thoughtfulWe’ve all heard that violent screen time makes kids more physically aggressive. But surprisingly, educational TV (which most of our kids watch regularly) seems to make kids mean in a different way. Studies have shown that the more educational television kids watch, the more relationally aggressive (manipulative, insulting, and so forth) they are to their peers. Shows like PBS’ Arthur seem innocuous, but the lessons aren’t as desirable as we think. Researchers say that children’s programming contains a heavy dose of name-calling and put-downs that parents would never condone if it happened in real life. Even though the end of a show might have a nice moral conclusion, if 90 percent of the screen time is rude and hurtful, that will be the take-away.
So that got me thinking, it's based on plot structure. Most stories introduce a conflict early in the line and resolve it near or at the end. But what if we didn't do that? What if we introduced a conflict, went through the steps of solving it, and then did something ELSE with the rest of the story? It would be a very different experience of entertainment.
Standard YA plot: John and Mary are playing. They have a fight over a toy. They go away angry with each other and complain about what happened. Suggestions are made, they try different things, and eventually they make up. The end.
New plot: John and Mary are playing. They have a disagreement. They work it out. Then they go for a walk in the woods, where they discover something really cool, which leads to an environment-based challenge that they solve using at least one of the practical or social skills that first came up in the opening disagreement. Someone is impressed by their accomplishment/discovery. The end.
This is a new plot structure, or at least, one I haven't seen in the tens of thousands of stories I've read. I have seen a few -- I can think of two or three -- stories with a double-tapped plot structure but those were either middle peaks, middle and end, or both right at the end. Even that is very very rare. I haven't seen two peaks at beginning and end with a valley or ridgerow between them. I think this could work.
*ponder* Minds me of my centaurs, who are conflict-alert to the point of encoding it into their pronoun grid. (To say "we," you have to specify whether you and someone else are in agreement or in conflict, and how close-knit you are; about like having to specify "he/she" gender in English.) This seems like the kind of storytelling they'd favor.
I think I might be able to make this work. It's new and therefore likely to be tricky. But I could see it meshing well with Hart's Farm in particular, and possibly with Fiorenza the Wisewoman or Schrodinger's Heroes. Next fishbowl is about "conflict resolution" so I'm open to trying this if anyone thinks it would be fun.
August 28 2013, 02:39:05 UTC 7 years ago
Spider Robinson sort of uses this plot in Callahan's Key. It's a book pretty late down in a series, the prior book being pretty much the narrator saving the world... but losing his beloved business. Callahan's Key opens a couple years later with him finally coming out of his funk and realizing his wife and child have been carrying him. He resolves that with his family pretty soon in, but uses that strength and confidence to open new conversations with them and save the universe later down in the book.
--Rogan
Thoughts
August 28 2013, 02:47:05 UTC 7 years ago
Yay!
>> When we were younger, we way more enjoyed romantic plots that involved the characters fighting their environment than fighting each other. <<
So do I.
>> Admittedly, part of that was really shitty ideas we had about conflict, but still, I think there was also a grain of truth to it. <<
That can happen. One reason I like this plot idea is to make stories that are challenging and interesting, but not full of negative examples of interpersonal relationships.
>> Spider Robinson sort of uses this plot in Callahan's Key. <<
Oh yes! Now that you mention it, I think this does fit the pattern.