Surface Problem / Story Worthy Thread
May 2, 2011 2 Comments
Plot
Surface Problem / Story Worthy Thread
Some authors know that the main story plot is not one thread, but a minimum of two. The two most important are often named the surface problem and the internal story-worthy problem.
The surface problem is usually how we describe our stories in the blurb on the back of the book.
If the work is a murder mystery, the surface problem is likely to be a puzzle culminating in sorting out the murderer. In the Lord of the Rings, it’s the quest to stop the death hordes by melting the ring in a volcano. In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is on a quest to save the princess, and ultimately the universe, from the evil empire. If asked, the casual observer defines the story as this kind of surface problem.
Singular focus on the surface problem, however, can be a reason why a plot is unsuccessful. That’s because every good story is ultimately about a person with a problem. Finding the will to overcome temptation may only have passing relationship with Frodo stopping armies of ogres, but the story fails to move us without this element.
Without a person overcoming a problem, it’s hard for us to identify with the human story, and thus the humanity within our emotional centers. The quest to find the killer, scale the volcano or save the princess becomes no more than sequences of events. When the POV bears no internal baggage, he is all skeleton and no meat. The story passes as a history book suitable for boring all-nighters and plenty of coffee.
I suspect that many young writers instinctively add this internal, story-worthy plotline without even knowing what they are doing right. Consider the Hollywood detective movie, for example. Our cliché detective drags himself out of bed with a hangover. He has lost a partner and wife and been on drunken leave for two months, but today he is taking a half bottle of pills and going to work. This thread isn’t in the movie trailer, but the story is really about a detective overcoming his issues, using the surface story as a catalyst. We want, most of all, for him to become a better human being.
When the internal problem is resolved, a writer will automatically find a decent story ending. That is yet another reason why it is critical to tend this thread. Without internal resolution, the writer will never find the ending, regardless of how many princesses are saved or death stars destroy. (By resolution, I don’t necessarily mean uplifting. We must, after all, make room for Shakespeare).
A good way of modeling this is to visualize a plot as a stream of threads running from one end of a tapestry to the other. These two are the most critical as they boldly emerge from the cloth at various points along the story’s path.
Hopefully, more on the broader concept of threads in later posts.
About Gary Wedlund
I’ve always called these the character arc and the story arc. And yes, you can’t have a fulfilling story without both arcs working in tandem.
The other handy aspect of the character arc is that it makes the external action more interesting. If, for example, you have a character who struggles with anger issues, maybe she blows up at another character who’s critical to moving the story forward. Now the story can’t move until your angry hero resolves the dispute, addressing his own issues and moving the story forward at the same time.
And with enough threads we have a rope. Good basic foundation for story-telling.