For the longest time I thought I had this posted already.

Abstract Art or The Eyes of a Critique?

Alright so you may be thinking "And exactly what are those sad lines and curves?" They are actually a fun thing called plot development visualized (not sure if that word exists, if not, I patent it)!  

And now you might be thinking "Chandler... you... you are... a really bad artist." 
Thanks guys, your moral support is great. 

Looking past the lousy pictures we can see four basic types of plot development! Yay!... Ok I'll stop. 
Note: The size difference is just a fail by me, what's important is the proportions of the sketches. 

Plot development is comparable to a roller coaster - as in it has a rise and fall; The climax cannot be abrupt or it will feel too sudden (category 2 plot) and seem as though the resolution wasn't well thought out - more of a quick fix type deal. Usually you'll see this in a movie/show meant for younger kids, because they aren't able to fully appreciate well thought out development and it's easy to make this type. 

The main character(s) in a predicament towards the end of the movie, and he/she/they are saved at the last minute by some unexplained/unrelated happenstance which had no roots earlier in the movie.

Examples of second category

• About to be eaten by a shark, then aliens rescue you. 
• You're about to fall to your death, then you grow wings and fly away.
• The family is about to go bankrupt, then suddenly they win a lottery they never participated in.

Da fuq?...

Of course it can make slightly more sense

• It's a fantasy, and you're about to be eaten by a shark, but then you level up (which has never happened before) and you beat the hell out of the shark.
• Say it's sci fi and you'll falling to your death, but you just remembered that you had some type of warp device prepared for this very event! 
• The writers become lazy and switch scenes before the outcome of an event so that they do not have to be creative and it depends on your imagination to say how the hero(es) escaped.

It's pretty frustrating. 

Many times we will encounter a story that falls into the 2nd or 3rd category: It magically or unrealistically resolves the issue; or the major issue is resolved without explaining much of what happens after/resolving minor issues. 

Examples of 3rd category

• Horse rider trains whole movie to win a race for some reason. Wins at the end, goes to credits immediately.
• Person with long history gets separated from spouse. Spouse returns to the doorstep at the end of the film, goes to credits immediately. 
• Character was introduced in the movie and was counting on the main character to accomplish something. After main character accomplishes whatever, the fate of the minor character is never mentioned. 

The 4th category can be a bit ridiculous. After the story is completely resolved, it continues to address events after, and the atmosphere of 'perfect ending' (not too short/vague, not too long/superfluous) is lost. It continues to go on, almost to the point where it could break that end part off and make an OVA Slice of Life with it.

• Story of a soldier in a war and the war finally ends in victory (cause why not) and the soldier goes home. The soldier gets everything back to normal, he gets to finally see his family again, and the country is safe. Then the movie keeps going and we watch him take out the trash, and trim the hedge, and order Chinese food, not relating to his family relations or anything. Then it ends when he falls asleep or something.
• A business is going out of business (sounds ironic) and the protagonist dedicates himself to saving the business. The business is finally saved after a bunch of bad guys are thrown out of offer and risks are made. Then the show turns into The freaking Office, and he's just working, and pushing papers, and drinking water. Then it turns to credits when he walks into the elevator (probably after the door closes and sends him on his way and then someone else gets on).
• Is there anything else to really say? If you understand this category you can probably already relate to stories that just kill the ending mood.

And finally, there's category 1. This one should be a bit obvious - good relating to the story climax, a fair amount of information relating to what happens after is given, and the story doesn't end abruptly or prolonged. I shouldn't have to give any examples of this and it's clearly the best of the four.

So, now that we all understand this four category system we can get a better understanding of stories and have further acumen of the placement of a story. 

Don't make Mio cry. Support category 1 resolutions. 

So I hope you will get any references I may make in the future, or you've just become smarter.
Anyway, thanks for reading!!


You can contact me at TreuCritique@yahoo.com