Relationship Mapping Part 2
Applying the plot vs. story lens to relationship mapping...
Hey Story Crafters,
The plot vs. story discussion from last week got me thinking about how this might look like on a relationship map. In other words, can a relationship map be divided into relationships that support the plot, and relationships that support the story?
For those of you who haven’t heard of relationship mapping, I discuss it a little in this post. The complete example is available as a downloadable PDF when you subscribe to The Writer’s Corner. (It’s free!)
(To current subscribers: I reformatted the downloadable PDF for easier readability. You can find the link to the reformatted version at the bottom of the email.)
As the name suggests, relationship mapping is a way to track relationships between characters—more specifically, the development of your major characters as individuals and in relation to other characters. The example I use in the writing resource breaks down the major characters in Shrek (the movie). In the case of the relationship map example with Shrek, all of the major characters are involved in both the plot and the story.
But then I thought, what if the cast of major characters is bigger? They wouldn’t all be involved in both the plot and the story, right?
The first story that came to mind to use as an example for this angle was Shrek 2, naturally. And in the case of Shrek 2, not all the major characters have to play a role in both the plot and the story.
Note: It’s important to recognize that Shrek 2 is a sequel, so certain dynamics between characters already exist. The relationship map for the sequel (shown below) builds on the existing one from the first movie. It’s expected that more characters need to be introduced to encourage the protagonist (Shrek) to undergo an internal transformation, and to help create events (or obstacles) that encourage this transformation. (This is, of course, true for all sequels.)
Since Shrek is the protagonist, the story being told in Shrek 2 centers on him, and the plot affects his internal transformation. He is the focal point of this relationship map.
The other major characters of Shrek 2 include Donkey, Puss, Harold (Fiona’s father), Fiona, and the Fairy Godmother. All of these characters interact with Shrek and influence the plot and/or the story in some degree.
Note: While a few of these characters and/or relationships strictly support the plot (Puss and Donkey) or the story (Fiona), the other characters—Shrek (especially because he’s the protagonist), Harold, and the Fairy Godmother—and their relationships influence both the plot and the story. Additionally, while it could be argued that Fiona does influence the plot, she does so unknowingly through the manipulations of the characters more active in influencing the plot (i.e., Harold and the Fairy Godmother). For the purposes of this map, her character and her relationships primarily support the story.
Overall Relationship Map
As previously mentioned, Shrek (the protagonist) is the focal point of this map. His primary antagonist at first seems to be Harold, but it’s quickly revealed that the Fairy Godmother is the true antagonist of Shrek’s story.
Plot-Focused Part of the Relationship Map
Last week, plot was defined as:
Plot = The external events that happen to the protagonist.
Keeping this in mind, the external events of Shrek 2 involve Shrek’s attempt to physically transform into the type of being he believes Fiona deserves as a husband. This belief stems from Harold’s treatment of Shrek.
Harold acts on his obvious dislike of and disapproval for Shrek by hiring an assassin (Puss) to get rid of him. Instead, Puss becomes one of Shrek’s allies, leads him and Donkey to the Fairy Godmother’s factory, and gets Shrek the Happily Ever After potion. This potion allows Shrek to fulfill his primary motivation—to take the form of the husband he believes Fiona truly deserves.
Donkey’s role is different from the first movie, because he’s already Shrek’s best friend at the start of Shrek 2, and he isn’t able to act as a guide since he isn’t familiar with Far Far Away. His primary role is to act as Shrek’s conscience, especially as Shrek starts undertaking the events of the plot. For example, Donkey cautions Shrek against taking the Happily Ever After potion. He also takes the potion before Shrek as a taste tester (though mostly did it to spite Puss).
As the true antagonist, the Fairy Godmother first tries to get Shrek to willingly leave Fiona of his own free will. After Shrek ruins her factory, she uses the knowledge of the potion he took (the Happily Ever After potion) to fulfill her primary motivation—to provide an opportunity for her son, Prince Charming, to enter Fiona’s life by pretending to be Shrek in human-form.
Story-Focused Part of the Relationship Map
Story = The internal transformation the protagonist undergoes while being affected by the events set by the plot.
Shrek’s internal transformation is his realization that he doesn’t need to change his appearance to become the husband Fiona deserves—it’s a shift in mindset. He needs to learn to compromise with the differences in their values.
Fiona wants everyone she cares about to get along. Fiona’s parents are extremely important to her, and since Shrek is equally important, she wants Shrek to get along with them. Shrek initially resists compromising his values, a possible holdover from the previous movie since he hasn’t completely adjusted to the married life.
Note: After a few disastrous attempts at family bonding, Fiona does decide that she values Shrek’s love more than her parents, and decides to take him home where she knows they’ll be happier. But then the potion kicks in, derailing that plan.
Harold starts off as an antagonist character, because he provokes Shrek into falling back into old habits. He struggles between his need to pay back his debt to the Fairy Godmother, which has the benefit of Fiona regaining her human-form, and his desire to see Fiona happy.
The Fairy Godmother, the true antagonist, targets Shrek’s insecurities and belittles him, which cements the belief Harold plants in his head—that he needs to change his appearance to be worthy of Fiona’s love.
By following the events of the plot, Shrek realizes that he already is the husband Fiona deserves—he just needs to learn how to compromise when their differences arise.
These are just my thoughts on how a relationship map might look when applying a plot vs. story lens to it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or if you have an example you’d like to share.
Relationship Map Wrap-Up
Finally, I just want to remind you that the relationship map above (and the one for Shrek in the downloadable PDF) is based on my observations after watching the movie. As with all breakdowns, it’s easier to notice patterns in character development, plot development, and other storytelling elements after you’re done reading a book, watching a movie, etc.
I use a relationship map while planning my stories, and it’s what I advise in the free writing resource as well. You might not be certain if you’ll follow your relationship map completely, but by having one, you have a sense of how your major characters will change over the course of the story, and what their relationships with the other characters will look like. (The why of their transformation, as individual characters and/or their relationship with other characters, might be better explored through journaling.)
You might find it helpful to use a relationship map during the editing phase as well. After you’re done writing your story, and after you’ve set it aside for a time (just so it feels fresh when you look at it again), try breaking down your story using a relationship map, and compare it to the one you created before writing your story. Are they similar, or is the relationship map you created during the editing phase completely different from the one you started your story with? And are you satisfied with the result? Your answers to these questions will help guide your editing approach.
That’s it for this week. Until next time!
Best,
Leah
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