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BRARYQ<;^ ^tUBRARY^^ Jlii W(Xi ^MEUNiVERS-//^ vVclOS-AHCElfj^ t(^ DC CO l>^, ^ .v? .^lliBRARYOc %OJnY3-iO't^ ^l•l!BRARYa<^ '^^^ ■< ^ aof-caiifo^^ ^y, 5- VsM-.iiiji«„^r" p* CP 00 f 1 -t> I "i >- en -< DC % ,5ME-UWIVER% ,s>:lOS'A*^CFlfj;.>^ ^^t-UBflARY-(^^ ) c-f" o o ^ 2C 10. i?^ '^f- -^ S o 6 '^/^a3AiNn-3WV ^^.OF-CAL1FO% ^ S '-'Ml B ^(:/AavaaPr#' :z2: ft ^I-IIBRARYQ^^ ^K'E-UBRARYa^-^ iif (_3 ui; O 6 V "t ,i^ THE JUTHORS' HANDBOOK SERIES THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT MA- TERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION, COMBINED WITH A COMPLETE INDEX AND A PROGRESSIVE CATE- GORY IN WHICH THE SOURCE, LIFE AND END OF ALL DRAMATIC CONFLICT AND PLOT MATTER ARE CLASSIFIED MAKING THE WORK A PRACTICAL TREATISE For all Writers of Fiction and Drama, Prose and Verse; also Editors, Orators, Teachers, Librarians, Newspaper Men, StatisticiariS and Preachers HENP' _RT PHILLIPS Author o{ "The Plot of the Short Stop/," "Art in Short Story Narration.' "The Photodraaia," and formerly Associate Editor of the Metropolitan Magazine INTRODUCTION BY HOMER CROY Author of "When to Lock the Stable." etc. THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL SPEIXGFIELD, MASS. Cor.vrlght, 1916, by HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS Copyright, 1920. by THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL PM TO EDGAR ALLAN POE THE FIRST MAN OF LETTERS WITH THE GENIUS AND COURAGE ir>rrELLIGENTLY TO ANALYZE, UTIUZE AND UNIVERSALIZE THE FICTION PLOT. THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION vii FOREWORD 3ci I.— THE NATURE OF PLOT MATERIAL ... 17 Dramatic Expression; Plot Particles; the Ordi- nary and tlie Extraordinary; ABC of Plotting; Recognition; Emotional Core; Dramatic Frag- ments. II.— DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN PLOT MATE- RIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT 22 A Confusion of Terms; Analogies in other Fields of Art; Law of Fiction Plot; the Sum of All the Parts. III.— THE RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION 28 Not Compos-ition but Construction; Keystone of Intelligent Effort; Soul of Organic Matter; Rela- tion to Strategj'; Non-Fiction Forms. IV.— COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL 35 Plot Matter also Fiction Material; the Five Senses and Life; the Dramatic Ear and Eye; the Ficti- tious Mood and its Stimulants; What Constitutes Confidences; Stealing Plots or Stimulating Ideas; Books, Newspapers and Poetry; Phrases, Ex- cerpts, Pictures and Notes. v.— WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS 43 Not a List of Actual Plots; Potential Rather than Existent; Chaos versus System; A Thesaurus, Ready Reference, Perpetual Stimulant, Sponta- CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGiJ neous Collector and Efficient File; Eminently Use- ful for Editors, Orators, Teachers, Librarians, Newspaper Men, Statisticians, Preacliers — as well as Writers of all Kinds. VI.— THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG 51 Man; his Vicissitudes and his Desires, his Rela- tionships and his Struggles; the Plot of the Plot Catalog; a Complete Cycle; the Line of Progres- sion; that which is Not Man; Ending with the Beginning. VIL— HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG. ... 50 A Practical Device, not a Theoretical Contrivance; the Automatic Plot Collector and File; How One may be Made; Filed According to the Predomi- nant Phase; How to Avoid Confusion; All Divi- sions are Potential ; Practical Illustrations. VIII.— THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (I.— The Grand Divisions) 71 A Progressive Category of Man — his Vicissitudes, his Desires, his Relationships and his Struggles — in which All Dramatic Conflict and Plot Material in the Universe find their Source, Life and End. IX.— THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (II.— In- clining ALL Minor Divisions) 75 Together with Starred References for Filing Plot Material. X.— A FICTION EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATING THE VALUE OF THE CATALOG 107 " A Weaver of Dreams; " its Classification and An- alysis. XL— A COMPLETE INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS 129 Alphabetized with Cross References. VI INTRODUCTION AVERY great editor once told me some- thing that has always stuck in my mind. It was just after I had come to New York from a small western tov/n and, al- though I recognized the truth of what he said, I did not appreciate its depth. "A writer sells his first story on account of plot — after that technique has to pull him through." I knew that he had said something, but it took me a long time fighting away at writing to realize the truth of his remark. Every person who has the cosmic urge in him that makes him put himself on paper in narrative form has a big story in him before he touches his pen. The author seizes his pen and what is in him flows out. He sends it out and it sells. But when he again feels the inward stirring and, seizing his parturient pen, writes his next story, the magazine can't see it. It comes back and comes back, to be cata- vii INTRODUCTION combed In a pigeonhole forever. The au- thor can't understand why his first story should sell and his next one scarcely get a personal letter. He moons around awhile and then goes back to the grocery. The reason is that the plot of his first story was big enough to sell regardless of technique. After that the author must tell a less moving tale and tell it more skilfully. He has to depend on the efficacy of his art. He has not yet mastered his art and as a result his postage is staggering. For his first story the author does not need anything but paper; after that he needs every help in the world that he can get. He has now entered the finest of the fine arts and must take advantage of every hint that he can get. If he does not some one else will; it is merely buttering his own bread. As a reader on magazines and as an editor I have found that ninety out of every hun- dred stories are sold on account of their plot. Now, after the young author has sold his first story, he is up against that old devil Plot. His first story has poured itself out viii INTRODUCTION and now he must find something to take the place of that first fine frenzy. He has not been writing long enough to sell by technique alone, so plot must pull him through. But how to get it? That is the question; that is what makes one tumble and toss on the midnight ostermoor. Anybod}^ who can help you run a plot to earth is a friend from on high. Get him by the coat tail. But the beauty of it is that you can learn to build plots. It is no simple matter — not by a long shot! — but you can learn. It is all a question of whether you really want to learn or whether you are content to be a dabbler. It is a matter of paying the price. The first thing you have got to do is to get plot by the neck; but when you have got plot eating out of your hand, you have just about got your fingers on the laurel wreath. I figure that I wasted six years in learning how to sling ink. I began just exactly back- ward, with no one to tell me how. I first learned the art of the phrase; I could make words climb a pole, but I did not know a ix INTRODUCTION blessed thing in the world about plot. I could think of fine sounding words, but I could not do anything \vith them — I could not sell them. The reason was that I did not know how to dig up a plot. And it is only recently that I have learned how. If I had gone to work six years before learning how to build plots instead of stewing around over French phrases and Latin subjunctives, I might now be riding in a twin-six instead of having to flag street cars. Homer Croy. All the Fine Arts serve their tedious apprenticeships — Painting has its drawing and color-mixing; Sculp- ture its modelling and meastiring; Architecture its draughtsmanship and mathematics; Music its exercises and counterpoint. Why except Literature? FOREWORD N no other dignified modern profession do its members just seem to "hap- pen" — excepting Literature. In Painting or in Music; in La\v or in the Ministry; in Carpentering or in Steamfitting — one must serve an apprenticeship of painstaking study of theory and daily practical exercises. The apprentice familiarizes himself with the tools and learns how to use them. He solves problems and prepares formulas; he probes fallacies and progresses in wisdom. In other words, before the apprentice is permitted to make a m.oney-yielding servant of his profession, he must become indis- putable master of its fundamentals. xi FOREWORD Years of study and apprenticeship usually culminate in one or more tests of the student's proficiency in the essayed profession. Suc- cess is then rewarded with some official recognition, certificate or diploma which in- forms the world that the candidate is duly qualified to practice the said profession with- out danger to client or public. Further- more, he is then entitled to the standard rate of compensation — and as much more as the public thinks he is worth. To practice many professions, without either having passed thru an apprenticeship or possessing the proper credentials, con- stitutes a breach of common law. The transgressor is liable to heavy fines or im- prisonment. This regulation protects both the public from becoming victims and the pro- fession from degeneracy. We can scarcely say that the foregoing is true of the Liter- ary profession. The reading and theater-going public continue to suffer; the high standards of a selective profession are lowered by medi- ocrity. Strange as it may seem, this lower- ing of the standards is not the triumph of a xu FOREWORD foe from without, but the work of an enemy from within. Who are the enemies that lurk within the craft? Are they the unskilled laborers who have simply "happened" thru the chance sale of a story? Or are they the writers who have attained a "name" which they maintain by grinding out an annual supply of rubbish? Or are they the manuscript readers and editors whose standards are gauged by a limited education, and unbound- ed opinion, a narrow acquaintance with literature and a bioad ignorance of Life, a shallow judgment and a deep-rooted preju- dice? It would be a difficult matter indeed to say who amongst those mentioned, were the most blameworthy. There are, without doubt, many of each class within the con- spiracy of ignorance. Every year thousands of new aspirants rush into the