Happy Wednesday! It's time for a craft discussion. And this week, based on your votes, we are going to discuss levels of plot, or A plot vs. B plot!

Stick with me on this one, it can be tricky.

I also want to make clear that these are GUIDELINES, not HARD AND FAST RULES.

People tend to think there's only one way to talk about these things, and that's not true. But sometimes you need a new way to think about things before they click.

So, we tend to talk about plot in levels. Some of the language you may have heard is plot vs subplot, personal plot vs local plot, etc.

I like to think of plot in terms of the alphabet: A plot, B plot, etc.

A Plot = Character need/want/hole in heart + how Character tries to satisfy it + constraints inflicted by setting/worldbuilding/other characters

B plot = Character need/want/hole in heart + how other characters impact it + character response + constraints inflicted by setting/worldbuilding

So, breaking that down: A plot tends to be the character trying to fix their own problem, while B plot tends to be the relationships between your main character and other characters in light of that problem.

The A plot and the character's immediate need can and will change as the story progresses, but it should still relate overall to the hole in their heart, the thing that drives them overall.

For example, in the Godfather, Michael's hole is the desire to please his father.

In certain genres, like romance, that B plot, the connections between characters, might actually be the more prominent plot which theoretically makes it the A plot. So that the B plot tends to be the main character(s) healing the holes in their heart.

And in a short story we tend to only have one level of plot, because of the constraints of story length.

What about book series? Well, those tend to also include a C plot.

C plot = Cast/character need/want/hole in heart + how larger world/society impacts it + constraints inflicted by setting/worldbuilding and other characters

So, to put it another way:

A plot = personal
B plot = local
C plot = national/global

The most important thing about plot is that each of your scenes in a book should move at least one, maybe two, levels of those plots forward. So that means you have to character build and world build in a way that feels relevant to one of those plots, if not the pacing feels off.

So, thinking about plot, and using Hunger Games once more:

A plot = Katniss and her need to protect her sister/the people she loves in a dangerous world

B plot = Katniss and Peeta and how they interact

C plot = the tyranny of the Capitol

Each level of plot impacts one another most scenes, and each one moves the story forward and pushes the characters to make decisions and action in specific ways.

So, thinking about my own books, Dread Nation specifically:

A plot = Jane's need to return to her mother and survive/thrive in a world that finds her disposable

B plot = Jane's relationship with Katherine and the progression of that

C plot = zombies and their impact

I hope that helps when you think about plot! Just keep in mind that all plots are driven by character(s) needs and decisions and constrained by the laws and expectations created by the worldbuilding.