20 MP Lesson 9: Plot #3: Pursuit

[ScienceGirl]

Tobias says,

The pursuit plot is the literary version of hide-and-seek.

It's the simplest premise of all plots: one person chases another. A cast of two will suffice, the pursuer and the pursued. 

Like the adventure plot, the pursuit plot is "a plot of the body." The chase is more important than the people who participate in it.

Act One

Generally, a chase involves a "good guy" and a "bad guy."  

Act One is the "Ready, set, go" of the plot. 

Ready: We must establish which character is which and why one will chase the other. Tobias points out that the good guy does not always chase the bad guy. Either character can be the pursuer, and they can even swap roles in the middle of the story.

Set: We need a motivating incident to begin the chase

Go: The characters set off with wild abandonment with respect to everything else in their lives. All that matters to them right now is the chase itself. They leave everything behind--family, friends, their jobs, their homes--and focus only on the ways to close in (or widen) the distance between pursuer and pursued.

Act Two

For this plot, twist, turns and reversals are essential. The pursuer gets closer and closer, and by a twist of fate the pursued just escapes his grasp. 

Be clever here! Pantsers, again this is a tough plot for you. It's so important to have a good map (at least a good mental map) of where all these elusive interactions will take place. The reader needs to follow along, thinking this next turn is where the pursued will get caught.

Know that there are good chase scenes in many good plots, but for this one, the chase itself IS the plot. So don't rely on your characters to drive you where to go. Even if you are a pantser, keep your locations in mind and have a clear path from start to finish. Anything can happen at those locations. But just as in the adventure plot, consistency and detail will be key.

Also, it's fun to plant things along the path to "help" the pursued get away or to lead the pursuer closer. However, be careful about these planted objects appearing out of nowhere and being too contrived. Evidence should have a reason for being there other than just pointing the direction like a miracle sign. "Here's the pursued!"

Act Three

The chase is resolved. The pursuer either escapes or is caught permanently. Although, as Tobias explains, sometimes this permanence can be an illusion, especially if there's a sequel coming out. 

A chase plot carries tension throughout the story, dependent on the proximity of the two characters. And so, "the tension is greatest at the moment just before it seems capture is inevitable." This is your climax moment. This is the beginning of Act Three, where the reader holds their breath waiting to see whether or not the pursued can give the pursuer the slip.

Tobias challenges us to consider Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. We all know (except poor Wile E.) that the Roadrunner can outwit him and outrun him whenever he wants to. But Wile E. keeps trying in the hopes that someday he'll luck out and catch the Roadrunner. 

So many Hollywood films depend on this concept. We're always up for a good chase. It awakens our simplest emotions--fear, dread, excitement. And, the chase is highly patterned. But we have to be careful that the pattern is not too obvious. Those twist and turns make all the difference. In other words, you don't want to encounter Act Three too soon. Throw in some wild cards. Have the character actually get caught and then escape. 

Taut Writing and Tension

The word "taut" means stretched or pulled tight with no slack. Info dumps need not apply for this plot structure. Actions must not be cliched and description must not be too flowery. As Tobias says, "Tension must hum like a taut wire through your story." 

So branch out a bit. Make your characters unique, like in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where the bad guys are the good guys and they go completely against type. Find a more positive, optomistic bad guy than Butch. He's a complete romantic. A fish out of water. 

And then, do as William Goldman does, and introduce something into the scene that's unique. Tobias describes the scene where they get chased to the top of a cliff and their only hope is to leap off of it. We've seen this before. The characters jump, swim away, and escape. EXCEPT--Sundance can't swim. This little twist keeps the tension high and the escape is not too obvious. From scene to scene, we're left wondering if and how the two will make it through to the next one.

Confinement and Entrapment

At some point, the pursued must be trapped or confined. Remember, as Tobias says, 

The closer the quarters, the greater the tension.

Take the pursued to a place where they have nowhere to run. They can't Macgyver their way out of anything. At the same time, don't make their confinement too difficult. 

For a fun challenge, I decided to write (and even publish!) a story about a girl who confined herself to sit atop a billboard deck for thirteen days. We're talking roughly a 4x12 space, several feet above ground, exposed to the elements and only having access to a few objects. This "Billboard Bride" had to maneuver in the space for 80,000 words! It was CRAZY hard. 

Agatha Christie used this tactic in Murder on the Orient Express where the characters were trapped on a train. Consider Die Hard's office building and Under Siege's battleship. When done well, this confinement can derive an incredible amount of tension for the final scene, where readers are rewarded both physically and emotionally when the pursuer either escapes or is caught.

Checklist

1. In the pursuit of plot, is the chase more important than the people who take part in it?
2. Is there a real danger that the pursued might get caught?
3. Does the pursuer have a reasonable chance to capture the pursued? (Maybe even have him catch the pursued momentarily.)
4. Does the plot rely heavily on physical action?
5. Are the characters and story stimulating, engaging, and unique?
6. Are the characters and situations "against type?" Have you avoided cliches? 
7. Are the situations as geographically confined as possible? 
8. Does the first dramatic phase establish the ground rules of the chase and the stakes?
9. Do you start the race with a motivating incident?