putting things in place that will come together further down the line – particularly elements that can be brought together in an unexpected (but very plausible) way.
For instance, a mistake that your protagonist makes midway through your story
might seem not to have any ramifications immediately … but combined with a crucial piece of information that you slipped in during the first few chapters, it could prove really dangerous at the climax of the story.
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