Working with the Internal Plotline

Most successful stories will have at least three different types of plotlines. This gives the story more dimension and depth. And while there are different combinations you can choose, by far the most popular plotlines to weave together are the external, internal, and relationship journeys. 

External--this is the character's outer journey. The character has a concrete goal, encounters an external antagonist, and struggles with the conflict to get the goal.

Internal--this is the character's inner journey. The character has an abstract want, and in pursuing that, completes a character arc. The antagonist is the self.

Relationship--this is a relationship journey. The character either aims to draw close to or increase distance from another person (or maintain the relationship as is). The antagonistic force is what is upsetting that. How it is resolved completes a relationship arc.

Today, I wanted to delve more into how the internal plotline works.

Do All Stories Need an Internal Plotline?

Because this plotline is so popular, we are often told that every story needs an internal plotline, and every protagonist needs to go through a powerful character arc.

But it's not true. 

You can write a strong story that doesn't have much, if any, internal plotline. When this happens, usually a different type of plotline is pulled into focus, in its place (usually a societal plotline).

For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones has little to no internal plotline . . . and neither do any of the other main characters. Instead, a societal plotline with the nazis is showcased as one of the three dominating plotlines. Its plotline combination is external, relationship, and societal.

Often though, if the protagonist doesn't have an internal plotline, another character will be given one instead. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Charlie has no real internal plotline, and instead, that is given to Willy Wonka.

I've been traveling a lot lately and have been listening to the Harry Potter series again, and am reminded, again, that in Half-blood Prince, Harry has little to no internal plotline. Instead, that emphasis is given to Voldemort--Harry is learning about Voldemort's internal journey through memories collected by Dumbledore.

This isn't to say though, that these characters never experience any internal conflict.

Internal Conflict vs. Internal Plotline

Any character may experience a moment of internal conflict.

In my pervious example, Harry has internal conflict about his role in the prophecy, but it isn't really an internal plotline. Fully accepting and understanding his role in the prophecy really only takes one scene to do.

Likewise, at one point, Charlie debates whether to use the golden ticket, or sell it to help his family. It's a moment of internal conflict, but it doesn't really make up an internal plotline.

A plotline will take several scenes. 

If it's a throughline (like most internal plotlines), it will run from Act I to Act III.

If it is a subplot, it may run through only one or two acts.

So, a plotline must have conflict, but not all conflict makes up a plotline.

Also, for an internal plotline, we are looking at how the character struggles internally in a way that relates to his or her identity (more on that below).

Indy may struggle deciding what to do next in a given situation, but that doesn't necessarily make up a full-fledged internal journey for him.

This could all get rather complicated and confusing though, if we pick it apart much further. So just know that a single moment of internal conflict doesn't mean it's a plotline. Plotlines are longer than a moment. And internal plotlines usually relate to identity.

What is the Internal Plotline?

With that in mind, let's come back to this question. 

Pretty much any powerful plotline will have these primary plot elements: an objective, an antagonist, conflict, and consequences.

But when we start diving into the internal plotline, this can actually get a little confusing.

This is because the internal plotline is, well, rather abstract.

In fact, it's the most abstract plotline there is.

Many of us were taught that writing the abstract was "bad"--many of us had pounded into our skulls that we should "show" and not "tell" (i.e. write concretely, not abstractly).

And this is wonderful advice, especially since new writers tend to write in the abstract way too much. And, they write it in the wrong ways.

But any virtue taken to an extreme becomes a vice.

When we look at the three most popular plotlines, we will see that they actually move from the most abstract, to the most concrete.

The internal journey is almost entirely abstract--I mean, it has to be, because it happens inside someone.

The external journey is almost entirely concrete--again, it has to be, because it's happens outside someone.

Then we get to the relationship journey, and interestingly, it fits between these. It's somewhat abstract, because it's involving two people personally, but it is somewhat concrete, because the other person exists in the concrete world.

So, if you never include the abstract in your work at all, then it can often be rather difficult to render a powerful internal plotline (or relationship plotline for that matter). 

This is an internal journey. That means that the heart of it exists in the abstract landscape, believe it or not.

