Plot...

...Or, Trouble is my Middle Name.

See that mouse up above? Her name is Tabitha T. Mouse. The "T" stands for trouble. What sort of trouble, you say? All kinds. Terrible trouble. Terrific trouble. Terrifying trouble. And perhaps even tickling trouble. Tabitha finds trouble each and every day. She finds it sometimes at night, too.

All right. You see our character. Her name is Tabitha T. Mouse. She is too curious for her own good, likes licorice and lollipops, and hates school. This dislike of structured learning is usually what causes our heroine to seek out trouble. (There is a moral there, if you look hard enough. :-)

So, one bright day, when faced with going to school or going out on an adventure, Tabitha chooses adventure. She steps out of front door, shown here...




















(This is our initial setting.)

She has heard that licorice can be found at the local store, nearby. Here is the store:






















This is also a setting. Can you see that your setting may change throughout a story? I'll bet you can!

However, the first thing that Tabitha sees when she steps out of her front door is this:


















Uh-oh. This is trouble. BIG trouble for our little tiny mouse. What do you think she will do?

This bit of scaly trouble gives us our plot. Tabitha's own character traits--her love of licorice and her dislike of school--drive her out of her safe, snug home and into reach of this dangerous and hungry guy. This gives us our plot, which is "How will Tabitha escape the trouble?" better known as "To be eaten or not to be eaten, that is the question."

How about another example of trouble. What sort of plot does this picture give us?

















How about this one?


















Or this?
















What does a mouse who is stuck in a pot do about it? This is definitely trouble.

Do you see how our choice of trouble, or choice of the problem our character faces, determines the flow of the story itself? Yes, you need a character, and yes, you need a setting. But with a plot, or a problem to solve, your characters will basically just be sitting around with nothing to do. So find some trouble for your characters--the more trouble, the better!

For fun, try writing Tabitha out one of the trouble situations above. Does she ever get to the store to get her licorice?

Next up: Fun video story starters.