Plot (narrative)

In a literary work, film, or other narrative, the plot is the mapping of events in which each one (except the final) affects at least one other through the principle of cause-and-effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a selective collection of events from a narrative, all linked by the connector "and so". Simple plots, such as in a traditional ballad, can be linearly sequenced, but plots can form complex interwoven structures, with each part sometimes referred to as a subplot.

Plot is similar in meaning to the term storyline.^[2][3] In the narrative sense, the term highlights important points which have consequences within the story, according to American science fiction writer Ansen Dibell.^[1] The premise sets up the plot, the characters take part in events, while the setting is not only part of, but also influences, the final story. An imbroglio can convolute the plot based on a misunderstanding.

The term plot can also serve as a verb, as part of the craft of writing, referring to the writer devising and ordering story events. (A related meaning is a character's planning of future actions in the story.) However, in common usage (e.g., a "film plot"), the word plot more often refers to a narrative summary, or story synopsis.