What goes up must come down right? But what happens on the way? Learn all about story writing and plot structure with our new Plot Mountain video! And watch out for dragons.

Lyrics

If you’re going to Plot Mountain
You gotta start somewhere
We’ll call this the INTRODUCTION
And guess what happens there?
You describe the characters and the settings
That’s the who, what, when, and where
The characters are the people that are there
What do they look like, why should we care?
And the setting is the place where they be
What exactly do the characters see?
On their way to Plot Mountain

At the start of Plot Mountain
You’re gonna have to go up
We call this the RISING ACTION
And here starts the plot
There’s a conflict in the story
You should describe exactly what
Like a character has a problem to work through
With themselves or the world, what should they do?
Or maybe there’s some big arguments
Or some dramatic natural events
On the way up Plot Mountain

Keep on going up Plot Mountain
Until you reach the top
We call this the CLIMAX
And here you cannot stop!
You must face the biggest problem
That leads to a turning point
Here the story is the most intense
With emotions, drama, and suspense
But action like this cannot stay
The story must change and go a different way
On the top of Plot Mountain

After the top of Plot Mountain
You’re going to start to go down
We call this the FALLING ACTION
And it lasts until flat ground
There’s still action in the story
But it will start to slow down
So the worst is over, the worst is through,
But now what will the characters do?
There are still some problems, how long will they last?
Don’t forget the ending is coming fast
On the way down Plot Mountain

After climbing down Plot Mountain
Well it’s gotta end somewhere
We call this the RESOLUTION
And what will happen there?
You should answer all the questions
Until you are aware:
That the conflicts in the story from before
Aren’t there any more
Unless there’s gonna be a sequel or part 2
And then you’ll have to think what will the characters do?
Next time on Plot Mountain!

• English