Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us
I realize that books have to have plot devices to make the story go forward. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I spotted one in a popular author’s story and that it helped me to accept what was coming. However, I have to say that the main character is so well established in a large number of books that he should have done something about the problem. This plot device was really too gratuitous to those who have followed the series. So, though I was glad for the forewarning, I still think it was lazy and possibly unneeded.
There are also some comic plot devices that are fun even in sad or poignant stories and I have to embrace some of them. Maybe not obvious pratfalls, but still some of the old things that tickle the funny bone are welcome.
It is preferable that a plot device is not trumpeted, though. It should fit the story and lead to the next action without being so obvious. It is not a good sign when something jumps into the reader’s mind that “this is a plot device”.
One plot device that I am really tired of is the use of dreams. One dream in a book is not so bad if it is well done, but if it happens over and over in the same story, I get bored. I don’t find it believable. In fantasy stories, it is more acceptable that there are gifted dreamers, but even that can be overdone.
It has been said that there are only twenty or so plots, but there are many hundreds of plot devices I believe.
http://en.wiktionary.org/...
plot device (plural plot devices)
1. An element introduced into a story, film, etc. to advance its plot.
Wiki says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot.
A contrived or arbitrary plot device may annoy or confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief. However a well-crafted plot device, or one that emerges naturally from the setting or characters of the story, may be entirely accepted, or may even be unnoticed by the audience…
The MacGuffin
A MacGuffin is a term popularized by film director Alfred Hitchcock, referring to a physical object (or character) which drives the actions of the characters as they search for it or try to obtain it, but whose actual nature is not important to the story. Another object would work just as well if the characters treated it with the same importance. Hitchcock said that "in a thriller the MacGuffin is usually 'the necklace'; in a spy story it is 'the papers'".
MacGuffins are frequently found in 'quest' fantasy stories as the magic artifact which the hero must recover in order to save his village, world, or family. Examples include the Labours of Hercules.
MacGuffins are sometimes referred to as "plot coupons" (especially if multiple ones are required) as the protagonist only needs to "collect enough plot coupons and trade them in for a dénouement". The term was coined by Nick Lowe.
Deus ex machina
The term deus ex machina is used to refer to a narrative ending in which an improbable event is used to resolve all problematic situations and bring the story to a (generally happy) conclusion.
The Latin phrase "deus ex machina" has its origins in the conventions of Greek tragedy, and refers to situations in which a mechane (crane) was used to lower actors playing a god or gods onto the stage at the end of a play.
The Greek tragedian Euripides is notorious for using this plot device as a means to resolve a hopeless situation. For example, in Euripides' play Alcestis, the eponymous heroine agrees to give up her own life to Death in exchange for sparing the life of her husband, Admetus. In doing so, however, she imposes upon him a series of extreme promises. Admetus is torn between choosing death or choosing to obey these unreasonable restrictions. In the end, though, Heracles shows up and seizes Alcestis from Death, restoring her to life and freeing Admetus from the promises. The first person known to have criticized the device was Aristotle in his Poetics, where he argued that the resolution of a plot must arise internally, following from previous action of the play…
Another form of plot device is the object, typically given to the protagonist shortly before, that allows them to escape from a situation that would be otherwise impossible. Nick Lowe coined the term 'plot voucher' for these ("This voucher valid for one awkward scrape. Not transferable.") Examples of this might include the object given to a character which later stops or deflects an otherwise fatal bullet. Most of the devices given to James Bond by Q fall into this category.
Other plot devices are simply intended to get the protagonist to the next scene of the story. The enemy spy, who suddenly appears, defects, reveals the location of the secret headquarters, and is never heard of again, would be an extreme example. Without this 'device' the hero would never find the headquarters and be unable to reach the climactic scene; however the character becomes less of a plot device if the author gives them a back-story and a plausible motivation for defecting and makes them an interesting character in their own right.