alluring vacuum of beholding their names in print. Many are ignorant in handling the elemental tools of Grammar and Rhetoric. Most of them have little or no acquaintance with those pieces of liter- xiii rOEEWOED ature and drama that are acclaimed by authorities and educated appreciation as the master works of the species. They merely feel that they can "write." They take their chance, as they would in a lottery. If they succeed in drawing a winning check from an editor they accept it as an act of the Will of God. They forthwith belong to the writing craft by special warrant of the dollar sign. It seems to have become an axiom of tlic writing craft that its members are born, not made. In a m.easure, this is true. An analogy is found in the diamond. Uncut it is without question a rare mineral, but cut it becomes a precious gem. Now that our writer has actually "hap- pened" into the craft without either labo- rious apprenticeship or meritorious service, we would naturally expect him to set about to perfect himself in the difificult art into which he has leaped thru sheer mental agility. We would not be surprised to learn that he had journeyed afar to see or hear a famous masterpiece, that he had given up an evening a week to hearken to some xiv FOREWORD learned master who has given up many- years to digging into the profound lore of his adopted vocation, that lie had surrounded himself with special books that revealed new aspects of his profession, that he had begun to lay in a store of impressions to light the way to continued brilliant effort, that he had lost no opportunity to seek perfection. But no, our writer too often relies upon an infallibility which some might call arrogance. He is freOuently short-sighted and looks upon success as Fame. He is many times self-satisfied in becoming content with ef- forts that might be improved. He avers that to study the technique of Literature or of Dram.a is "unprofessional" with the same fervor evinced by those dentists, who rail against their colleagues who advertise as being "unprofessional." Quite forget- ting his own manner of entry into the inner circle, we find him telling those struggling to break thru the pale, that one must liter- ally fall into it — from the skies. We all know this type of writer. We daily read the magazines that are more than half- filled with stories that could be bettered in XV FOREWORD rhetoric, plot and technique. Some of us know well-known writers who are sterile of plots and are ready to buy them, if necessary. These few words are meant as a plea for the literary education of literary people; in other words, for the aspirants and mem- bers of the literary craft to take the profes- sion studiously and seriously. There is more poor fiction than good literature: there are more poorly-written plays than well-written dramas. A wider study of the subject would lead to a deeper knowledge of it, and a deeper knowledge would result in the more perfect product. There is a great deal of poor fiction, but literature can be nothing save good. Fic- tion dies of its own inherent diseases; liter- ature lives because of its eternal verities. Henry Albert Phillips. Larchmont, New York, December 21, 1915. XVI THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG The most effective Plot material is that which concerns all Mankind Jar all Time. CHAPTER I The Nature of Plot Material dramatic expression; plot particles; the ordinary and the extraordinary; ABC OF plotting; RECOGNITION; EMO- TIONAL core; dramatic fragments. lY Plot Material is not meant a Com- plete Plot, but any data, facts or fancies that are capable of interesting ex- pansion, dramatic culmination, effective characterization or scenic picturization. Plot material may consist of any item that suggests an emotional equation to the plotter, or that may fruitfully expand some theme or plot already in hand or in mind. Since all Art consists of dramatic expression — thru recognized symbols — of the emotional 17 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG vicissitudes of mankind, it is but reasonable to assume that the inspiration for such ex- pression nmst come from sources directly related to Man and his emotions. Thus, plot material hinges upon a multi- tude of relationships that are as broad as the universe, as high as the heavens and as deep as the human soul. It may consist of Dramatic Fragments; Extraordinary Ex- cerpts; Sublime Moments; Pathetic Flashes; Ejaculatory Situations; Gripping Climaxes — or a thousand other vicissitudes. And, too, it may be a Complete Plot, inspired simultaneously from beginning to end. In discussing particles of plot material, however, v/e are not always to think of them as mighty conflagrations, but as sparks capable of igniting greater fires of human emotion. Perhaps a better term for this material might be kindling, all ready for the application of the match of inspiration. Discriminating between the ordinary and the extraordinary in the selection of plot material is a fine art that has much to do with the plotter's success in acquiring valu- able data. For all plot rnaterial must hav^ I8 THE NATURE OF PLOT MATERIAL its emotional core and dramatic ess ence. It must be fire itself and strike fire_Jn_ the imagination in^_tajitly. Such particles need have only a personal value to the particular plotter suggesting to him a complete cycle of activity that another might not dream of. {EXAMPLE I.) A faded flower, a leaf from a child's primer, a sentimental "motto" brmvned with years, a cancelled check, a clipping from some local paper, a marriage announcement — might appear commonplace to all but the plotter himself, for whom they might be the golden keys to some of his life's richest treasures. If ordinary material is employed, it must be at white heat, or pathetically simple, or viewed amidst some extraordinary phase, or suggest more than the obvious. Thus, the commonplace becomes electrified when the trained plotter attaches his current of imagination to it. In fact, the highest art attainable in plotting is that which is capa- ble of effectively utilizing the ordinary and the commonplace phenomena of life. Plot- ting becomes easier in ratio as it deals with the extraordinary, but narration more diffi- cult, because of the greater task of rendering the extraordinary material convincing. 19 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG The most effective plot material is that which concerns all mankind at all times. This implies material and situations which we instinctively recognize as Truth. Yet we trespass on the oldest themes instantly. To escape the hackneyed, we must evolve new arrangements or novel culminations. {EXAMPLE 2.) The ABC of plotting are: {A) Selection; (S) Arrmigement; (C) Ctdmination. They constitute the beginning, the middle and the end. Selec- tion co7icerns Plot Material; Arrangement concerns Plot Development; Culmination concerns Plot Climax. The successful collecting of plot material is largely a matter of cultivation. One be- gins by studying passive phenomena and grows to see plots budding spontaneously from the slightest suggestion of inspirational material. The novice m.ay make the error of collecting every piece of merely violent and dynamic matter that comes to his notice, before he learns to discern that which is truly emotional and dramatic. {EXAMPLE 3.) A newspaper heading might read: CHILD KIDNAPPED— PARENTS IN DESPAIR. After all, that is hut an ordinary violation of the law in these days and a commonplace crime. It is too trite an 20 THE NATURE OF PLOT MATERIAL episode to garner as plot material, else one -would be swatttped with clippings in less than a year. Bid let us suppose that the heading read: KIDNAPS HER FATHER— MOTHER SUES IN VAIN. Such ma- terial invites a play or a story! Our first concern, then, as progressive plot collectors, shall be to acquire— if we are not endowed with it — the faculty of Recognition. This implies an instantaneous knowledge that material under consideration is valuable. The test of plot particles comes in effectively translating them into terms of emotion that shall re-excite a reader or an audience with the feeling that gave them birth. Dramatic fragments will flash across the heavens of the average mind perhaps a dozen times a day. The average person has no use for these poignant flashes. With the writer of drama, or fiction, the case should be different — fictional ideas are the most important part of his stock in trade. All inspirational data may be called plot material. And that which inspires the creation, continuation and culmination of fictional m.aterial is the nucleus of all pro- gressive fictional endeavor. 21 // this is so {meaniyig the Beginning of our Plot); and this is so (mea?iing the Development); therefore this 7nnst he so {meaning the Climax and End). CHAPTER II Discrimination Between Plot Material AND Complete Plot A confusion of terms ; ANALOGIES IN OTHER FIELDS OF art; LAW OF FICTION PLOT; THE SUM OF ALL THE PARTS. T)LOT Material includes one or all of the -■- many varieties of inspirational matter that contribute to the nucleus of the Com- plete Plot. By Plot Material we mean fragments picked up here and there by the alert plot collector, or odd tid-bits of expe- rience garnered from the thoughts or lives of humanity. The Complete Plot, however, rarely hap- pens — it is constructed. It is a combination of the stability of science and the subtlety of art. It requires the brains of structure, 22 PLOT MATERIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT the imagination of artifice and the fancy of adornment. {EXAMPLE 4.) The most remarkable case of purei ftclion, completely plotted, that has come to public notice in years, is to be found iti the columns of the newspapers of November, 1915. GIRL CLAIMS BODY AS MYTHICAL LOVER'S. In -which a romantic unloved girl claims a body in the morgtie as that of her fiance. A lover at last — tho a dead one! It is sJieerest fact, yet fiction of the higliest rank. The dangers surrounding it are obvious. Current magazines were naturally deluged with this plot whole cloth. Just as "one swallow does not make a summer," so one plot particle, germ, frag- ment or item of material does not make a Complete Plot. The purpose of the plot is to select and assimilate organic particles of like material into one palpitating organism. We should lay especial stress on discrim- ination between plot material and the com- plete plot because of a widespread confusion of the two terms. Many plot collectors have labored under the delusion that they were the possessors of plots in great quantities — until they came to the practical point of trying to evolve a complete story or play from a given item of collected material. It 23 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG proved to be but an isolated fragment. Disappointment at this juncture is often keen enough to sever the fine threads of further creation. Can you imagine other works of art being submitted for public approval tho incom- pletely conceived — a piece of music with the motif only half developed; a statuary group with one of the figures that completes the thought missing; an architectural work unbalanced thru lack of finished design? The plot, or plan, or motif in fiction, or drama, is more subtle than the foregoing because of our task of not merely simulating emotions, but, further, of creating convinc- ing life. Gratifying conviction depends upon completeness of plot. Plot fragments — as will be seen after studying the Plot Catalog — are as plentiful as the sands of the sea. The only condition is that we must go to the seaside for them — to the Shores of Humanity beside the Sea of Life. There is the sand worn from the ages by the Tides of Time, washed by the Waves of Passion, swept by the Storms of Struggle and stilled by the Calms of Death. 