Skip to main content

Plot Elements (Disney Alert)

-Brynbellion-



Plot elements are what makes a story a story. Romance, betrayal, impossible odds, to name a few. In this post I'm going to look at classic plot elements, discuss them, and put a spin on them.

Classic Disney Princess Plot Elements:
Romance
Rebellion
Magic
Good vs Evil
Unhealthy Social Systems

Remember that Disney Princess movies are, for the most part, based off of some of the first fairy tales. So these elements are in both pop culture and writing history.

Romance
Romance is timeless. It's relatable, desirable, and adorable (it's a matter of perspective, okay?). Romance is somewhat overused, yet is not cliche. It's a good way of endearing your characters to readers and pulling these readers into the story (aka shipping). To surprise your audience, pull a cliche-breaker. The girl can end up with the sidekick or the comic relief character. Your protagonist could have a hard time choosing a girl, given the inevitable fawning crowd.

Rebellion
This is a good element that gets a story going, it provides conflict. It gives the protagonist a goal. Readers love rebellion. Everyone loves a rebel. Is this plot element overused? Yes, probably. To spin it, the protagonist could be trying to stop a rebelling society, or when the rebellion gets going there merely aren't enough followers [insert plot twist].

Magic
Magic entrances characters and readers. It's necessary in a large portion of fantasy. There is a huge amount of variation, nearly cliche proofing it. However, why is it the protagonist and mentor that gets all the magic? What if the protagonist enlists his sidekick because the sidekick DOES have magic? Perhaps the mentor lost his/her magic and teaches by memory? Endless variety means endless cliche-benders.

Good vs Evil
Good vs Evil is classic, morally good, and sound. Playing with characters that are grey toned is risky. However, characters like Megara from Hercules can be interesting to play with. Good intentions? Bad choices? Vice versa? While making sure to be clear that your character, though flawed, is good or bad, conflict can be twisted many different ways.

Unhealthy Social Systems
Examples of this are the extreme honor culture in Mulan, the close-minded village in Beauty and the Beast, or the mermaids’ extreme fear of humans in The Little Mermaid. Unhealthy social systems are effective yet common. Often protagonists are outcasts, or considered different in some way. This does make them relatable, but is also overused. A spin would be to provide a supportive community for the protagonist that unexpectedly betrays them.

That's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this.
-Brynbellion





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Slime Eels

-Guest post by ES- Looking for a strange creature to go in your book? This one's perfect and IT ACTUALLY EXISTS! Hagfish, or more commonly known as Slime eels, are a group of jawless soft bodied organisms that belong to the Myxinidae family. There are more than sixty different types of hagfish living in the midnight zone worldwide and not much is known about them. They have developed an extraordinary defense mechanism and are expert scavengers. I hope you will enjoy reading this post and find it very helpful. Food: Hagfish have an excellent sense of smell and touch but even though they have two tiny markings that could be mistaken for eyes Hagfish happen to be blind. Sight is not needed if you live in the inky blackness at the bottom of the sea, so they have adapted to the desolate landscape and have become expert scavengers. If they happen to stumble upon a dead fish, Hagfish lacking teeth have an extraordinary method of consuming their find. They use their rasping...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Writing. Words. Worlds. Scribbles. Languages. Imaginations. (This bit is entirely random, you may ignore it if you wish.) This post is for everyone who says they are too busy to write - I plead guilty - so let me tell you (and myself) that being too busy to write is impossible! All you have to do is carry around a pen or pencil or writing device and paper or a notebook - if you'd rather write in there - then stop somewhere - it can be in the car for all I care - and start scribbling words. Please don't tell me you walk to school or never sit down for a break from something or that you never ever have 1 minute or less when you are doing absolutely nothing. Because you will get an extremely skeptical, maybe even confuddled - or if I'm really shocked, a conbafflated look. For those who don't know, confuddled is confused and something else, and conbaffleated is confused, baffled and frustrated all at once. You can write when you're sitting in the car, you can...
Post a Comment
Read more