Often in the writing world, we lump together plot and structure (#guilty), which makes sense, because they're so intertwined. They're sort of like two peas in a pod. But they are actually two different things, which can be difficult to discern at first when you are learning the craft.
So what is the difference? And why does it matter?
Self, I'm glad you asked that 😉 because that's what I'm going to talk about today.
And I'll be using two of my favorite foods, Mexican food and sandwiches 😋 🤤, to illustrate.
Hopefully you aren't on a diet that restricts those things, if so . . . 😅
At first I was going to refer to Cafe Rio 😍 as an example, but since that is more of a regional thing (proud to say the original started in my hometown ✌️), I decided to go with Chipotle, which is at least across the U.S. . . . I think.
Anyway, plot vs. structure, Chipotle food. Let's do this.
When you go to Chipotle, you mostly have four options: burrito, taco, salad, or what they call, a burrito bowl (basically the burrito without the tortilla).
But what some of my family members occasionally laugh about is that it's all the same food. You're just picking how you want to deliver that food to your mouth.
Meaning, whether you get a salad, burrito, taco, or a bowl, you have the same food options.
I could choose chicken and black beans and then choose whether I want it in a salad, burrito, taco, or bowl. What goes in each is all the same.
This is a good example of taking a plot and structuring it.
Plot = the actual content of the story. Plot is the events, usually brought on by cause and effect, that make up the narrative. It's what happens. It's the chicken, beans, rice, and lettuce (and salsa and sour cream and . . . you get the idea).
Structure = how it is delivered to the audience. Structure is which content goes where and in what order. If I'm getting a salad, the lettuce is put in the bowl first. If I'm getting a burrito bowl, the meat and beans and rice are put in first.
In most stories, plot and structure will fit together in rather straightforward ways. For example, the majority of stories are told in a linear timeline.
But not all stories.
Some stories take place in multiple timelines, some jump all over in time (The Prestige & The Time Traveler's Wife), and some even play with the passage and delivery of time to the audience (Arrival).
In this sense, the plot is structured in a way that is not the linear order. The delivery to the audience is different than the basic cause and effect the characters are experiencing.
But September! (you lament.) What about all those story structures we've been learning about?
Well, yes, don't worry, we are going to touch on those too. It's sort of like learning about light. You can view it as a wavelength, or you can view it as a particle. They are both correct. (And it's helpful to have both.)
But the Mexican food point is, the plot is the ingredients and the structure is the delivery method. You can fit the ingredients into a structure.
K, I'll come back to that in a second. Let's talk about sandwiches.
How do we define a sandwich? Okay, well, let's not get crazy, because if we get out into the weeds, it can actually be difficult to define (I do often prefer open-faced sandwiches for one), but for the sake of this post, let's just say it's two sides of something (usually bread), and a middle or filling.
