Restriction is freedom.
The line sounds contradictory, and, in some cases, it would be. How can something be restrictive (inherently stifling, controlling, and preventing), and also be freedom (open, unrestrictive, and permissive)? Something that is at its core a wall cannot also be a door!
Right?
In all situations but the realm of creativity, that seems to be the case. A government that restricts its people is not a free country. A controlling family is not free, either. But a story? Put restrictions on a story, and you have a creative liberty you wouldnât have known otherwise.
Let me explain:
Take a book or a movieâalmost any will do, just make sure itâs one you have read or seen alreadyâtake that story, whatever it is, and try to remember the plot. Got it? Alright.
At the beginning, there is Act 1âthatâs the opening. Introduce the main character, showing what they want and why, and then they might show an overarching theme as foreshadowing. Everything is fine. Maybe the character doesnât like where they are right now, but nothing is harming them directly, nothing is a matterâthen BOOM. Something terrible happens. The villain attacks their village, the heist goes wrong, the plans the character gets isekaiâd after a car crashâdoesnât matter what it is, only that it uproots the main characterâs entire world.
That is Act 1. Act 2 is the Rising Action. In this, the main character goes on their âjourneyâ. This can be fleeing from the bad guy (think Eragon), heading somewhere important to the plot (think the Hobbit), discovering their new world (Chronicle of Lies), or literally anything that brings the character from Point A to Point B with a little conflict between. The character completes a major plot point, and along the way perhaps they found a new home and new friends that care about them. They have peace. Sure, not everything is entirely perfect, but itâs good for them. They like where they are. They donât want to leave it. Theyâre having fun!
Not for longâŚ
In a flash, everything the character has come to love is stolen. The villain strikes, a disease kills someone they love, an earthquake takes their new home, a terrible mystery is resolved, the mentor diesâsomething terrible happens that ruins all the fun and happiness and peace the main character had. In the aftermath, the character is in turmoil. Everything they had is now goneâeverything they had gotten back was taken away, and they are left alone. They start to doubtâmaybe themselves, maybe someone they knew, maybe their own beliefs. Whatever it was that the character holds dear to themselves no longer matters. Not after what happened.
But itâs not the end, no matter how dire. The character stands again. Perhaps another character convinced them to keep going, perhaps an angel came and prophesized something to them, maybe the memory of their mentorâs words kept them goingâwhatever it is, they stand again, to go and face the villain head on.
This is Act 3. The character comes back harder than ever, ready to face the villain, the dragon, their fear, or whatever was standing in their way before, no matter how big. They gather their friends (How to Train Your Dragon1 and 2), an army (Lord of the Rings), their wit (Dragon Champion or Dragon Outcast), their courage (Wing of Fire: The Dark Secret)âsomething simpleâand head for the climax. The battle is glorious. They fight the villain (whatever that pertains to for them, whether thatâs a separate person, themselves, a disease, etc.), and make advancements. They are winning, and itâs exhilarating.
But the villain has a trick up their sleeve and strikes the character where it hurts most (physically or mentally), attacking their last major weakness in order to cripple them. The main character has a choiceâcomplete their arc and defeat the villain, or let the insecurity well up and ruin them forever. Whatever they decide will finish off and round the theme stated earlier in the story.
Finally, the villain is defeated, and all is goodâmostly. There are still extra problems to handle, but a montage of them fixing the town, putting the bad guys in jail, recovering from their illnesses, or reuniting with their friends is good enough. They might even sing while they do it!
After that, you have a final shotâsomething that encapsulates the story in some major way. This could be symbolic, or simply a cool âpictureâ to end it, bringing the characters together and closing the story.
Now, how close was that book or movie you thought of to that plot? 9 out of 10 times, it is really close, and why is that? Well, this structure above is known as the 3 Act Structure, a commonly used plot structure that most big name writers all across the world and all across time have used in some ways. Not every story uses it, but a great many do.
But, you say, itâs a structure, something that is not very âoutside the boxâ in practice. It literally keeps you restricted when writing! So how is it freeing?
Iâm closeâhold but for a moment!
Many newer writers come in with little to no knowledge about plot structures, and thatâs fineâit takes time to learn those thingsâbut one of the first things they learn about are pantsers and plotters (people who âwrite by the seat of their pantsâ without a plot and writers who write with an extensive plot). When a new writer sees this, most will try to think about where they stand, and a great majority of them, appalled at the idea of giant plot structures and webs and a lot ofâfranklyâunfun work, turn away from it and call themselves pantsers. They donât need plot structures when they free-writeâthe story comes to them as they go!
Now, there is a big problem that comes with this. One they donât usually seeâwhen a pantser writes, the biggest pitfalls are usually:
- Their Story Doesnât Make Any Sense: they put it all together and, when they read it, plot holes keep poking out at them.
- There is too Much STUFF: A new writer, excited for their ideas, throws everything they have into their story, hoping to win readers through originalityâbut there are too many random things in the story that donât need to be there, bringing down the pacing and making it hard for the reader to get through.
