Structural Diagram

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > STRUCTURE > SHAPE > DIAGRAM >

'When, like today, I feel I have got a little, little way with a plot and knock off for the day, it is like a climber going up a sheer face who pitches camp on a narrow ledge. Tomorrow he may get no further; he may even roll off during the night.'

-- Alan Bennett

• Point of Attack: The Beginning
  • Point of Attack Examples
    • Teaser Point of Attack
      • Teaser Point of Attack Examples
  • Exposition: What's Happened Before
    • Using Narrators
      • A Few Good Narrators
  • Foreshadowing: What May Happen Later
• Inciting Incident
  • Inciting Incident Techniques
    • Inciting Incidents from Recent Plays
  • Plots: They Come in Pairs
    • Suspense Plot
      • Suspense Plot Techniques
        • Clarifying Suspense Plots
          • Example with Dialogue
          • 'Red Herring' Suspense Plots
        • Using Mundane Activity as Structure Substitute
      • 'Elevator' Plays: The Bisquick Plot
    • Emotional Plot
• High Point of Act I
• Curtain Lines for Acts & Scenes
  • Curtain Lines from Recent Plays
• Act II & Its Problems
• Climax
  • Obligatory Scene
    • Diagram of Obligatory Scene & Resolution
      • Annotated Example: 'night, Mother
        • Example with Dialogue
    • Emotional Patterns
      • Emotional Pattern Examples
• Resolution
  • Happy Endings
  • Open Endings