A Writers Guide to Tragedy.
Written by Sierra Cassity
The hero falls, the bad guy wins. The end. Right?
Kind of, but let’s take a deep dive into tragedy. learn its plot structure, history, and why so many people love to read it.
We Love Tragedies.
We close the book with tears in our eyes. At the moment it might not seem like we enjoyed the sad tale but the truth is our brains loved it. Scientist have been asking why we as people are intrigued by being sad. Some hypothesize that it is our ability and want to empathize with others that drag us into the depths of despair with such vigor.
Whatever the reason, if we want to execute it well we must learn what makes a tragedy.
What is Plot?
When writers work through their story they hit something called pacing points, otherwise referred to as plot points. A plot structure helps keep writers from going off on too many tangents in the story. In other words, the plot keeps the story going towards the goal ending.
Plot Embryo
Source: My drawing of the Dan Harmon Plot Embryo or Story Circle.
Beginning at the top of the photo, the story starts with You. Where the readers meet the protagonist of the story. Moving to Need, the protagonist and readers learn about the main storyline that by the time of completion the need will be met. Go, the protagonist is off, their journey truly begins. Search, the protagonist is officially in the unknown world and the search is on, this is also when there are some sort of test of faith may happen. Find, this is a critical point for the protagonist and the official halfway marker. Take, it’s time for the protagonist to make their move, this is the lowest point also called the ‘point of no return’. Return, now the protagonist begins to make their way back, the story is winding down. And finally, Conflict Over/Change Happens, this is the finally, the protagonist has accomplished their goal and the author can type out ‘the end.’
Hero’s Journey
Source: My drawing of the Hero’s Journey plot embryo by Dan Harmon.
This embryo is split into the classic three act structure. The first act is labeled Departure and includes; Ordinary World, Call to Action, Refusal of Call, Meet the Mentor. While they are pretty self explanatory, I will give you a brief description of each.
Act One: Departure
Ordinary World
This is the meet the protagonist. Where the reader gets aquatinted with the main character and the setting or world that the story takes place in.
Call to Action
Just like in the regular plot embryo the call to action leads the protagonist on to the beginning of their journey.
Refusal of the Call
The hero often doesn’t want to go off on this long journey away from their home or regular life. They will try to deny the call but of course they go on their way eventually.
Meet the Mentor
The mentor is often seen as someone older than the hero or some sort of all knowing being that guides the hero along on their way.
Act Two: Initiation
This is the largest section out of the three. Entering into the unknown world the hero goes through five plot points here. The First Threshold. Tests, Enemies and Allies. Approach the Inner Most Cave. Ordeal. Reward. This is the meat of the story.
The First Threshold
Entering into the unknown world, the hero’s first task.
Tests, Enemies and Allies.
Just as it’s stated, the hero faces tests, gains allies and makes some enemies along the way.
Approach the Inner Most Cave
The point of no return, the low point for the hero. The part where the hero really questions their ability, usually before the main conflict.
Ordeal
Time to fight the big bad. This is usually a pretty long section within itself. The fight is usually drawn out and the hero has to face their mortality.
Reward
No need to worry this is the hero’s journey after all. The hero wins.
Act Three: The Return
This is the resolution to the hero’s journey. It includes: The Road Back, Resurrection, Return with Elixir, and Ordinary World.
The Road Back
The hero didn’t just make their journey to the big bad, now they have to travel back.
Resurrection
Sometime you have to bring someone back to life. This usually happens when a writer does a ‘fade to black’ on the battlefield or directly after the hero wins as the hero looks down to see the sword or bullet wound and drops to unconsciousness.
Return with Elixir
Time for the hero to return to their home, usually with a great reward or elixir to save someone they love, maybe the entire reason they went on the journey to begin with.
Ordinary World
And we finish with the hero back in their home, content and retired from their heroics.
Tragedy Embryo
Source: My drawing of Dan Harmon’s tragedy plot embryo.
Right away we can see that this is different from the hero’s journey. With just seven plot points we can write tragedies that bring tears to readers eyes.
You
The main character sets out toward their demise, completely unaware that they won’t make it to their happy ending.
Anticipation
Our protagonist believes they are the hero of this story. Maybe all they want is to save the family farm that’s been in their family for generations. This is where we build up their hopes and dreams.
Dream
Every character has a dream. This is where we reveal the main characters dream as well as their fatal flaw. Something is inherently wrong, dooming the story from the very start.
Frustration
As the plot progresses the protagonist faces frustration after frustration. Maybe things aren’t going the way they are supposed to, there is no reward for getting it right or there was no right way to do it to begin with. We have also entered into the unknown world. The protagonist is venturing further out of their comfort zone maybe out of desperation.
Nightmare
This is the point of no return in the hero’s journey or the inner cave.The protagonist is really struggling with the weight of the world bearing down on them. Maybe there’s an option to go home and abandon the quest. But our wannabe hero won’t take it.
Destruction
We are entering the territory of Insufficient Realization. That terrible moment where the protagonist realizes they aren’t going to make it back home. This usually happens sometime in the final battle.
Death
And finally the protagonist dies or isn’t able to finish their quest and return home.
History
Tragedies can be tracked back to Ancient Greece. Way back then we used tragedies as a way of lamenting about past heroes and their lessons. Storytelling has always been about teaching. As humans before the written word was around we would teach through our stories and those of the people around us. Through oral story just like Ancient Greece, in large amphitheater with actors or professors lecturing to the audience.