24 PLOT MATERIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT Complete Plots are seldom the work of nature, but, rather, of the skill and genius of some accomplished builder of plots. Those that fall into the hands of plot collectors are bound to be branded with two damaging stigmas. They are either the finished product of some other plot builder, or prodigies of nature that will no doubt be seized upon as common property by a score of current writers. {EX A MPLE 5 .) As an instance of the first 7nentioned: A clever raconteur told a story one evening to a gathering of friends, among ivhorn was a ivell-known writer of fiction. The story purported to he taken from real life. He wrote it down next day almost verbatim and sent it to iJie magazine for which it was especially adapted. It was retttrned with a note from the editor caustically stating that they had published the story in the previous month's issue! The law of the fiction plot is a simple one. It is analogous with the syllogism of logic. Near the opening of our plot we make a statement, more or less direct, that so and so is the case — the hero desires happiness, for instance. But in terms of action, or narration, we proceed to follow this state- ment v/ith another equally vital — the villain, rival, or obstacle is determined that he shall 25 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG not attain happiness. Both being equally determined a struggle ensues, therefore the following must happen — hence our Climax. {EXAMPLE 6.) Kipling in his earlier stories fre- quently states his problems in so many words. Take the opening line of "Beyond the Pale": "A man shotdd, whatever happens, keep to his own caste, breed and race." Here is the first premise of our syllogism. Our hero does not keep to his caste, is the second premise. It follows that what happens is the natural conclusion. The complete plot then is the ultimate con- dition in the process of plotting. It is as absolute as the mathematical axiom that tells us that the Whole is the Sum of All the Parts. The process of arriving at the com- plete plot may be reversed, tho it must always continue to be the sum of all the parts. Our usual method in plot construction is to begin with a Cause and lead up to the dramatic effect of that cause. But in the mystery type of story we set forth the Effect in the beginning and do not disclose the Cause until the Climax has been reached. The Middle, or Obstacle, concerns the continued struggle of untoward circumstances to baffle the reader, listener or observer. 26 PLOT MATERIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT {EXAMPLE 7.) ''Ar den— the Village of Despair" opens with a statement from the lips of Andrew Fraling of the terrible Effect of some malign agency. The last word in the story discloses the Cause — morphine. In the play, " Under Cover," the Effect of a gem smuggler y upon a certain group of persons is dramatically set forth in the first act. The Cause is not ftdly disclosed until the identity of the secret service chief is made one with that of the hero in the last act. In our opening lines we set in motion a specific action. It should become our aim thruout the remainder of our construction to develop this motive to its implied grand crisis — and STOP. Our plot is complete; our product is perfect; our goal has been at- tained. The Middle of our product has been concerned with the obstacle interposing itself to prevent or delay the desired climax. Art, of course, must invest and permeate the whole with conviction. In conclusion we may say that a Plot is the unpolished material for a COMPLETE and DECISIVE action; it should be com- posed of cumulative and interesting incidents rising to a dramatic climax and terminating in a manner calculated to gratify the par- ticipant and warrant the interest aroused in its beginning. 27 Plot operates within the matter it in- habits just as a soul does within a body: it first seeks perfect form and then ignites with indestructible life. CHAPTER III The Relation of Plot to Literary Construction NOT composition, BUT CONSTRUCTION; KEY- STONE OF INTELLIGENT EFFORT; SOUL OF ORGANIC MATTER; RELATION TO STRATEGY; NON-FICTION FORMS. PLOT is something more than a mere plan, or design — the beginning, end and scope of which we may behold at a glance. A plan, or design, is after all but a set of instructions, cold and lifeless, tho composed and carried to fruition possibly by genius. A plot, however, becomes a living thing. It palpitates, it moves, it excites — and it may even run away with the inexpert plot manipulator. A plan may include the bringing together 28 RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION from every direction of the elements that shall enter into its composition. But the perfect plot is never a matter of composition, but a delicate task of construction. We con- struct in but one direction — upward. We select only such building material as shall bear an integral relation to the end in view. A plot selects and assimilates organic par- ticles of like material into a palpitating organism. On the other hand, our plan is but a structural organization wherein beauty and balance, strength and integrity combine to form a perfect design. The greatest virtue of a plot lies in the fact that it does not disclose its full poten- tiality in an instant — it unfolds it step by step. {EXAMPLE 8.) (j) // aims toward a fixed goal; {2) It meets the obstacles that stand in its path; (j) It attains its coveted goal in a surprising, admirable, awe- inspiring, or effective manner. The reader, listener, observer or appreci- ator of any form of plot becomes conscious only of following (not working) out a de- lightful problem, or veiled scheme, to its 29 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG perfect completion. His emotions are so affected that the problem becomes real and the medium a thing of life and experience. In other words, thru the employment of the plot, we must endow literary or dramatic matter so faithfully with the phenomena of life that the appreclator will give way to illusion and accept It as emotional expe- rience — past, present or possible. The plot constructor has the same advan- tage over the reader, listener or observer that the commander of an attacking force has over his adversary. The attacking general knows exactly where he Is going to strike, he plans precisely when he shall resort to his heavy artillery, he has estimated the re- sources of the enemy and calculated the effect on his ensemble and he has kept ever In mind his final objective. Thus we see the application of Plot In military tactics. If our attacking general fails In his plotting, his action parallels that of our authors failing continually in plot — It becomes merely offensive. We may reduce the plot element to a single word. 30 RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION (EX A MPLE 9.) On one occasion an officer was being falsely accused of many crimes by a high statesman. His single retort was based on knowledge that tio one else in the empire dreamed of: " Traitor!" It was such a verbal bomb of Truth that the statesman stood self-accused. This leads us to remark that plot must be alway the embodiment of Truth, not neces- sarily the retail of facts. We have seen how the mind that retains its plotting faculty in a nice choice, that- elects one word and rejects the many thou- sand others in our language, may attain both the ideal and the dramatic effect. Thruout, plotting involves primarily the processes of selection and election. Thus thru sentence, phrase and paragraph in the progressive construction of rhetoric, composition and fiction we distinguish that which is forceful, perfect or effective thru its adherence to these processes. The phrase is one of the most effective instruments in vitalizing prose or poetry, fiction or drama. The phraseolog- ical sentence, when isolated, should disclose an organic perfection — a suggestive range well begun and completely ended in itself. It should be in full possession of its plot faculties! 