Abstract
Which is more important in creative writing, plot or character? Students almost always say the latter, but Aristotle in his Poetics disagrees. Plot for him is everything and he goes on to define what he calls a complex plot and how it is they move us. This chapter re-examines his work, setting it against more contemporary perspectives and with reference to the author’s own short fiction. Practical exercises developed through years of workshop experience enable writers to explore the question for themselves, producing story fragments that can be a springboard to further creative projects.
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Notes
- 1.
To reiterate: Aristotle is talking about tragedy, but as we’ll see, his advice applies to the nature of narrative itself, its structure and its mechanics.
- 2.
This pattern can be contrasted with well-known dramatic structural forms such as Freytag’s Technik des Dramas, more commonly known as Freytag’s Pyramid, which describes five acts: “the introduction […] the rising action […] the climax […] the return […] the catastrophe” (Freytag 1900, p. 115), and Joseph Campbell’s monomyth or hero’s journey, whose 12 steps include “The Call to Adventure […] The Road of Trials [...] Apotheosis […] The Crossing of the Return Threshold […] Freedom to Live” (Campbell 2004/1949, pp. vii–viii).
- 3.
I do recommend you write your own scenarios, tuck them away and return to them later. Meantime, here are some my students have used: a person sees a reflection of themselves in a mirror or a window in the street; casually opening the car glove box; in a share house/hostel/prison; two people argue in a cinema/gallery/bistro; I think you’ve had enough; a goldfish bowl; alien incursion; sorry, it’s overcooked; are you positive?
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Rossiter, M. (2021). Prompting Creativity: Revisiting Aristotle’s Advice on Plot and Character. In: Adelaide, D., Attfield, S. (eds) Creative Writing Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73674-3_8
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