: Re: Have I got the plot? I am looking for verification on what is a plot for a short story. For example: A man wants to develop a new rose variety for his girlfriend as a way to propose, but

@Alves689

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Do these have conflict and plot or have I missed the mark? I don't
quite get the idea of what is plot and conflict so any suggestions
with examples would've gratefully received!

Yes, they do. You don't need conflict to have a plot. You only need something to change in the short story you're writing, whether that is the change in outside environment/ situation, change in (emotional) state of characters, change in relationship between characters...

The example of the simplest plot ever:

Frederic Brown — 'The shortest horror story:The last man on Earth sat
alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.'

What we have here is almost deceptively simple:
A protagonist.
A location.
A description of the situation.
There is a change of that situation.

That is enough for a short story. For any story of any length, you can add more characters, more descriptions, more situations...

A good example would be Hero's journey or this writing advice.

The best advice ever given writers of farce is in these words: “In the first act get your principal character up a tree; in the second act, throw stones at him; in the third, get him down gracefully.”

This question might be too broad and will probably be closed, but I hope this helps you starting your writing career. Good luck.

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