31 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG {EXAMPLE 10.) "The moan seetned to recur with each breath-like zephyr chat rose from the soft bosom of the utnbrous night. " The cry in question came from the lips of a poor girl who was that moment an outcast and enduring the pangs of child-birth. The phraseology is such that it suggests a farther range of vision that is complete and effective in itself, while it intensifies the picture it foreshadows. Plot then is something more than either rhetoric or logic — it is the vitalizing force that makes both rhetoric and logic personal. What is it that makes a good joke, anec- dote or bon-mot differ from a poor one? You have heard a good one spoken by one person and heard it retold by another later. The facts were the same, but the unskilful narrator had lost the point. The plot had fallen to pieces! Plot value, then, may be found in the pith of a remark; the spice of a bon-mot; the point of a joke; the inter- est of an anecdote; the appeal of a speech; the conviction in a sermon; the big moment of the play; the punch of the photoplay; the climax of the short story. The good plotter is the good after-dinner speaker; the good raconteur; the good orator; the good preacher; the good dramatist; the RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION good photoplaywright; the good short story writer. The shorter the literary product, the more difficult the art required in plotting it. A five-word phrase is sometimes harder to plot effectively than a fifty-thousand-word novel. {EX A MPLE II.) Let us suppose that Patrick Henry had remarked: " Well, I'd rather die than not be given liberty!" which is, in essence, the same as the immortal phrase, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" A slight rearrangement is made involving plot value and 7ve have a sentence of living fire. The plot, from the point of view of the writer, is a painstaking process of which he is conscious thruout. The speaker tries out his phrases until he strikes the happy one — thru a process of plotting. The preacher carefully keys his conclusion to his peroration. The jokesmith is not a marvel of perpetual spontaneity, but a hard-work- ing laborer forging words with as much honest sweat as other smiths. The viewpoint of the reader, listener or observer of a given literary or dramatic product lies with the artistic perceptions 33 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG only. He must not become conscious of the scientific process at all. The energy of the labor, thought and science must be assimi- lated in the work, leaving no evidence of the creaking machinery of the process. The product must have become an instrument of pure entertainment. The participator in a literary product must not be called upon to expend any of that straining efifort that the author exerted in its preparation. 34 The child who eats what he likes least first and saves what he likes most to the last, might be said to shoiv a natural aptitude for good plotting. CHAPTER IV Common Sources of Plot Material plot matter also fiction material; the five senses and life; the dramatic ear and eye ; the fictitious mood and its stimulants; what constitutes CONFI- DENCES; STEALING PLOTS OR STIMULAT- ING ideas; books, newspapers and POETRY; phrases, EXCERPTS, PICTURES AND NOTES. NEITHEPv life nor the human mind can be called, properly, a storehouse of fiction or plot material. On the one hand, life is full of all sorts of things — an infinites- imal part of which is naturally dramatic. On the other hand, the human mind is more of a sieve than it is a storehouse. Fiction and drama are creative arts, which fact implies absolute originality. We 35 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG create beauty, atmosphere, charm and the dramatic story itself, but we do not create material — any more than the sculptor creates the plaster and the stone and the bronze — which is merely the medium thru which the idea is interpreted. /' The imagination of the true artist is a caldron of ideas. His first stage of training should consist in learning how to interpret ideas into such form that they readily will be recognized, appreciated and acclaimed as v/orthy examples. His second stage of training should be in learning hov/ to stim- ulate the wealth of his genius toward un- limited production. First of all, then, we must have imagi- nation. Imagination needs but a drop of color to suggest an entire picture; it needs but a spark to start a conflagration; it needs but a sigh to bring a tear; it needs but a deed to suggest a life; it needs but a plot germ to suggest a plot and a plot to build a story. The first injunction in the garnering of plot material is, Do not seek plots, but plot material. One might as well seek complete 36 COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL stories as complete plots. Both are the completed work of another. The test of your artistic ability will rest on your crea- tive talent. That which someone else has brought to fruition is forever the property of that someone else. Rarely we find an actual series of happenings in life that fol- lows the laws of the fiction plot. To use such a sequence — as thousands alv/ays do — makes of the user a mere historian, journal- ist or recorder of facts. The author is a recorder, too, but he sets down the real emotions, not the actual events of his day and generation. He who reads the famous authors' records may feel the mo- tives, the m.oods, the real life of those past generations that m.oulded the heritage for future generations. The mere facts or actual happenings of other days have become curiosities, interesting because of their un- reality in the light of Progress. We must seek those plot elements that are eternal and universal to all men of all time, and not merely the chit-chat and flotsam and jetsam that are ephemeral and local with a genera- tion or a nation. 37 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Any item of material that spontaneously starts fictive creation or dramatic conse- quence is valuable. Any item, note or excerpt that preserves an emotional im- pression at, or near, the white heat of its original conception is precious. Any item that generates elevating sentiments, that reproduces a beautiful mental picture or that inspires sublim.e thoughts is a treasure. {EXAMPLE 13.) I. {An article) "Woman and the Fading Maternal Instinct.'" 2. {An advertisement) "The Story that Lives in Deathless Melody." 3. {A humorous picture) "Bringing Up Father." 4. {An editorial) " Repetition is Reputation." 5. {A sociological report) "Big Brothering Boys Who are in the Law's Grip." 6. {On seeing a moito of Napoleon stuck up in an office) " The more I study the world the more am I convinced of the inability oj brute force to create any- thing durable." 7. {On seeing the colored picture of a girl listening at the nwulh of the Sphinx.) 8. {A photograph of a war-ruined church with the image of Christ left intact.) 9. {A piece of music containing a hauntifig strain.) 10. {A cartoon of the hideous giant, Wealth, dangling humanity like puppets on a string.) It is the business of the builder of literary and dramatic works to go thru life with his five senses sensitized. Above all things, 38 COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL he must cultivate the dramatic ear and eye that thresh out the real deeds from the actual events of daily life. This does not demand that he be eternally on the qui vive with a pair of clipping shears in one hand and a pencil and note-book in the other. There should be a regular study and work period that includes a review of events which would no doubt disclose impressions of fiction value. {EXAMPLE 13.) I. Almost daily iJie prolific writer will see "characters'' that are worthy of record. 2. In some of Its music awakens a glorious fictitious pictorial strain. 3. It is to be hoped that some sister Art is stimulative of original creation — Painting, Architecture, Drama, Music, Sculpture. 4. A good sermon itivari- ahly starts new ideas. 5. An original thought dropped by someone in the course of formal or informal speech has often been the ftucleus of an e.xrelleni story or play. Beware of the "true story." Almost in- variably it is a recital of local nature that has deeply aftected a few individuals, or a community, which would prove tame to a larger circle of humanity already weighted or entertained by parallel experiences of their own. More significant is the fact that 39 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG the public airing of a "true story" usually constitutes a serious breach of confidence. The selfish author might bare a pitiful "skeleton," or disclose an annoying hoax on the other fellow. Books and poetry are prolific sources of fiction material. That nothing should be taken "whole cloth" is to be understood as a perpetual maxim in the search for fic- tion material. We garner and file material for what it suggests of further elaboration, not what it is in its undisturbed relations. It is equally true of all plot material that we base our fiction developments upon a mere thread that is cut away from yards of con- text matter. {EXAMPLE 14.) On reading the works of Framis Parkman 07ie is struck by the almost miraculous stoicism cf the French fathers. It should suggest many stories along parallel lines. ... On reading ''The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, " one involuntarily gets living ideas. ... To read of Napoleon is to court the most charming of the romantic muses. Poetry abounds in pregnant phrases. For that matter, the true poet puts a power- ful plot in his few lines of verse. Invariably 40 COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL a verse should suggest a story, or a character, or a situation. A single clot, made now and again on the margins of books — particu- larly of poetry — containing picturesque phrases of extraordinary suggestiv^e power, is worth while. Later the pregnant phrases may be garnered in a note-book. They may prove equally valuable as plot germs, dramatic situations or attractive titles. {EXAMPLE 15.) Here are ten iake?i at random: J. The Anvil of God. 2. The Courage of the Dreamer. J. The Enemy Who Signs A'O Truce. 4. A Gamble in Futures. 5. Imaginary Maticrhorns. 6. Kingdom, Power and Glory. 7. The Mask of Immortality. 8. Oh, For One Hour of Youth! g. The Quality of Youth. 