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The Three Master Recipes of Fiction
Copyright © 2005 by Mary Lynn Mercer
It's one of those questions that remain largely unsettled. How many types of stories are there?
Are there two? (Comedy and drama.) Or seven? (Man versus God / supernatural / himself / man / society / machine / nature.) Or twenty, as Ronald Tobias suggests in his book, Twenty Master Plots (And How to Build Them)? Or thirty-six, as defined by George Polti in his classic 1921 book, Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations? Or sixty-nine, as reported by Rudyard Kipling?
While each of these theories has merit, the real number of story varieties is virtually as boundless as one's imagination. Nevertheless, the question persists because the answer has practical and applicable value.
As many types of stories as there are, each finds a home in one of three groups. The issue is not that of forcing a story to fit into a specific class. Rather, it's realizing that a writer tends to write one kind of story more often than other kinds, like a chef may prepare more French food than Italian food. Likewise, a reader tends to read one kind of story more than other kinds, like a diner may eat more Mexican food than Japanese food. The goal, of course, is to match up the reader's tastes with what the writer is serving on the printed page. This is accomplished primarily through a working understanding of story types.
The type of story depends ultimately on what the story is about. Is it about a protracted struggle driven by two incompatible needs? Is it about the process of resolving a dilemma and settling a choice? Is it about the journey towards a life-changing revelation?
The Opposition Story
Ingredients:
A specific story-length goal
An antagonist
Conflict
Confrontation between hero & antagonist
A winner
A loser
An opposition story can become a suspense, romantic suspense, historical romance, thriller, adventure, western, spy, fantasy, science fiction, or mystery fiction, among others. The hallmark of an opposition story is motivated conflict, the determined struggle between two opponents over a specific goal.
This kind of story is like a good football game. Team A has the ball and tries to score. Team B tries to block them from scoring and get the ball for themselves. There's motivated conflict, tension, and struggle back and forth. Both sides not only resist, but also fight back. In fiction, the fight may take any form the nature of the story requires: physical, social, economic, interpersonal, emotional, etc. Readers can take sides in this kind of story because there are sides to take.
Motivated conflict is different than "bad things happening to good people." Sympathizing with a character is not the same as rooting for a character. Random unpleasantness or suffering is incapable of generating the intense emotions in readers that make stories memorable. Imagine a football game with only one team on the field. One player stumbles over his own two feet and drops the ball. Another one gets stung by a bee. Two others run into each other and bounce heads. Readers may wince over the characters' misfortunes, but will rarely feel they are sharing a common experience.
That deeper sense of empathy originates from the intent associated with clear-cut character goals. It's when a character gets himself into a painful situation because of his motivated efforts to reach a specific goal that readers reach beyond sympathy and share his pain.
Examples:
• Frank Peretti's Monster - The protagonist searches for his kidnapped wife; "monsters" both human and otherwise oppose him.
• The African Queen - The protagonists try to sink a German ship; the Germans & the river oppose them.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark - The protagonist looks for a powerful religious relic; Nazis and a professional competitor oppose him. (For a detailed analysis, click here.)
The Choice Story
Ingredients:
A problem or need
Unhappy circumstances
Confusion
Lots of little choices
A big choice
Conflict (season to taste)
Antagonist (optional)
A choice story can become a romance, chick lit, women's fiction, historical, young adult, or some western fiction, among others. The hallmark of a choice story is the protagonist has a desperate need or problem about which he must make a life-altering decision.
This kind of story is like a skier poised atop a high mountain. A storm is moving in, reducing visibility, and he must get down the mountain as quickly as possible. Two descending trails branch left and right. One or both are largely unfamiliar to him, and pose unknown risks. In fiction, though the protagonist is uncertain and full of doubts about the choice presented him, the choice itself is clear and distinct. Example: should Sue accept the promotion and move to the big city, or turn it down and stay close to her friends? The stakes may be become clearer, change shape, or grow bigger during the course of the story, but the decision remains the same. Stay or go?
The conflict in choice stories runs second-place to the huge dilemma confronting the protagonist. Depending on the tone of the story, the conflict may come in a close second or many furlongs behind. Either way, it's relevant to the big decision that the protagonist needs to make. It manifests in the form of increased pressure to make a choice one way or the other.
