# C. Plot So for plot, I’ve got a bit of method chaos on my head. From [[Jessica Brody]], I know how to structure plot. From [[Lisa Cron]], I know how to build plot based on character. And from [[N. K. Jemisin]], I’ve learned to create plot based on the [[Element X ✅]] of the world. After the [[03 - Schreibkrise]], I know that my plot queen is [[Jessica Brody]], so I’ll give here the lead in how to structure this. However, I need to do some adjustments to integrate what I learned from the others. The core idea of [[Lisa Cron]] is that plot needs to connect to the “[[third rail]] So with this, we get to: [[Third Rail Basics - What if, desire, and misbelief ✅]] [[Five things we know about the plot ✅]]“, i.e. the protagonist’s inner struggle between deepest desire (which informes goals, motivations, and adds pressure and ticking clocks) and fundamental misbelief (which shapes the worldview based on fears, avoidance etc.). She also insists that there needs to be a clear cause and effect relationship between all elements of the novel. In other words, we need to ask why for everything - and the “why” chain needs to connect everything to this fundamental element. Also, she insists on specifics, stating that if we can’t see it with eyes closed, there’s no story. To accommodate for this, I’ll add the following adjustments to [[Jessica Brody]]‘s approach: 1. **Level 1** - Before brainstorming, we need to define the basics of the third rail, which on this level are a high level “what if” and a general first idea of desire and misbelief. Also, we need to ask “why?” for the brainstorm result 2. **Level 2** - Before defining the acts, we need to define the overreaching story problem (capable of driving the external story in an escalating arch including a ticking clock AND capable of fundamentally challenging the misbelief in the process). And we need to go through her exercise on understanding the “0th Act”, i.e. the chain from origin of the misbelief to the start of the novel. Also, we need to tie the acts back to the third rail by asking why. 3. **Level 3** - When defining foundational beats, we need to tie them back to the third rail and make sure there’s no way out for the protagonist 4. **Level 4** - Before creating a beat sheet, we need to decide whether we want to do this at all or whether we trust [[Lisa Cron]] in stating that we can’t know the exact beats because we need to develop a tight cause and effect chain based on the third rail and cause and effect. 5. **Level 5** - Lisa would probably disasvise to do the detailed outline. However, we might do it with high level scene cards. [[N. K. Jemisin]] has a much more pantser style approach to plot, using much simpler 3 step arcs and adding in a deeper understanding of character maturation and trauma healing, and insisting that [[Power dynamics inkl gender class race identity 💭]] Influence plot a great deal. While I find her approach extremely inspiring, I don’t want to follow it too closely because I trust my own experience and intuition to mirror my personal internal model of these aspects. So I guess for plot, the only adaption to her school will be to check for alignment with [[B. World 🔄️|Worldbuilding]] and especially [[Element X ✅]], to make sure things fit together and we’re not accidentally creating a plot that mirrors stereotypes. We start with [[Five things we know about the plot ✅]]