10. Sell All Thou Hast. {What a "wealth of plot material!) Plot material is invaluable — upon one condition. It must be systematized. You will waste your time in collecting material in quantity, unless you go to the further initial trouble of putting it in such uniform shape, by filing it under specific heads, that it may be intelligible. Title it, alphabetize it, keep it in uniform cases on uniform sizes of paper, group subjects together — anything, 41 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG rather than let it accumulate in an incon- glomerate mass. Otherwise, it will be worse than valueless, by becoming a source of constant annoyance. Put your items only in a loose-leaf book, if you use a book at all. The envelope, card or case systems are pref- erable. You may have devised a category of your own. Even so, it is suggested that you make a study of the Plot Catalog that follows later, and see if it may not contain more advantages than anything you have yet seen. If this be true, you should make use of it. 42 Plot Material is the substajice of ex- perience reduced in the crucibles of Emotion, Circumstance and Fate to the Essence of Life. CHAPTER V What the Universal Plot Catalog is NOT A list of actual PLOTS; POTENTIAL RATHER THAN EXISTENT; CHAOS VERSUS system; a THESAURUS, READY REFERENCE, PERPETUAL STIMULANT, SPONTANEOUS COL- LECTOR AND EFFICIENT FILE; EMINENTLY USEFUL FOR EDITORS, ORATORS, TEACHERS, LIBRARIANS, NEWSPAPER MEN, STATISTI- CIANS, PREACHERS — AS WELL AS V.'RITERS OF ALL KINDS. SOME readers of this volume may be disappointed in finding that it does not contain a list of actual plots — possibly of all the plots that have been used, or even all the plots that ever can be used. Of what use v/ould a list of actual plots be to makers of original literature and drama? If they were plots conceived by me, they A '^ THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG would forever be my plots. If they were complete plots, others could do no more than horroiv them. And if one writer borrowed them, might not a thousand do the same? A list of all the plots that have ever been used would be historically interesting and prove instructive, without a doubt, but it would take many large tomes to hold them all. As for all the good, complete plots that are possible thru combinations of plot material, that is quite beyond our calcula- tion, we are thankful to say. Therein lies eternal hope and progress for the writer. We are re-creators, rather than creators. By means of contributive channels of in- spiration, we "breathe in" pregnant germs of dramatic activity that incubate in the imagination and are re-born as full-bodied plots. We must have some food, then, for the creative imagination to feed upon — some personal experience warmed over in a delicious mood, some redolent memory re- baked in a savory fancy, some other man's violent deeds simm_ered down to a succulent drama, some human whim or failure re- hashed into a delectable morsel. 44 WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS Let US suppose, to employ still another simile, that all possible plot stimuli were laid out in a formal park, called the Garden of Man, wherein we might stroll at will. Therein we would find every variety of life that budded or bloomed within the soul of man from seed to flower, from harvest and back again to seed. Here we would find the fairest flowers and the foulest fungi, the richest harvests and the deadliest undergrowths, rare bulbs and seedlings and rank grubs and cankers, shade-giving trees and poisonous vines, crystal brooks and deadly springs — the garden of Eden and the valley of the Shadow both within its walls. Here is a suggestion of all the vital- ity of man's life and all the horror of his death. Such a journey and sojourn is what the Universal Plot Catalog offers to the imagi- native plot seeker. It is a progressive cate- gory of Man — his vicissitudes, his desires, his relationships and his struggles — in which all dramatic conflict and plot material in the universe find their source, life and end. All that vitally concerns m.an vitally con- 45 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG cerns fiction arid drama — it is fiction and drama. Instead of a chaotic dictionary of man's daily experience expressed in a billion signs of negligible action, we are offered a concise thesaurus of eternal human life suggested in terms of vital emotion. Here we may not seek the exact v/ord and act, upon which to build a paragraph or a composition, but the suggestive thought or relationship with which to re-create a human soul or a seg- ment of life. Most of us meet hundreds of our fellow men in daily contact, yet how much do we learn of one of them that reveals his real inner life? But, lay bare the soul of a single fellow creature and the fiction artist would find material for a score of emotional canvasses. The Plot Catalog is designed to lay bare the soul of Everyman and reveal the Thousand-and-One Nights Entertain- ments that have thrilled the inner Temple. (EXAMPLE i6.) The iruih of the foregoing is realized, sooner or later, by the inspired creator of fiction or drama. He comes to learn that the drabbest or shallow- est, the most phlegmatic or the most immovable of creatures 46 WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS need but a rare dominant note to rouse music in their hearts, or a certain personal spark to strike fire in their souls. Behind their curtains of uninteresting exteriors there sits enthrofied tn their souls a resplendent figure that may be Desire, Creed, Affection, Religion, or By- gones that will rise in sublime might, or crouch in bestial ferocity when the proper incentive is cast at its head. According to the same principle of human perversity it has been said that "every man has his price." Not only is the Plot Catalog a treasury of suggestive data but, because of the progres- sive arrangement in organic units, it becomes a ready reference to all relative matter. This is made possible by means of a com- plete alphabetical index locating every sub- ject under as many heads as it appears, with frequent cross-indexing. In this way a given subject in its broadest or most infinites- imal phase may be located instantly. The progressive and organized synthesis and analysis of relationships are bound to act as constant stimuli to the mind seeking new combinations and divisions of human activity and to the imagination relying on live inspiration and emotions. Simulta- neously, it makes of itself a spontaneous collector of new plot material, evolving it 47 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG automatically by and within itself. Thus the inert mind, the fagged imagination and the stagnant fancy may come to view it as a purgative, a stimulant and a tonic. The Universal Plot Catalog — and its invaluable auxiliary, the Plot File and Col- lector — is of value to others than creatqtrs of Fiction and Drama. Editors are daily importuned to employ facts, fiction or fancy in some new relationship in order to keep up the killing pace of out-doing competitors in novelty and spicing the .satiety of the blase public. Their positions often depend on a perpetual succession of new ideas. Orators will find themselves growing "stale" unless they supply their imaginations with new ideas drawn from man's probable and possible experiences which they weave into the spoken word pointed with dramatic fire, intimate anecdotes, picturesque phrases, interesting stories and emotional appeal. A perusal of the Catalog should prove an in- evitable freshener of thought. Teachers are not even useful in the exer- cise of their professions unless they are ca- pable of interpreting problems, lessons and 48 WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS tasks into practical solutions, living exam- ples and familiar answers, all expressed in terms of universal experience. Universal experience is the basis of common under- standing. The progressive teacher will em- ploy the Catalog both as a stimulant for novel presentation and as a collector and file for interpretive material. Librarians are always looking for liter- ature to create or to supply every inquiry, doubt and fancy that might or should tenant the human mind. They would find the Catalog valuable in suggesting new cate- gories of subjects, articles and books. A file used in accordance with the Catalog would enlarge their own reference records to cover the whole Life of humanity, as well as the Literature of man. Newspaper Men must constantly supply their superiors with news, or be listed for ultimate dismissal. News is not merely a recital of the daily hum-drum of existence. The reporter, editorial writer, special article writer, editor, caption writer or special cor- respondent must present his news in a new way, from a new angle, with a new twist. The 49 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Catalog will not only supply these writers with infinite subject matter for new material but it will suggest every angle of human relationship. A file would become a literal gold mine. Statisticians by profession, and those of us who make a hobby of collecting statistical data, informative records, literary odds and ends, anecdotes, jokes, poems, personal material and memoranda will find the Cat- alog, in conjunction with the file, excellent as a reference and container. The Preacher is the Interpreter of God in terms of Man. Texts are abundant, but their relationship to man's life and expe- rience are not so plentiful. Hence the dull sermons that fail to divert the modern mind seeking new thoughts or fixed upon selfish interests. The Catalog dissects man and sorts out his elementary construction in a way that reveals his emotions in the making. The opportunity' is offered on every side to apply the argument of welfare to his soul and trace the relationship to his Creator. The single sub-division, The Soul of Man, should occupy the attention of every preacher. 50 The writer of literature or drama must become the historian of the prehistoric man, have a finger on the pulse of the ma?i in love; be on speaking terins with the famous man; have a bowing acqtiaintance with the kings of men; understand the impulses of the man steeped in crime; suffer with man at his death, arid commune with 7nan after death. CHAPTER VI The Scope of the Catalog man; his vicissitudes and his desires, his relationships and his struggles; the plot of the plot catalog; a com- PLETE cycle; the LINE OF PROGRESSION; THAT WHICH IS NOT MAN; ENDING WITH THE BEGINNING. THE whole of the Universal Plot Catalog is cast under a single grand division — Man. By Man we mean mankind — all humanity. We writers and readers being men with understandings that are limited 51 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG by human comprehensions, it follows that our expression must be in the terms and sym- bols of mankind, tho we interpret the soul of a star, the voice of an angel, the trials of a camel, the sighs of the wind or the life of a tree. Our success in translating essence into substance is measured by the quantity of universal Man or the quality of Human appeal our product contains. The zenith of artistic appeal is attained when the reader, listener or beholder may pause, close his eyes and commune with his soul, saying, "This is I." Then we have suc- ceeded in realizing true Art — or artistic Truth — by translating essence into sub- stance that is again transmuted into es- sence ! In seeking to discriminate between the actual existence of man and his real life, we find the latter divided into four vital categories — Vicissitudes, Desires, Relation- ships and Struggles. These are in themselves progressive