Integrating A and B plots in Audio Scripts

I had the opportunity to look at a script recently that made good use of the A plot – B plot combination. Integrating A and B Plots is not a technique I’ve made much use of myself, so it prompted me to do a bit of analysis regarding how this script structure works. For those who may not be familiar with it, it’s a method used frequently in ensemble shows where two intersecting stories are followed over the length of an episode. For those who are SF fans, Joe Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 made particularly good use of the form.

Here’s the basic principle; a script which might otherwise flag during the second act can maintain interest by switching back and forth between two related stories of differing weight.

Let’s say for example that we have the following two stories…

Story 1 (the A plot) – An assassin arrives in town in the guise of a seller of antiquities with plans to target the curator of the local museum.

Story 2 (the B plot) – The mayor has an important meeting with some out-of-town executives who are considering locating their factory nearby.

Fleshed out the two distinct stories might appear as follows…

Story 1

Character Goal – An assassin arrives in town and wishes to find and kill his target. No picture has been supplied, but the target’s name and place of work (curator of the museum) is given.

Obstacle – The target has taken the day off and the local sherrif is interested in why the assassin is asking questions.

Disaster – The assassin is being hunted for a crime committed outside the town and was caught on camera. He wants to complete this job, get paid, and exit the country.

Unfortunately, his picture is now everywhere… and the Sheriff recognizes him.

Choice – The assassin breaks into the Museum and hides to await his target.

Story 2

Character Goal – The mayor needs to succeed in convincing the investors to establish a factory nearby in order to give her town a badly needed economic boost.

Obstacle – Another town is under consideration as well and one of the investors seems to have already decided in the rival town’s favor.

Disaster – News arrives that an assassin is in town and the mayor tries to keep it quiet.

Choice – The mayor decides to showcase the town’s qualities by taking the investors to the museum for the final negotiations… and calls in the curator to open the building for her.

Rob Patterson, a talented thinker with regard to storytelling, pointed me to a simple storytelling structure used by the writers of South Park. Employing this method you would alternate between BUT and AND SO moments in your scenes to work through the elements of a story (eg. Jim, an off-duty police officer, goes to the local market to buy some milk BUT it is currently being robbed, AND SO he sneaks in through the back, BUT… etc. I’d like to suggest that when integrating the A and B plot we add MEANWHILE to our repertory, e.g…

Example

Protagonist A has a goal BUT there is an obstacle.

MEANWHILE Protagonist B has a goal BUT faces a different obstacle.

AND SO Protagonist A attempts to overcome the obstacle BUT a disaster occurs.

MEANWHILE Protagonist B attempts to overcome the other obstacle BUT a different disaster occurs.

AND SO Protagonist A responds to the disaster by deciding on a course of action (a new goal) BUT it is risky and pursuing it will cause the two stories to intersect.

MEANWHILE Protagonist B responds to the other disaster by deciding on a course of action (a new goal) BUT also involves risk and will likewise draw the two stories together.

AND SO the stories will come together for resolution BUT... etc.

If we think of the A and B story (and this includes the micro-stories of scenes) in terms of goal, obstacle, disaster, and new goal, then the most dramatically exciting place to cut between them will be immediately following the introduction of BUT – that moment which raises a question in the minds of the audience over whether the protagonist can achieve the goal.

Now, admittedly, different writers may employ other preferred structures in their scene design, but the principle of cutting when a dramatically significant question is raised in the audience’s mind is, I think, a helpful one.

However, these parallel tracks are a bit rigid. A further key idea to keep in mind is that of “plot weight” (a notion for which I, again, owe Rob Patterson special thanks). The two stories (the A and B plot) are rarely of equal weight. Instead of a simple A,B,A,B,A,B,A,B, etc. structure alternating between each story beat in turn, an A,A,B,A,B,A,B,BA structure is more common (where we spend longer at the beginning on the A plot and BA brings the two plots together for the story climax).

In practice the B plot’s introduction is staggered slightly so that the two stories do not run in sync. When one is having a dramatic valley, the other one is having a peak, and vice versa, adding significantly more structural interest to the overall story.

Example

By way of example, the A plot and B plot outline (above) could be integrated using our structure as follows…

An assassin arrives in town and wishes to find and kill his target BUT no picture has been supplied. Only the target’s name and place of work (curator of the museum) is given. Can he find his target?

AND SO, discovering that the museum is closed for the day, the assassin starts asking questions around town about where to find the curator BUT attracts the attention of the local Sheriff. What will he do?

MEANWHILE, the mayor is informed of the visit of some investors to town. She needs to succeed in convincing them to establish a factory nearby in order to give the town a badly needed economic boost, BUT the meeting has been called at very short notice. Can she handle it?

AND SO the assassin pretends to be a tourist, easing the Sheriff’s suspicions and decides to keep a lower profile BUT federal authorities are aware that the assassin is in the country and his picture is suddenly in newspapers and on tv screens everywhere. The sheriff puts two and two together and calls in a manhunt. How will the assassin evade detection and still complete his contract?

MEANWHILE the mayor discovers that another town is under consideration as well and that one of the investors seems to have already decided in the rival town’s favour. How will she handle this?

AND SO, feeling that things are getting a little too hot for him to remain on the streets, the assassin breaks into the museum and decides to wait for his target to return to work, BUT he has no idea how long that may be. How long will he have to wait and can he remain hidden long enough to do the job and escape?

MEANWHILE the Mayor is shmoozing the investors with some success BUT the Sheriff contacts the mayor with news that a contract killer is in town. She worries regarding the impact this may have on the investors. Can she keep it under wraps?

AND SO, the Sherriff does a bit of research and uncovers an old FBI surveillance photo of the museum curator WITH the killer! She was once a criminal but has been hiding in town under a new identity in Witness Protection. He becomes certain she is the assassin’s target, BUT he doesn’t know where she is. Can he find and protect her in time?

MEANWHILE the Mayor decides to try to sell the investors on the history of the town, calling the curator (who is on her day off) to come into town and unlock the museum for a private tour. BUT, as we know, the killer is waiting at the museum. What will happen when curator and killer are both in the same place along with the mayor and her guests?

All that’s needed now is to resolve the two plots at their point of intersection – Perhaps the mayor saves the curators’ life and gets the needed investment; perhaps the assassin murders the curator and the investors are traumatized; perhaps the assassin is caught but the investors are still traumatized, or perhaps the assassin takes everyone hostage and a new A plot and B plot are introduced (one following the hostages and their captor, the other following the local Sherrif and his attempts to resolve the situation) etc.

This plot structure is great for ongoing serials with ensemble character rosters, but is, perhaps, not so suited to the single protagonist story or serialised novel/mini-series. It is, however, well worth adding to our repertoire of writing tools and is worth remembering at those times when we are struggling to with a second act lull – a B plot might be just what is needed to rescue us.

This article is © copyright 2018 by Philip Craig Robotham – all rights reserved.

So, do you have any thoughts regarding the A plot, Be plot structure? I’d be very interested to hear from you in the comments below?

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