Principles of Plotting #3: Variation

Illustration of a “plotting room” on a Royal Navy World War II K-class destroyer Director Control TowerHello readers, Every couple of weeks, I get a nice note or restack about my Principles of Plotting series. So, I figure it is finally time to get off my ass—or I suppose sit back down on my ass—and finish the series. To quickly recap, I find myself annoyed at both the vague literary world aphoristic advice1 and the absurdly prescriptive rules found in many genre and Hollywood screenwriting guides2. So, this series is my attempt to offer flexible plot principles that can apply to (almost) any type of story. Or, at least any type of story that wants to have a plot. What is a plot principle that applies as much to a Kafkaesque novel as a Marvel romp? That applies to an experimental short story as much as a Hollywood romcom? In my first two installments, I went over how I’m defining plot3 and why I think authors—perhaps even especially literary/experimental/subversive ones—should pay…