and cyclical. Man's real life is evidenced by a vicissitude, which is soon stirred by desires, which lead to relation- 52 THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG ships, which are followed by inevitable struggles, which bring him back to a new vicissitude to begin the cycle all over again. Our first grand sub-division, then, is Vicissitude. The natural beginning is that of Origin (A). But no sooner do we find man existent than we see him filled with Aspiration (B). Then, with his aspirations but half-blown we behold him. snatched up by Destiny (C), which decides and settles his fate. Briefly, that is the beginning and the end of man. We have seen him lifted into being from behind a dim veil called the eternal Past and placed again behind a dim veil called the eternal Future. From dust he came and to dust he returns. But, while he lingered his brief hour within the pale of humanity, we saw him now and again swept aside from the grim treadmill of life by the whimsical hand of Humor (D), in the diversion of laughing or weeping. Here we find man most himself, the individ- ual, delighted or devoured by his own per- sonality. There remains but one possible vicissitude, which is that of Not Being Man. For, 53 TIIE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG there are all creation and creatures to be reckoned with in the broad fields of artistic expression. Life would be shallow indeed to relegate all real life within the soul of man alone. In Origin, we find the Vicissitudes of Creation and Re-Creation. Aspiration is tainted with the Vicissitudes of Passion and Deterioration. Destiny is purged and ele- vated again by the Vicissitudes of Inquiry and the Infinite. Humor is swayed by the Ridiculous and the Sublime. Not-Man may again, in any presentment in all creation, run the whole gamut of human vicissitudes. We arrive at our minor sub-divisions. The first is that of The Nature of Man (I), under Creation. Under Re-Creation we find The Heart of Man (II), just as it is under the benign spirit of love that man re- creates in his own image. Once man's nature is established then his sentiments begin to take root. Aspiration immediately follows man's heart, and under Passion we find first The Ambition of Man (III) that aims and leads toward The Might of Man (IV). Once might 54 THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG is attained, Deterioration sets in, first, in The Character of Man (V), finally in The Flesh of Man (VI). Destiny manifests itself first thru Inquiry in The Mind of Man (VII), and secondly, reaches the ultimate, in the Infinite, thru The Soul of Man (VIII). Both the Ridiculous and the Sublime are called for thru The Emotions of Man (IX). In detail we see the crescendo course of man. First of all Man's actual Desire for Existence, which naturally introduces his Relations with Creation and a consequent Struggle for Individuality. The moment his individuality is vSet up he becomes con- scious of a Desire for Happiness which leads to his Relations with Woman and ends in his Struggle for his Family. Now he has settled down to the business of life and there creeps into his being a Desire for Position, which entails certain Relations with Society that involve him in the Struggle for Achievement. Achieve- ment alone is not sufficient and there rises the Desire for Supremacy which brings about 55 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Relations with Antagonists who are equally ferocious in the Struggle for Power. Power once attained, man's Desire for Luxury crops up and involves him in Relations with Morality and brings about a sinister Struggle against Sin. Enter Sin and a new passion becomes paramount — his Desire for Health, that vice has undermined, bringing painful Relations with Disease and the losing Strug- gle against Death. But there are higher gifts than the flesh of man. He has his mind to sustain him under trials and there is his soul which has a destiny even beyond this v/orld. Thus we turn to man's Desire for Knowledge and watch his Application of Reason and follow his Struggle against Ignorance. Thruout, there has been his ever-present Desire for Divinity, or his Relations with his God, that meant a constant Struggle for his Religion. Man has been created and re- turned to his Creator. All the foregoing represents man as he is seen by his fellows; there remains that inner life of the emotions that he feels himself only. Those of us who have become burnt- 56 THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG out husks thru the buffetings of life reveal uiiguessed vitality \vhen Impassioned by the Domination of the Ludicrous, or by the Stimulation of Diversion, or by Partici- pation in Pleasure or by the Stress of Pathos. It is the law of nature that revives spent tissues thru diversion, relaxation and recrea- tion. Writers, especially, will do well in giving heed to it. Finally, we turn to all that is not man, and by means of imagination endow this extra-humanity with humanness thru Per- sonification. This includes the Humanizing of AH Creation, Creatures and Mythology and the Appropriation of their Phenomena as Dramatic Material. The sub-dividing of the minor sub- divisions may become almost infinite in its scope, still the progression is as simple and effective as is that of all the other divisions. We have endeavored to include all essential suggestion. In each case we begin with Origin and close with Destiny. We round out cycles which themselves are within cycles. Beginning, as it were, with the infinite, deducing the finite, but closing with 57 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG the inevitable infinite. It is the course of all things human ! Thus in sub-minor-division i. PRIMEVAL (Prehisioric) we grope about among the dim perceptions of the awakening of drama in humanity and find it in the half-human, half-divine Mythology that knits man with God and makes earth His footstool. The last sub-minor-division, lOO, is MYTHOL- OGY (Not Man or Beast) , and the last trail- ing divisions under that head arc: (w) Primeval and (x) Prehistoric! Thus Man has returned again to his nebulous status that is both his remotest past and his most advanced future. 58 Tangible Experience is the Interpreter of Unutterable Life; it is the Lan- guage of the Soul tra?islated hito the Vocabulary of the Body; the Word of the Person that reveals the Thought of the Personality. CHAPTER VII How TO Use the Plot Catalog A PRACTICAL DEVICE, NOT A THEORETICAL contrivance; the automatic PLOT COL- LECTOR AND FILE; HOW ONE MAY BE MADE ; FILED ACCORDING TO THE PREDOM- INANT PHASE ; HOW TO AVOID CONFUSION ; ALL DIVISIONS ARE POTENTIAL; PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. CONSTRUCTING the Plot Catalog in- volved the simple task of taking the meat out of life. Creating fiction or drama consists of the difficult process of recon- structing a unit of life out of a piece of the aforesaid meat. As we have said, the Plot Catalog has tvv^o practical uses. The first is that of a stimu- 59 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG lus of thought and imagination. The second is that of a file — or containing record — of resultant ideas and similar material already in hand. Our contention is, that an intelligent writer may take up the Catalog with an earnest desire to imbibe an idea and succeed in his desire. We assume, for the moment, that he has not an idea in his head. His mind is blase with stray thoughts, thread- bare ideas, trite plots and other people's stories. Any single word in the Catalog taken, with no regard to context, is as meaningless as a sentence from a book, or a line of dialog from a play. Thus any division, or sub- division, of the catalog is studied with due regard to its relationships. It becomes as it were a peep-hole thru which we view a given group at a certain angle. The view is never the same twice. Now we view man thru the haze of distance, now in the clear light of perfect focus, now in the blurred image of close proximity. Let us give a practical demonstration of the value of the Catalog: 60 HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG Our writer may peruse the Catalog, be- ginning with Man, proceed thru A and get to the very end of I, before he feels the slightest stimulation. "Struggle For Individuality!" There is an idea. What does it mean? It involves the very Nature of Man. It is one of the Vicissitudes of Creation. It is actually Man himself. Our writer is interested. His sluggish mind has awakened. He wants something more specific. He consults the index and finds that Individuality is further mentioned under 1-8. He finds 8 teeming with sug- gestive developments. The sub-division it- self —PERSONALITY (5e//) — begins to marshal his crowding ideas. The minor sub- divisions bring him yet closer to his specific plot material. Each one lights the way: (a) Individuality, (b) Identity, (c) Name, (d) Egotism, (e) Optimism, (f) Content- ment, (g) Subconscious. He feels an in- creasing potentiality, as tho with little or no imaginative effort he could fill out a complete picture from each one. Then he strikes the spark that ignites the gathered sweepings of his mind — (h) Dual Personality. That 6l THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG is the open sesame. Just why, is not yet quite clear. His eye follows the line of pro- gressive sub-divisions — PRIMEVAL, etc. He pauses at 2. BIRTH {Origin) — that con- tributes data. 5. MAN or 6. WOMAN? He prefers that it be a man. 7. CONDI- TION — that bears further investigation. He runs his eye down the list: (a) Poverty, (b) Peasant, (c) Clod, (d) Slave! He is filled with a feeling of exultation. He has his story. It is to be the tale of a slave — in som.c way. Another link or two and the plot will be com.plete. 