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Story writing technique
This article is about writing techniques for enhancing a plot. For mechanisms that generate stories and plots, see Story generator.
A plot device or plot mechanism[1]
is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward.[2] A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may 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.
^For example:
"For instance, a frequently used plot mechanism is a love triangle, where two men try to get the same woman." from Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher; Robert Torry (2007). Film and Religion: An Introduction. Abingdon Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-687-33489-6.
"Janine functions largely as a plot mechanism: as a foil for the two lovers, as a voyeur, and finally as an unwitting trigger of disaster when she leads in the Gestapo." from Thomas Waugh (4 April 2000). The Fruit Machine: Twenty Years of Writings on Queer Cinema. Duke University Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-8223-2468-7.
^Fred Pfeil (1990). Another Tale to Tell: Politics and Narrative in Postmodern Culture. Verso. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-86091-992-6. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
A plotdevice or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plotdevice may annoy the reader and a contrived...
trio from the mid 1980s Device (Device album), 2013 Device (Eon album), 2006 Plotdevice, as in storytelling Rhetorical device, a technique used in writing...
Forsyth's The Odessa File. A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending, is a plotdevice in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult...
Plot armor is a plotdevice wherein a fictional character is preserved from harm due to their necessity for the plot to proceed. The Oxford English Dictionary...
fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant...
plotters remain in use in a number of industries. Digitally controlled plotters evolved from earlier fully analog XY-writers used as output devices for...
the stone. Curses have also been used as plotdevices in literature and theater. When used as a plotdevice, they involve one character placing a curse...
ˈmaːkʰɪnaː]; plural: dei ex machina; English "god from the machine") is a plotdevice whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly...
Tolkien has an unusually lengthy falling action. The plot can also be structured by the use of devices such as flashbacks, framing, and epistolary elements...
A time slip is a plotdevice in fantasy and science fiction in which a person, or group of people, seem to accidentally travel through time by unknown...
or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. A red herring...
The time loop or temporal loop is a plotdevice in fiction whereby characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once...
norms or other rules may also be antagonists. An antagonist is used as a plotdevice, to set up conflicts, obstacles, or challenges for the protagonist. Though...
Accidental travel is a speculative fiction plotdevice in which ordinary people accidentally find themselves outside of their normal place or time, often...
narrative elements, which exist inherently in all works of narrative. Plotdevice Orehovec, Barbara (2003). Revisiting the Reading Workshop: A Complete...
idea of status quo ante) is a plotdevice for interrupting continuity in works of fiction. Simply put, the reset button device allows to return all characters...
fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The One Ring first appeared as a plotdevice, a magic ring in Tolkien's children's fantasy novel, The Hobbit; Tolkien...
Hitchcock's films show an interesting tendency towards recurring themes and plotdevices throughout his life as a director. Hitchcock preferred the use of suspense...
other devices (such as a slot machine) and are dependent on them to create some menial effect. Cog (Honda advertisement) Deathtrap (plotdevice) Domino...
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plotdevice in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with...
disproportionate harm, such as death, maiming, or assault, to serve as plotdevices to motivate male characters, an event colloquially known as "fridging"...
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