All language subtitles for Masterclass Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing - 03.Story and Plot

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Once upon a time when my
child and her friends were five,

they said we're going
to put on a play.

And we're selling tickets.

They're $0.25 each.

Of course, we had to buy some.

Of course, we had to buy some.

We sat down to watch the play.

The play was about breakfast.

And it consisted of would
you like some orange juice.

Yes, thank you.

Good.

Here is your orange juice.

I am having cereal.

Would you like some cereal?

Yes.

Would you like some
milk for your cereal.

Yes, I will have
milk on my cereal.

This went on for a while.

And finally, we said is
anything else going to happen.

And they said no.

And they said no.

And we said, in that
case, we're leaving,

and we'll come back
when something else is

going to happen.

The story needs to
have events, and it

needs to have characters.

And any story, even the
most elementary stories,

which are things like
"Aesop's Fables" or jokes.

They have characters,
and they have events.

A story needs a break in
a pattern to get it going.

A story needs a break in
a pattern to get it going.

And breaking the
pattern can be, one day,

Mabis, who was an avid
gardener, went out

to her rose patch and
found a severed hand.

If everything is perfect all
the time, there isn't a story.

Life is just wonderful everyday.

And so it doesn't become a
story until somebody kidnaps

Rover the dog.

So an event of some kind
interrupts the pattern.

So an event of some kind
interrupts the pattern.

And with that interruption,
the story is kicked off.

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A good plot has to have
something happening

in it that is of
interest to the reader,

and we hope to the characters.

Or maybe I'll put that
the other way around.

That is of interest
to the characters,

and we hope to the reader.

Something has to happen.

And that something can be
any number of somethings.

And that something can be
any number of somethings.

So John and Mary
are living happily

in their split-level
with two cars.

And then, one day, a strange
green light is seen in the sky,

and a canister descends to
earth right behind their house.

And out of it comes
a tentacled monster.

So that's one kind of story.

Threat from without.

John and Mary are living in
their split-level bungalow,

John and Mary are living in
their split-level bungalow,

but then Mary discovers that
John is cheating on her.

That's another kind of story--

threat from within.

Combine those.

John and Mary are living in
their split-level bungalow.

Then, John discovers that
Mary is mysteriously absent

during parts of the night
and has developed an alarming

tendency to sleep
in the bath tub

with all the curtains drawn.

with all the curtains drawn.

What has happened?

What are those strange white
fangs that have appeared?

Could it be that
Mary is a vampire.

Yes!

What is John going to do?

And what about the children?

Have they inherited
this tendency or not?

That's another kind of story.

So, yes, all of
these are events.

So, yes, all of
these are events.

They're all blood
pressure increasing,

suspense building,
plot devices to make

us want to know what is
going to happen next.

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The building blocks of story
in Western civilization

is going to be somewhat
different in other cultures,

is going to be somewhat
different in other cultures,

but they all have their
own set of building blocks.

That's the toolkit, if you
like, the toolkit of stories.

Think of it as a giant
LEGO set from which

you can build your own
structures because the pieces

fit together.

So for Western
culture, it's going

to be Greek and Roman myths.

It's going to be folk tales,
for instance, the Grimm's

It's going to be folk tales,
for instance, the Grimm's

collections and people
who follow on from that

like Andrew Lang's collection
of world fairy tales and folk

tales.

And we have recently added
in indigenous stories

from North and South America.

And as people move here
and there in the world,

African stories have gotten
into that mix as well.

So all of these are
building blocks of story.

So all of these are
building blocks of story.

And the Bible, of
course, has some

of the fundamental stories.

I hate to use the
word fundamental.

It has some essential
stories that people

should know because it's
almost impossible to read

English literature
written before, say, 1940

without encountering biblical
references and modes of thought

without encountering biblical
references and modes of thought

that come from that.

If you are interested
in writing and in having

a large toolkit
of stories, these

are some of the
things I suggest you

can look at because
those stories have

been building blocks for a
great many writers before you.

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If you're going to pick up one
of these pieces of the toolkit,

If you're going to pick up one
of these pieces of the toolkit,

I suggest you just read it.

You're not in a
university classroom

in which you have to analyze
it, study it, come up

with a theory about
it, et cetera.

I think for a storyteller,
this is the way

these kinds of stories go.

And people make fun of this
all the time, of course,

but in order to get the joke,
you have to know the original.

but in order to get the joke,
you have to know the original.

Cinderella story, for
instance, is probably

the oldest extant story
that we know about.

It's known in all
kinds of cultures.

It has all kinds of variance.

But it always ends with the
Cinderella figure coming out

on top.

If you were going to
do a satire of it,

Cinderella would remain
sweeping up the ashes,

and one of the bad sisters
would go off with the prince.

and one of the bad sisters
would go off with the prince.

Or in modern day,
the prince turns up

and Cinderella basically decides
that's not what she wants.

But unless you
know the original,

you don't understand why
that's an interesting variant.

Let us talk about the
film, "Maleficent".

It's the Sleeping Beauty story.

In the standard
Sleeping Beauty story,

there's an evil
witch who appears

at the time of
Sleeping Beauty's birth

at the time of
Sleeping Beauty's birth

and predicts that she will
prick her finger with a thimble

and then sleep for 100 years.

And then, she can only be
awoken by true love's kiss.

In the standard story,
the true love's kiss

is this prince who comes along.

What happens in the
"Maleficent" film?

The prince comes
along, but he's dud.

Nothing happens.

He's too self-centered.

The person who turns out to
really love Sleeping Beauty

The person who turns out to
really love Sleeping Beauty

is her surrogate
mother who turns out

to be the initially evil
witch who has had a conversion

experience.

But if you don't know the
original, what's happening?

This is weird you will
simply say to yourself.

Now there are, of course,
some who brilliantly

have played upon that.

One of them being
Samuel Beckett.

One of them being
Samuel Beckett.

He has a play
called "Happy Days"

in which a woman is being
increasingly buried by sand.

And in her handbag,
there is a gun.

Chekov famously said if
you put a gun on the desk

in the first act, it has
to go off in the third.

But by the third act,
she's so buried in sand,

she can't reach the gun.

Though you keep expecting
her to get a hold of it

and shoot herself because
things are so awful.

But by the end,
it's out of reach.

But by the end,
it's out of reach.

So if you didn't know
about the Chekov comment,

this would make
less sense to you.

So I would just say expand
your frame of reference

because it will give
you a lot more depth

in your thinking about stories.