At the same time, though, we don't want it to only exist in the abstract landscape. It needs to be expressed in the concrete world--I'll get to that later below.

For now, let's come back to those primary plot elements.

The Objective

The objective in the internal plotline is the character's want--but it's an abstract want. 

Okay, some of you may already be opening your mouths to argue with me, so just hang tight for a moment.

Many of us were discouraged from focusing on abstract wants because of what I said earlier. We were told we needed to write the concrete. And that's true.

The internal journey starts with an abstract want, but to be effective it must show up in concrete ways, which then helps make up the external plotline.

I'll give some examples.

In Star Wars, Luke aims to become a Jedi, rescue Princess Leia, and defeat the Death Star (concrete goals in an external plotline).

But why?

What is driving Luke to do that?

Well, it's his desire to become, and be part of, something great. 

That's his abstract want.

And in Zootopia, Judy aims to solve a missing person case. Why?

Because she wants to fight prejudice by proving a bunny can be a great cop. That's her abstract want.

In Hamilton, the protagonist aims to win the war and found the American government. Why?

Because he wants to leave a legacy. 

In The X-Files, Mulder aims to solve the X-Files. Why? Because he wants to find and reveal the truth. 

The list could go on.

Behind the concrete goal of the external plotline, is an abstract want in the internal plotline. This is the objective.

The character is driven to fulfill this want--whether or not that want is disclosed to audience and whether or not the character himself is conscious of it. That's the first ingredient of the internal plotline.

The Antagonist and Conflict

But in a solid plot, of course, this will not be easy to do. There will be obstacles (antagonists) in the way.

The character may think that those in the way of fulfilling his greatest desires are all concrete. If the stormtroopers just didn't get in the way of rescuing Leia . . . If the police department just put Judy on the case . . . If King George would just give up . . . If the government could just be brought to justice . . . 

And it may be true that the protagonist's most formidable opponents are external.

But in the internal plotline, the main antagonist is the self.

In order to become truly great (by becoming a great Jedi), Luke must learn to let go of his very desire to be great.

Hamilton's own mouthiness upends the legacy he is trying to build.

Judy needs to address her own prejudices in order to truly fight prejudice.

And Mulder needs to overcome his fears that his beliefs are based on lies (season two).

In some stories, the protagonist may be driven by more than one internal want. For example, Katniss's internal want is to survive--this is what drives her to hunt, and risk breaking laws--but she is also driven to save others, particularly those who are innocent--this is why she volunteers to take Prim's place. Often in Panem, these wants oppose each other, and Katniss becomes an antagonist to herself.

So in this plotline, the antagonist is the self, and this naturally brings in internal conflict (however much or little of it plays out on the page).

Internal conflict will show up in at least one of these ways:

- Having contradictory desires

- Struggling with a personal flaw or moral weakness

- Entertaining opposing belief systems

- Dealing with temptations and tendencies

- Debating if the journey is worth the costs

- Facing some form of doubt (over self, success of the journey, personal beliefs . . . )

And these may interweave and relate to each other. In fact, they almost always do.

And they usually tap into the thematic argument.

At the end of The Hunger Games, Katniss must choose between risking her life to save another person, or killing the other person to ensure she survives. The thematic statement of The Hunger Games is that we should risk ourselves to save others, and it's opposing argument is that we should use others to benefit ourselves. Katniss's abstract wants and her climactic crisis tap into those.

Katniss has to let go of her want to survive, in order to do what is needed, which is to try to save Peeta (and therefore not be a piece in the Games). This completes her character arc, which leads me into . . .

The Consequences

All these pieces--the objective, the antagonist, and the conflict--only matter if they carry consequences. If they don't carry consequences in the story, then so what? Who cares if Luke wants to be great, if he can't influence outcomes to make that happen? And who cares that Hamilton is mouthy if it doesn't impact what he deals with next? Sure, maybe those things would still contribute to characterization, but they wouldn't really matter much to the story. 

The consequences don't have to be huge, but they do need to be significant, meaning they could shift the protagonist's current trajectory.

Often the internal plotline will carry consequences out into the external plotline, and vice versa. Hamilton's mouthiness affects his political career, and his political career affects him personally.