An antagonist is optional, but can benefit a choice story in several ways. Having an antagonist can help separate the important issues at stake from trivial concerns. Because the antagonist is likely to be someone the protagonist already knows personally or professionally, he can make the final chioce all the more knotty and agonizing for the protagonist.
Examples:
• Mary Jo Putney's The Rake - The protagonist has a drinking problem; he has to choose whether or not to get and stay on the wagon.
• The Hucksters - The protagonist needs a job with a big firm; he has to choose whether or not to sell his soul for a client.
• Little Women - The protagonist's literary ambitions don't fit into a conventional life; she must choose whether or not to marry the boy next door and settle down.
• Sleepless in Seattle - for a detailed analysis, click here.
The Realization Story
Ingredients:
A protagonist lacking direction
Confusion
An engrossing inner need
Powerful emotions
A big realization
Strong writing style
A realization story can become a chic lit, women's fiction, coming-of-age, or literary fiction, among others. The hallmark of a realization story is a protagonist who drifts through life toward a life-altering revelation (often it's a self-realization).
This kind of story is like solitaire. The player draws cards at random, arranging them one at a time in a gradually developing pattern. When the last card is finally played, the design becomes clear and the game is finished. In fiction, the protagonist is tossed like a ship to and fro between chance gusts of enlightenment and wavering with every changing wind of belief.
Because the protagonist has no specific goal, there is no focused, motivated conflict. An antagonist has no air to breathe in this kind of environment, and therefore cannot exist. Instead, the conflict is disconnected and situational--played out within single scenes or sequences. Events and secondary characters may cause the protagonist pain and make life harder for her, but that is all. They do not create relevant conflict or opposition, because the protagonist doesn't want anything distinctly enough to be in conflict about.
Realization stories face a unique challenge to overcome. Lacking the conflict necessary to grab and sustain reader interest (as noted earlier about opposition stories), realization stories rely heavily on a strong, compelling writing style. Besides the beauty of the language, this kind of story offers readers an intimate portrait of a character's inner landscape. The story may appear static and random at first glance, but everything has one common denominator. The character's distraction with his inner need links everything together in a subtly woven tapestry.
Examples:
• Donna Fleisher's Wounded Warrior - The protagonist is consumed by the pain from her past; she gradually realizes she needs God's help.
• Where the Heart Is - The protagonist's sense of low self-worth undermines her second chances; she gradually realizes she deserves better.
• Babette's Feast - The protagonists live a simple, isolated life; they gradually realize the divine destiny of an extravagant talent in their midst.
• Bambi - for a detailed analysis, click here.
Variations
The possible variations of these "master recipes" are limitless. Story types may be divided among plots and subplots, then braided together like challah (bread). In Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair, each family member carries a plot line. The father's is an opposition story; his goal is for his boar to win best in show. The son's is a choice story; he has to choose between an exciting new girl and the one waiting back home. The daughter's is a realization story; she realizes she could never marry the traditional farm boy everyone expects her to.
The three kinds of stories are closely related to the three kinds of journeys a character is capable of making within a single story--external, interpersonal, and internal. An opposition story is externally driven. A choice story is often driven by interpersonal dynamics. And a realization story is internally driven. By treating each journey as a different kind of story with one central protagonist, a writer can add complexity to her tale. For example, in The Wizard of Oz Dorothy has a clear goal and is in opposition with a strong antagonist: she wants to get home, but the witch can't let her escape alive with the ruby slippers. These are the unmistakable ingredients of an opposition story, and they drive the external plot. Her relationships with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion culminate in a choice to quit running and go on the offensive to protect her friends. But when Dorothy kills the witch, the story doesn't end. She doesn't get her external goal until after she has a major realization that "there's no place like home," which fulfills the internal need that so preoccupied her before she left Kansas.
By becoming proficient in the "master recipes" of fiction, a writer learns not just the different kinds of stories but how to shape a satisfying experience for readers. Using that foundational knowledge, a writer can compose variations, creating personal and original stories from familiar and tested techniques.
Relevant Links
Sleepless in Seattle: analysis of a Choice Story
