Plot (narrative)

The plot is the series of related events in a narrative. So, each event (except the final one) affects at least one other. Plot may be synonymous with storyline. Simple plots, such as in a traditional ballad, can be linearly sequenced, but plots can also exhibit complex interwoven structures, with each part sometimes referred to as a subplot. E. M. Forster described plot events as relating through the principle of cause-and-effect; the causal events of a plot can be thought of as a selective collection of events from a narrative, all linked by the connector "and so". According to American science fiction writer Ansen Dibell, the term plot highlights important points which have consequences within the story, in the narrative sense. The premise sets up the plot, the characters take part in events, while the setting is not only part of, but also influences, the final story. In common usage (e.g., a "film plot"), the word plot more often refers to a narrative summary, or story synopsis. The term plot originally served as a verb, as part of the craft of writing, referring to the writer devising and ordering story events. (A related meaning is the oldest: a character's planning of future actions in the story.)