How to teach your child to write a novel: Lesson 6: Plot Map

Stickman in Peril = Writing Prompt!

You are reading part seven of a ten part series that shows you how to teach your elementary-age child to write a novel, and in the process become a wiser, more thoughtful reader of books written by others. Check out the preparation, the genre lesson, the hero lesson, the villain lesson, the conflict lesson, the setting lesson, an then come back here for plot map.

Greeting:

Start your meeting, say your oath, and send your secret handshake around the table. Ask the kids if they can think of any reason to use a map, what kinds of maps they’ve used, where they’ve recently seen maps. Let them know that maps can be used to write books, too!

Warm-up :

For this game, you will need “Stickman in Peril” stickers. The link will take you to the product on the Archie McPhee web site, where you can also find Stickman in Fairyland and Stickman in Officeland. Let each child choose a “Stickman in Peril” sticker and stick it onto a blank page in their books. Then write about what’s happening in the picture. Share what you wrote, and talk about  how having something awful happen to a character can really kick a book into gear. Encourage the kids to be as silly as the pictures! If you don't have access to Stickman, choose some other type of sticker or any picture that suggests a conflict or problem.

Plot discussion:

A plot is what happens in the novel. The plot map we’re going to look at has five parts: introduction, inciting incident, complications, climax, and denouement. Make sure you have the students pronounce denouement with an outrageous French accent! It’s also important to wave your hand around in front of you when you say “denouement,” for full literary effect. To explain these plot elements, you can return to the golf analogy. In the introduction, we meet the ball, the tee, the driver, and the golfer, and get everything arranged. In the inciting incident, the golfer tees off and the ball goes sailing down the fairway. The complications are the next few strokes approaching the green, and the climax is when the crowd is holding its breath, waiting for that final putt — will it go in or not? In the denouement, the golfer retrieves his ball, waves to the crowd, and collects his check, or else breaks his putter in half and stomps off in shame.

Your students shouldn't have much trouble figuring out what their main plot arc will be. The challenge for them and for you will be in developing a subplot. The main plot of a book often involves a yes-or-no question. Will the hero save the world? Will the boy get the girl? Will the seeker find what is lost? Will the traveler reach his destination? A lot of times, the answer to this question is too simple, too obvious, to create any tension: it’s usually yes! So, the tension can come from a subplot which has a more complicated resolution. Where the main plot follows its course across the map, the subplot may follow the same shape, the same rises and falls, just offset by a few points — lower and to the left.

Possible subplots: romantic, supporting character’s goals, family issues.

It’s not too early to help your students understand the difference between the political (the public, overarching plot like — will the hero save the world) and the personal (the underlying plot like — will the hero find love, will the villain stop hating his mother, will the hero be accepted by his family) Some good examples of this kind of complexity can be found in the movie Cars, the Harry Potter books, and the movie Wall-E. Have the children practice finding the political plot (Harry vs. Voldemort, Lightning McQueen winning the race, the humans reclaiming earth) and the personal plot (Harry’s search for a family, Radiator Springs’ revitalization, Wall-E and Eve’s romance).

It may seem like a lot for elementary school kids to grasp, but with a lot of examples they may start to see it. This kind of analysis and the ability to read on several different levels will really improve their understanding of the books they read, even if they don’t apply the ideas to the one they’re writing.

Activity:

Magnet challenge: For this exercise I use a tin of magnets that each have a very simple line-art icon on them. You could use any kind of tiles, or even printed out clip-art on cardstock squares. Some examples of the icons on my magnets: a clover, a planet, the word “WOW,” raindrops, a key, the number 7, a question mark, a birthday present, etc. Just random stuff! For the activity, ask the children to draw five random tiles and try to form a some plot complications out of the elements they find.

It’s hard for kids to develop complications, because they kind of want to go straight from the inciting incident right to the climax. Putting some random images into their creative mix can spark some ideas on what to do in the middle of the book. Also, remind them that novels often happen in very formal stages. A seeker might have to travel to five different cities, looking for what he seeks. A quester might have to complete five tasks. A hero might need to collect five objects to make his goal happen. He might need to talk to five different people — these are natural ways that tension grows, chapters fall into place, and complications emerge. I’m just using the number five randomly of course!

After you do your magnet complications, fill in your plot map and your plot worksheet, and get your badge! Here are your links to the PDF versions of the worksheets: Plot Map Worksheet and Plot Points Worksheet.

Homework:

Here’s a cool plot map that you can fill in online, at Read Write Think.

The only issue I have with this map is that the end point is at the same level as the beginning point. I like my plot map to end with a net gain. I also like the climax to be a little farther to the right. However, this map is certainly a fun way for them to break down the process of plotting their books, and it has stuff to click on!