But since this post is dedicated to the internal journey specifically, let's look at how the internal consequences show up in this plotline.

Obviously these are going to psychological. I mean, they have to be, right? They exist inside the character.

So this typically means they relate somehow to the character's identity.

This journey is impacting who this character is. Who was she in the past? Who is she right now? Who is she becoming? And does she want to become that? What is she willing and not willing to do to be the person she needs to be?

In other words, quite frankly, the consequences make up the character arc.

How the character chooses to respond to and try to resolve conflict, inches her along in her character arc.

If Katniss chooses to kill Peeta and save herself, then she completes a negative character arc, becoming more like the Capitol she is fighting.

If Katniss chooses to risk her life to save Peeta, then she completes a positive character arc, becoming more aligned with what is right and true (in the context of the story). This is the opposite of the Capitol.

If Luke chooses to let go of his thirst for greatness, he can actually become great. If he doesn't, he will never be great (ironically). 

If Judy chooses to ignore her own biases, she will never truly fight prejudice. She must work on herself, on who she is.

Our choices determine who we really are.

They are what change who we are, or lead us to be steadfast in who we are.

Some say that there is only one plot in stories, the one that answers, "Who am I?"

While I don't know that I would go as far as to make that statement, I will say it was clearly made by someone who focused mostly on the internal plotline.

Because it's all about showing who the character is, or has become. Whether this is expressed blatantly on the page, or only in subtext. This is the journey of the plotline.

The Turning Point

Okay, so remember how I said the primary elements of plot are the objective, antagonist, conflict, and consequences? Well . . . there are secondary elements of plot too. I consider these to be progress, setbacks, costs, and turning points. But I consider turning points to be the most important of those.

Turning points change the direction of the plot. It's where the peak of conflict definitively turns into the consequences. I've talked about turning points a lot lately, but if you are new here, you can read about them here.

The biggest, most recognizable turning point is the climax. The overarching conflict of the story hits a peak, where the protagonist or antagonist "wins" in a defining way, resolving the conflict and carrying consequences out into the falling action.

In most stories, the climax of the internal plotline overlaps with the external plotline. But even if it doesn't, in the internal plotline, the climax is the moment the protagonist definitively completes her character arc. It's when the consequences are set in stone, and we "resolve" who this character actually is. 

At the climax, Katniss chooses to risk herself to save Peeta. This definitively completes her character arc for the installment. She is not like the Capitol. She is doing what is right.

(Please keep in mind, though, that I am simplifying all these things for the sake of this post. There is certainly a lot more to dig into, but that is the basic idea. 😉.)

Interweaving with the External

As I've touched on a couple of times in here, the internal and external plotlines should really be weaving together. What the protagonist is dealing with internally should impact the external, and what is happening externally should impact the internal.

For example, the abstract want needs to turn into a concrete goal for the external plotline. If Luke wants to be great, but is taking no concrete action to do that, then does he actually really want it that bad? A want without a concrete goal is just a wish. And that's often not enough to create powerful internal and external plots. If the character truly, deeply wants something, he'll take action to get it. It will show up in the concrete world. It will be part of the external plotline.

Likewise internal and external antagonists and conflicts should be affecting each other. After the threats from Jefferson, Madison, and Burr (external), Hamilton experiences internal conflict about what to do next. He chooses to write the Reynolds Pamphlet, which publicly announces he had an affair. This greatly damages his political career (external).

Often the external antagonists put pressure on the protagonist to change who he is, either by tempting him to go the wrong way, or by (indirectly) revealing the protagonist must evolve to defeat them. The Hunger Games themselves are tempting Katinss to become more like the Capitol. The antagonistic forces of Zootopia, reveal to Judy she must change who she is to successfully solve the case. (Again, I'm simplifying.)

The internal plotline should not exist fully separated from the external plotline. Sure, you may have a story that emphasizes the internal journey over the external journey, like A Man Called Otto, but the two plotlines are still intertwined.

Nonetheless, I still find it useful to do a post like this that focuses almost solely on the internal components. Maybe it has been useful to you too.

*Images are from my online course, The Triarchy Method of Story.