- They Run Out of Ideas: Writerâs block can strike really easily for new writers, especially when they hit a wall and have no idea what they are supposed to do next in the storyâwhat should the character do next? Where should they go? Whatâs the ârightâ way?
Those are just three of many issues a newer writer faces when they donât understand plot structure.
âNow,â you might say, âStephen King and George RR. Martin donât plot a lot, and look where it got them to! They are great writers, so couldnât I follow the same way? How do YOU know I canât keep going without plotting?â
This is a valid pointâother, greater writers donât plot everything out, so why should you?
There is a misconception with pantsers that I see a lot. Many people think that, by being a pantser, you donât follow structures in plot at all, and that instead, things just fly off the pen of Stephen King, Martin, and any other great pantser, but this assumption is false. Yes, those writers donât sit and write down their entire stories before they write themâbut they do know plot structures.
Those big writers donât write plotlines before they write, but AS they write, you can see similar patterns to the 3 Act Structure in various forms. Why? Because their minds, hardwired over dozens or hundreds of stories they have written and read, recognize the 3 Act Structure WHILE they write. So, as they pen their stories, they donât struggle to figure out whatâs coming next because, inherently, they know what NEEDS to happen next.
Now, I donât know Stephen King or George RR. Martin personally, but if I had to guess, they would agree to some extent. You donât need to write plots before you write the story, but you do need to understand plots.
Back to the true question at the start: how can structure create more freedom in art?
Most people, especially artists, are afraid of big rules. They want their creativity to run wild and free so that they arenât burdened by the limits of law and rules and they can, instead, build their worlds, characters, and stories on their own times and with their own minds. Without restrictions, they can write anything, think anything, and create anything. Itâs fun! Iâll admit myself that I love free-writing without restriction.
But, without law, you have anarchy, which will lead to chaos. Chaos is what happens where there is no order, structure, or design. Think about it this way: hand a baby (a hatchling) a brush, a canvas, and some paints. His mind is wild and free and, with his new tools, heâll express himself across the canvas however he wants. In the end, you will get a giant canvas of colorsâor a big mess of brown, red, green, and whatever else is mixed into that wet paint in the center (I think I spot some snot!). Yes, itâs adorable, butâis it understandable? Is it something that you, the audience, would call a piece of art? You might hang it for the sentimental value (because it certainly IS valuable because it came from the hand of a child who, most likely, wanted to impress you), but if that child were someone elseâan actual artist, writer, or someone older than 2 years oldâwould it have any meaning at all?
That is the dilemma of unbridled creativity. By having no order, only chaos remains. Your story will be all over the place, the worldbuilding wonât make sense, the characters will be uninterestingâeverything will be confusing to the reader, and hence, boring.
But thereâs also another side to structure:
Our minds are hardwired to solve problems. We love puzzlesâeven if you hate puzzles, you love solving things in some capacity. It could be mechanical problems, tech issues, relationships, etc. We love solving things, and we hold the amazing ability that not many creatures in the animal kingdom possess: swift adaptability.
With writing, from the first draft of the story until the last, we are trying to solve what is NEEDED in the story and what is NOT needed. With a wide, unbridled story, you have no basis for what isnât needed and what is needed. None at all.
Do you see what Iâm saying?
By limiting yourself to a plot, to a structure, to a rule, you may be limiting yourself, but you are also narrowing your attention to think about every single thing you add or remove from the story. The byproduct is that you thinkmore creatively about how to use your limited tools.
Yes, one day you can break the rules, spread your wings, fly Oâ scaly one, and write whatever you wish and take risks like King and Martin. But a wise man once said, âYou must understand the rules before you break them.â
In the dragon community specifically, I can see this in lots of ways. Not to dissuade anyone from doing what they want with their creativity, but, while exploring the community, I see lots of different OCs with extensive lore, backstories, and powersâall kinds, all types, all mediums. Itâs beautiful.
At the same time, there are so many that I cannot discern most of themâis that because their charactersâ arenât unique enough to stand on their own? I donât think so. In my opinion, I believe that, because there is no basis of personal restriction, that, over time, every character becomes a hodgepodge of different things and ideasâlike a canvas with 500 colors on it, in a gallery of other canvases which also have 500 (although unique) colors.
The one painting that would catch my attention would be the one that used 1-3 colors to paint something specific, whole, and wholly understood. A character that is limited to their traits, to their themes, and to their role in whatever story they are put in.
Yes, there is also the issue of things being too uniformâbut I believe that there is a balance.
Remember what I said before about higher-end pantsers? They donât structure everything. They write based on their emotions, their thoughts, and whatever they think will work for the story at the momentâbut, they almost always follow a structure of some sort, keeping their 1-3 colors with which they paint broadly, openly, and beautifully.
Limiting your colors doesnât limit your creativity, it directs it in the right direction.
So, in the end, I leave you with this:
Go and understand structures, not so they can trap you, but so that they can lead you and keep your mind on track.
If you want, I will happily talk in the comments and leave resources on where to find more information on structures. If enough people ask, I will write a separate column for the question.
Fly well, oh dragons young and old,
Christ be with you,
Drachenschrieber-1
u/Winged-Wyrm hopefully this one works!