9. RACE. There is his man — (b) Black. One more hint is found in 10. CUSTOMS (Cotiveniions) of (b) Society. Our next step suggests itself. It implies the possession of a Plot Collector and File. We see that all data we have will be found in container 13*. There may be a quantity of clippings: "White Babes Turn Black;" "Negro Indorsed for Judge;" "Mob Kills Negro in Jail;" "The Black Madonna;" "200 Going Back to Africa," and "His Wealth Could not Make Him White." For reasons of our own, this last is what we want. We have all our data. We had not 62 HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG an idea to begin with. We now set to work, suddenly realizing that all the data in the world will not make a story or a play with- out the master mind behind it. We began with the realization that the master builder was decidedly out of a job without a plot to build upon. {EXAMPLE 17.) The complete resultant plot from the above is, ifi brief: A young educated negro tries to raise his station to the level of his mind and fails — the white man is still the white matt, the black the black, — • it is the nature of man bound by the unbreakable shackles of conventioti — when he is almost on the verge of tragedy, the very barrier, the negro blood within him, saves him by giving him a savage enjoyment in some barbaric melody and %vith it returns tlie devil-may-care spirit of his race — his soaring spirit falls back to caste, bruised and bleeding, beaten by creation itself. Each man is a law unto himself, when it comes to creation. Perhaps the minds or imaginations of no two of us would have been stimulated by Man's Struggle for In- dividuality. Granted, that another writer should feel the same stimulus, it is quite unlikely that he would have pursued any- thing like the same process of seeking, find- ing or arranging its development. 63 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Thus we touch upon the very core of the Catalog's universality, its flexibility, its breadth of personal application. The Cata- log is no deeper, broader or higher than the student who employs it. It contains for him nothing that is not already within him. All it can do is to parole, unchain and set free the vagrant impressions that have swarmed the court of experience to be sen- tenced for life in the prison house of his soul, or have crowded and been left uncon- sidered in the dungeons and cells of his nether mind. The Plot File and Collector is such an important adjunct and logical sequence to the Catalog that the serious student has scarcely an alternative, other than providing himself with one. With the Catalog in hand, the File is a simple matter. The student will find a Universal Plot File and Collector advertised in this book. It is recommended for several important reasons, altho a duplicate file of the same dimensions may be manufactured by the student himself, if he is so inclined. First, there is a filing case, made of strong. 64 HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG cloth-covered board, tho light in weight. The case is designed to hold two hundred contain- ers. The inside dimensions are: height, 4^ inches ; breadth, 9^ inches ; length, 18 inches. Next come the containers, which are in the form of special envelopes open at the side, giving maximum accessibility. They are made of extra heavy kraft paper, very tough and durable, and with ordinary usage will last a life time. The dimensions of the containers are: depth, 4 inches; length, 9>j inches. A single case has sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of most users for an indefi- nite period. Other cases may be added accord ing to the needs of the collector, without dis- organizing the system. The cases are compact enough to be kept without trouble within the reach of the writer — on top of a desk, book- case or shelf. On adding the second case, it is customary to transfer enough of the envelopes or containers from the first case to care for the overflow, leaving the rest of the space to be occupied by new containers, which may be ordered as needed. The cases have a label holder on each, and may be marked "A," "B," etc., by the user. As his collection 65 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG expands the writer merely adds cases. Thus there is no limit to the File's ultimate con- tents. The two cases hold approximately 10,000 to 15,000 uniform items. There are ten sections among the two hun- dred containers, each section corresponding with a Division (identified by Roman nu- merals). Each section has a color of its own so that the containers will always be clearly defined in the cases and confusion will be avoided. Furthermore each container bears its individual number to correspond with the starred (i*, 2*, etc.) numbers that identify the groups of minor-divisions. The containers themselves also may be expanded indefinitely by adding containers where necessary and amplifying the starred numbers, as: i*-a, i*-b, etc. These are located by the original starred numbers. Or, those subjects contained in overflow containers may be definitely indicated in the index by adding the identifying number with pen or pencil. In case of additional envelopes, it is suggested that a list of sub- jects contained within shall be typed on the outside. 66 HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG The "system" of the Plot File, however, may be applied with equal efficacy, without the afore-mentioned outfit with its specific dimensions. We may mention the card filing system, which merely requires guides bearing the starred numbers. The cards may bear the plot material, either typed or pasted on. Again, there are the various loose-leaf books which have a wide range of sizes. Each book might represent a starred number and become equivalent to a con- tainer. An index could otherwise be in- serted. There are other "home-made" devices that can be made to serve the general pur- pose. Ordinary envelopes, for instance, properly numbered and kept in their original paste-board box, make a file that will serve for a time at least, at a cost of about twenty- five cents. Not infrequently, the collector may be perplexed as to which classification a given item of material may properly belong. In reply to this, we will say that all plot matter must be viewed thru its predominant phase, or the phase that is most striking in its im- 67 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG pression or workable possibilities. The view- point, or workability, of a clipping is paral- leled by the larger division captions under which it shall be filed. (EXAMPLE i8.) We find this clipping: ''POD" ENTERS BERLIN IN HIS NIGHTSHIRT— Popu- lar General's Ludicrous Adventure on A Sleeping Car. Instantly, ive feel that here is a character. That which impresses us immediately is a good guide. We consult in- dex and find: Character — V. — 4Q,7s,gi,Q4. This is an exception; four-fifths of the subjects have but one refer- ence. 4Q. discloses that xve have invaded the Vicissitude of ASPIRATION, thence to V.—THE CHARACTER OF MAN, narrowed down to 49. QUALITIES. Not what we want. 7J. we find under DESTINY, THE MIND OF MAN, DERANGEMENT. There it is, (a) "Character," just what we want. If there is any doubt we continue our search and find gi, HUMOR — EMOTIONS— FARCE. No, Pod, seemed too pathetic for farce. Again 94, under PA THOS, seemed too tragic and we revert to DERANGEMENT, our first impression. Some of the minor classifications may strike the student as being far-fetched. This comment is best answered by the fact that in nine cases out of ten actual mate- rial in hand suggested the classification, rather than that classification assumed the existence of consequent material. Every 68 HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG phase of the Catalog is practical, having been experimentally perfected over a period of four years thru the medium of more than five thousand items of plot material. It was thru this means alone that the approx- imate bulk of each container could be cal- culated. {EXAMPLE IQ.) Five of the seemingly most un- dramatic minor divisions are "materialized" thru actual material in hand in the follovjing manner: j. TIME, (p) Endurance — EDITORIAL, "There is great power in Repetition;" ii. FRIENDSHIP, (a) Altruism— SPECIAL ARTICLE— "Big Brothering Boys Who Are In the Law's Grip;" pS- NATURE (p) Night— A POEM— "Evenings;" i. PRIMEVAL (/) Egyptians — A PICTURE from an advertisement of a pretty girl listening at the closed lips of the Sphinx; 60. DISEASE, (0) Pain — An ESS A Y zvith the same title, taken from a popular magazine. (EX A MPLE 20. ) A few stories by well-known authors are classified under like "undramatic" headings: "Tim and Nemesis," by James Adams — 2Q. (e) Nemesis; "Three Dreams," by Hugh Black — 72. (h) Dreams; "Van Suydan— Caveman," by Berton Braley — /. (e) Cave Man; " The Enchanted Bluff, " by Willa Sibert Catker — pj. (a) Mountains; "The Doodle Bug," by George Randolph Chester — pp. (x) Miscellatieous (ANIMALS); "Shark," by Richard Washburn Child- go. («) Shark; "The Father' n Motlier Tree," by Annie 69 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Hamilton Dojinell—gS. {g) Tree; "The Wind," hy Zoe Anderson N orris — pj. (g) Winds. In concluding, we hark back to the great truth underlying all art: The greater virtue lies not in the art works themselves — they are but clay or pigment, words or gestures — but in their power to suggest the inner vision, that is of the soul. 70 Chaos is the forerunner of panic; Order is the herald of power — and la him with controlled power God denies nothing! CHAPTER VIII The Universal Plot Catalog — I A PROGRESSIVE CATEGORY OF MAN — HIS VICISSITUDES, HIS DESIRES, HIS RELATION- SHIPS AND HIS STRUGGLES IN WHICH ALL DRAMATIC CONFLICT AND PLOT MATERIAL IN THE UNIVERSE FIND THEIR SOURCE, LIFE OR END. MAN (Meaning Mankind) A. — ORIGIN. — The Vicissitudes of Creation and Re-creation I. The Nature of Man. Man's Desire for Existence, his Re- lations with Creation and his Strug- gle for Individuality. (Sub-Divisions i to lo.) (Filing Containers I* to 14*.) 71 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG II. Tlie Heart of Man. Man's Desire for Happiness, his Relations with Woman and his Struggle for his Family. (Sub-Divisions II to 20.) (Filing Containers 15* to 38*.) B.— ASPIRATION.— The Vicissitudes OF Passion and Deterioration III. The Ambition of Man. Man's Desire for Position, his Re- lations with Society and his Strug- gle for Achievement. (Sub-Divisions 21 to 32.) (Fil- ing Containers 39* to 61*.) IV. The Might of Man. Man's Desire for Supremacy, his Relations with Antagonists and his Struggle for Power. (Sub-Divisions 33 to 46.) (Fil- ing Containers 62* to 86*.) 72 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — I V. The Character of Man. Man's Desire for Luxury, his Rela- tions with Morality and his Strug- gle against Sin. (Sub-Divisions 47 to 56.) (Fil- ing Containers 87* to 125*.) VI . The Flesh of Man. Man's Desire for Health, his Rela- tions with Disease and his Struggle against Death. (Sub-Divisions 57 to 62.) (Fil- ing Containers 126* to I37*-) C— DESTINY.