Another kind is the device that overcomes some technical difficulty of the plot which is not important to the story but which needs to be explained. Devices for turning foreign (especially alien) languages into English, so that the audience and characters understand them are one of the most common…
Red herring — diverts the audience away from something significant. These are very common in mystery, horror and crime stories. The typical example is in whodunits, in which facts are presented so that the audience is tricked into thinking that a given character is the murderer, when it is actually another character.
I truly do accept the need for red herrings. It is fun to try to spot them and discover the real culprit.
This wiki article on literary devices has a great list of things authors use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Here are just a few things from the list:
Chekhov's gun
Insertion of an apparently irrelevant object early in a narrative for a purpose only revealed later. See foreshadowing and repetitive designation.
Cliffhanger
The narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience back to a future episode for the resolution.
Foreshadowing
Hinting at events to occur later.
In medias res
Beginning the story in the middle of a sequence of events. The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer are prime examples. The latter work begins with the return of Odysseus to his home of Ithaka and then in flashbacks tells of his ten years of wandering following the Trojan War.
Plot device
Object or character whose sole purpose is to advance the plot
Plot twist
Unexpected change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot. See also twist ending. An example occurs in The Crying Game.
Poetic justice
Virtue ultimately rewarded, or vice punished, by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own conduct
Quibble Plot
Device based on an argument that an agreement's intended meaning holds no legal value, and that only the exact, literal words agreed on apply. For example, William Shakespeare used a quibble in The Merchant of Venice: Portia saves Antonio in a court of law by pointing out that the agreement called for a pound of flesh, but no blood, so Shylock can collect only if he sheds no blood.
Red herring
A rhetorical tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance. For example, in mystery fiction, an innocent party may be purposefully cast as highly suspicious through emphasis or descriptive techniques to divert attention from the true guilty party.
Unreliable narrator
The narrator of the story is not sincere, or introduces a bias in his narration and possibly misleads the reader, hiding or minimizing events, characters, or motivations.
Some good articles:
http://tvtropes.org/...
http://tvtropes.org/...
http://absolutewrite.com/...
The top 12 sci-fi plot devices geeks love to hate
By Jay Garmon
http://www.techrepublic.com/...
9. Footspeed is the ultimate weapon.
No matter what threat you face, what weapons your enemy has at his disposal, what insurmountable odds stand against you, as a protagonist, you can outrun anything, especially in slow motion. Fireballs of any variety, strange spacetime effects, airborne plagues and — my personal favorite — precision-targeted machine or laser-gun fire from opposing aircraft can all be defeated by running for several seconds during a very tense moment, then diving flat-out behind some dramatically placed cover. You’d think sci-fi heroes would skip right to the 40-yard dash anytime a problem came up, but then all geek movies would be 15 minutes long.
Common Story Flaws and Plot Devices to Avoid
by Randall Landers
http://www.fastcopyinc.com/...
A long and great list of overused fantasy clichés
http://dragonwritingprompts.blogsome.com/...
1. The Fantasy Cliché - Hero starts off as a farm boy/servant/shepherd etc., has his family killed (which turns out not to be his actual family), and, through a process of self-realization and learning, becomes the all-powerful prophesied hero.
Van Helsing Rules
Here’s a special subset of clichés I like to call the Van Helsing Rules, named after the infamous vampire movie which employed nearly every hackneyed monster movie cliché in the book and which shattered nearly every law of physics and reason…
Van Helsing Rule #1: All anti-hero types must dress in black, have mysterious pasts, a gruff demeanor, and the ability to crack witty remarks during the heat of battle. No matter how competent they are, or how many people they manage to save, they’ll always find themselves hated by the public and mistrusted by their superiors.
Van Helsing Rule #10: In Eastern Europe, the full moon occurs approximately once every four days.
What plot devices bore you? Which ones do you like?
Diaries of the Week:
Building Resilient Communities: John Robb at NYC Maker Faire
by gmoke
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Young People's Pavilion: Some of the best new picture books
by The Book Bear
http://www.dailykos.com/...
NOTE: plf515 has book talk on Wednesday mornings early