Billy eyed the last cookie. It taunted him from the bowl on the counter.
The wooden chair would make a noise on grandma’s tile.
In the barn, the cows swished their tails, heads in the manger.
After Dad fed the cows, he gave Billy the cookie.
This #zapfic is my second foray into the world of kishōtensetsu, a plot structure found in classic Chinese, Korean, and Japanese narratives.src Kishōtensetsu does not rely on conflict to construct the plot; instead, a juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected elements creates a need for resolution, which is provided by bringing the two elements together in the end.
I’ve practiced using conflict to build my narratives with action that rises to a climax, and it is actually difficult to write something that doesn’t have some kind of conflict in it, as you can see from my story above. Here, we have a character with a desire (Billy wants a cookie), confronted by an obstacle (a too high counter) he must overcome to attain that desire. The conflict escalates when his plan to overcome that obstacle leads to another obstacle with more danger (if he uses the chair grandma might hear him and he’ll get in trouble – at least that’s what I was attempting to convey).
In the third paragraph, we’re introduced to the seemingly unconnected element, the cows in the barn. What does that have to do with Billy and the cookie? In a ‘good’ kishōtensetsu, we really need to know, and that creates the momentum to the conclusion of the story, instead of the need to resolve a conflict.
The ending should show us how the two apparently disparate elements (Billy and the cookie – the cows in the barn) are connected. In this story, Dad was outside feeding the cows, came inside and gave the cookie to Billy. (Again, hopefully the reader understood something like that from the 240 characters I was allowed to use for Zapfic, see below.) My story also has a conflict that needs resolving; Dad eliminates the conflict by providing Billy with the cookie, which is one way to resolve a conflict.
I guess in terms of Western plot structure, my story lacks a climax, and the conflict is resolved by Dad as a kind of deus ex machina. Interesting.
This explanation of kishōtensetsu is how I understand it at the moment. I’m definitely still absorbing the idea. For more complete and authoritative surveys, simply Google ‘plot without conflict,’ or visit these links:
The significance of plot without conflict
https://stilleatingoranges.tumblr.com/post/25153960313/the-significance-of-plot-without-conflict
Wikepedia entry
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish%C5%8Dtenketsu
You can read my first attempt at kishōtensetsu here:
The Buck
@cliffagreen/the-buck-short-fiction-by-cliff
This week’s photo is by congerdesign, from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/users/congerdesign-509903/.
The challenge of the #zapfic contest is to write a story in 240 characters or less, following a weekly prompt.
This week’s prompt: counter.
For contest guidelines, visit the entry post here:
@felt.buzz/it-s-zapfic-and-we-are-buzzing-on-hive-last-week-s-results-and-new-prompt-for-week-103-week-3-on-hive-prize-pool-of-6-hive-sbi.
Follow @Felt.Buzz to receive the prompts.