~The Vicissitudes of Inquiry and the Infinite VII. The Mind of Man. Man's Desire for Knowledge, his Application of Reason and his Struggle against Ignorance. (Sub-Divisions 63 to 75.) (Fil- ing Containers 138* to 163*.) 73 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG VIII. The Soul of Man. Man's Desire for Divinity, his Re- lations with his God and his Strug- gle for his Religion. (Sub-Divisions 76 to 90.) (Fil- ing Containers 139* to 180*.) D. — HUMOR. — The Vicissitudes of the Ridiculous and the Sublime IX. The Emotions of Man. Man Impassioned by the Domina- tion of the Ludicrous, the Stimu- lation of Diversion, Participation in Pleasure and the Stress of Pathos. (Sub-Divisions 91 to 94.) (Fil- ing Containers 181* to 191*.) E.— NOT-MAN X. The Personification of Man. The Humanizing of All Creation, Creatures and Mythology and the Appropriation of their Phenomena as Dramatic Material. (Sub-Divisions 95 to 100.) (Fil- ing Containers 192 " to 200*.) 74 Writing becomes so easy, when we are given food for thought, that gluttons are satisfied; it is so difficult, when we must find thought for food, that even the most delicate sometimes starve. CHAPTER IX The Universal Plot Catalog — II MAN (Meaning Mankind) A. — ORIGIN.— The Vicissitudes of Creation and Re-creation I. The Nature of Man. Man's Desire for Existence, his Relations with Creation and his Struggle for In- dividuality. I. primeval {Prehislorlc) (e) Cavi Man I* (a) Mythological (f) Egyptians (b) Missing Link (g) Aztecs (c) Darwinian Theory (h) Atavism (d) Stone Age * Indicates number of Container when used in con- junction with "The Phillips Automatic Plot Collector, File and Index, " or in connection with privately de- vised File. 75 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG 2. BIRTH iPrigin) 3* (a) High (b) Low (c) First-bora (d) Heritage (e) Illegitimate (f) Foundling (g) Birth Mark (h) Birth Day 3. TIME {Endurance) 3* (a) Eternity (b) Immemorial (c) Ancient (d) Obsolete (e) Time-Worn (f) Time Honored (g) Past (h) Tempus Fugit (i) The End (j) Nevermore (k) The Present (I) Date (m) Season (n) Epoch (0) The Times (p) Endurance (q) Future (r) Forever 4. LIFE {Existence) 4* (a) Breath (b) The Senses (c) Motion (d) Animation (e) To Quicken (f) Vitality (g) Longevity (h) Events 76 (i) Experience (J) Delineation (k) Ephemeral (I) Eternal (m; 1 Biography S. MAN {Male) S*(a) Brute (b) Adolescence (c) Prime (d) Virility (e) Bachelor (f) Lady Killer (g) Woman Hater 6*(h) Bread Winner (i) Lord and Master (j) Miscellaneous 6. WOMAN {Female) 7* (a) Innocence (b) Weakness (c) Beauty (d) Girl (e) Flirt (f) Fashion (g) Masquerade (h) Homeliness 8*(i) Vixen (j) Slattern (k) Termagant (1) Squaw (m) With a "Past"' (n) Spinster (0) Wage Earner 9*(P) Feminism (q) Suffragette (r) Superman (s) Miscellaneous THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG- 7. CONDITION (State) 10* (a) Poverty (b) Peasant (c) Clod (d) Slave (e) Freeman (f) Citizen (g) Luxury (h) Social 8. PERSON.\LITY {Self) II* (a) Individuality (b) Identity (c) Name (d) Egotism (e) Optimism (0 Contentment 12* (g) Subconscious- (h) Dual Personality (i) "Doubles" G) Impersonation (k) Puppet (1) A Stranger (m) Subtlety (n) Pessimism (0) Disposition (P) Temperament (q) Miscellaneous 9. RACE (Species) 13* (a) White (b) Black (c) Yellow (d) Mixture (e) Melting Pot (f) Survival of the Fit- test (g) Jew (h) Russian (i) Moor (j) Indian (k) Nomad (1) Gypsy _ (m) Barbaric (n) C'vilized (0) Race Suicide 10. CUSTOMS (Convention) 14* (a) Sociulogy (b) Society (c) Obsolete (d) National (e) I-Iabit (f) Taste (g) Breeding (h) Chivalry (i) Fitness (j) Deference (k) Imitation (1) Civility (m) Politeness (n) "Women First" (0) Mrs. Grundy (p) Chaperon (q) Bohemian (r) Hermit 77 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG II. The Heart of Man. Man's Desire for Happiness, his Rela- tions with Woman and his Struggle for his Family. II. "^"^ 15 16 17' 18^ FRIENDSHIP {A7niiy) 19* (I) Affinity * (a) Altruism (m) Sentiment (b) Charity (n) Clandestine (c) Benefaction (0) Elopement (d) Philanthropy (P) Romance (e) Neighbors (f) Congeniality 20* (q) Lover (g) Comrades (r) Sweetheart (s) Courtship * (h) Partners (t) Lothario (i) Trust (u) Worship (j) Friend in Need (v) AfEanced (k) Solace (w) Love-Loru (1) Sacrifice (X) Eternal Lover (m) Forgiveness (n) Auld Lang Syne (0) Souvenirs (p) Miscellaneous 21* (y) (z) (A) (B) Love Letters Old Flame Rivals Miscellaneous LOVE {Afection) 13. MARRIAGE {Wedlocl;) '• (a) Hungry Heart 22* (a) Wedding (b) Infatuation (b) Secret (c) Trysts (c^ Gifts (d) Moonshine (d) Remarriage (e) The Kiss (e) Runaway- ({) Mother (f) Mock- (g) Morganatic (g) Father (h) Intermarriage (h) Filial (i) Miscegenation (i) Platonic (j) Free Love 23* (j) For Name (L) Illicit (k) For Aloney 78 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II 24 25 14. 26' (1) For Beauty (m: ) Honeymoon (n) Husband (0) Wife MP) Happy (q) Blunder (r) Mesalliance (s) Deception (t) Polygamy (u) Harem Mv) Obedience (w) Fidelity (x) Childless (y) Cruelty (z) Martyr (A) Annulment (B) Miscellaneous PARENTHOOD {Fo. bears) '(a) Ancestor Worship (b) Patriarch (c) Grand Parent (d) Parental Instinct (e) Eugenics (f) Father (g) Maternity (h) Mother (i) Step-Mother (J) Sacrifice (k) Loneliness (1) Forsaken (ra) Age (n) Miscellaneous 15. CHILDREN (and Life) 28* (a) Baby (b) Nurse (c) Innocence (d) Heir (e) Twins (f) Son (g) Daughter 29* (h) Only Child (i) Spoiled (J) Incorrigible (k) Escapade (1) Runaway (m) Stowaway (n) Mischief (0) Favorite 30* (p) Orphan (q) Adoption (r) Step-Child (s) Loneliness (t) Martyr (u) Lost (v) Urchin (w) Cripple (x) Precocity (y) Defective (z) Ugly Duckling (A) Peacemaker (B) Hero (C) Santa Claus (D) Child Labor (E) Miscellaneous 16. FAMILY (Kin) 31* (a) Ancestry (b) Heirlooms Child 79 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (c) Name 18. SEPARATION (and Port- (d) Traditions ing) (e) Children 35* (a) Wanderlust (f) Brothers (b) Runaway (g) Sisters (c) Fugitive (h) -in-Laws (d) Exile (i) Likeness (e) Immigrant (j) Tics (f) Lost (k) Customs (g) Rejection (h) Expulsion 32* (1) Felicity (i) Jilt (m) Sacrifice (j) Exclusion (n) Posterity (0) -Secrets (p) "Skeletons 36* (k) (1) (m) Infelicity Estrangement Alienation (q) Black Sheep (n) Unfaithfulness (r) Squabbles (s) Intrigue (t) Feud (0) (p) (q) Betrayal Desertion Irrevocable (u) Miscellaneous (r) Co-Respondent (s) Divorce 17. HOME {Hahitation) (t) Widowhood 33* (a) Home Seekers (u) Miscellaneous (b) Home-Making \**/ (c) Home-Body 19. COMMUNICATION (01 (d) Home Town Reminder) (e) Fireside 37* (a) Message (f) Refuge (b) News (g) No place like — (c) Letters (d) Telescope 34* (h) Nostalgia (e) Heliograph (i) Back Home (f) Pigeon (j) Efifect of Suffrage (g) Telepathy (k) Mortgage (h) Signals (1) Eviction (i) Code (m) Auction (j) Matchmaker (n) Fire (k) Memory (0) Homeless (1) Music (p) Miscellaneous (m) Relics 80 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II 20. RE-UNION (Rejoining) 38* (a) Remorse (b) Forgiveness (c) Passer-By (d) Return (e) Back to the Farm (f) Re-Union (g) Rejuvenation (h) Explanations B.— ASPIRATION.— The Vicissitudes of Passion and Deterioration III. The Ambition of Man. Man's Desire for Position, his Rela- tions with Society and his Struggle for Achievement. 21. ADVENTURE {Exploil) 39* (a) Adventurer (b) Adventuress (c) Heroine (d) Incognito (e) Speculation (f) Mystery 40* (g) Warning (h) Pitfalls (i) Hazard (j) Foolhardy (k) Peril 0) Tribulation (m) Rescue (n) Escape 41* (0) Exploration (p) Savages (q) Cannibals (r) Quicksands (s) Pioneer 81 (t) Colonist (u) Wild West (V) Hunter (w) Mountain Climber (X) Miscellaneous 22. FAILURE ilmpotcncy) 42* (a) Inefficient (b) Blunder (c) Mishap (d) Indolence (e) Plodder (f) In the Rut 43* (g) Mollycoddle (h) Ne'er-do-Well (i) Scape Goat G) Debt (k) Bankruptcy (1) Disgrace (m) Broken Heart THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG 44* (n) Poverty (o) Pawnbroker (p) Bread Line (q) Derelict (r) Saloon (s) Crime (t) Salvation Array (u) Relapse (v) Ruin (w) Miscellaneous 23. AVOCATION {Occupa- tion) 45* (a) Profession (b) Business (c) Politics (d) Labor (e) Crook (f) Do-Nothing (g) Beggar (h) Mountebank (i) Sinecure (j) Executioner (k) Servant 24. VOCATION {Call) 46* (a) Religious (b) Artist (c) Warrior (d) Actor (e) Service (f) Propagandist (g) Suffragist (h) Agitator (i) Crusade 25. COMPETITION ry) 47* (a) Professional {Rival 82 (b) In Business (c) In Politics (d) In Sport (c) Oratory (f) Advantage (g) Handicap (h) Discrimination (i) Corpwration (j) Monopoly s5. OPPORTUNITY {Crisis) 48* (a) "Knocks but Once" (b) Opening (c) Crisis (d) Now (e) In Season (f) Critical (g) Propitious (h) Coincidence (i) Opportunist (j) Man of the Hour 49* (k) V/asted- (1) Tempus Fu^t (m) Too Late (n) Yesterday (o) Persistence (p) Abide (q) Providential (r) Luck (s) Progress (t) Tomorrow (u) Future (v) Miscellaneous 27. SUCCESS {Achievement) 50* (a) Potcndahty (b) Luck (c) Meiit THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II (d) Thrift (e) Honesty (0 The Cost (g) Artistic (h) Material 51* (i) Uplifting (J) Degrading (k) Credit (1) Reward (m) Diploma (n) Medal (o) Champion (P) Miscellaneous 28. NOTORIETY (Pub 52* (a) Plaudits (b) In Print (c) The Press (d) Editorial (c) Reportorial (0 Advertisement (g) "Personal" (h) Anecdote 53* (i) Conceit (J) Unsavory (k) TellTale (1) Gossip (m) Scandal (n) False Report (o) A Babble (P) Tragical (q) Miscellaneous (9. AMBITION (or A. tion) 54* (a) Lure (b) Selfish- Aspira- 83 (c) Praise (d) Career (e) Nemesis (f) Fame 55* (g) Land (h) Wealth (i) Clothes (j) Society (k) Family 0) Title (m) Leadership (n) Throne (o) Miscellaneous 30. SOCIETY (Positioi 56* (a) The Pillars (b) The Bonds (c) Caste (d) 400 (e) Peer (f) Beau (g) Belle 57* (h) Hollowness (i) Iconoclast (j) Parasite (k) Climber (1) Snob (m) Cad (n) Pariah (0) The Masses (P) The Dregs (q) Vassal (r) Peon (s) Slave (t) Miscellaneous 31. STATION (Rank) 58* (a) Royalty THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (b) Hierarchy (c) Aristocracy (d) Nobility (e) Ruler (f) President (g) Prince 59* (h) Statesman (i) Official (J) Pedigree (k) Pride (1) Pomp (m) Homage (n) Satellite (o) Lese Majeste (P) Miscellaneous 32. FAME (Renown) 60* (a) In Government 61* (b) In Art (c) In Letters (d) War (e) Science (f) Exploration (g) Commerce (h) Church (i) Contemporaneous (J) — over Night (k) Glory (1) Honor (m) Masterpiece (n) Parnassus (0) Wi!l-o'-the-Wisp (P) Suppressed (q) Posthumous (r) Miscellaneous IV. The Might of Man. Man's Desire for Supremacy, his Rela- tions with Antagonists and his Struggle for Power. 33- POWER [Dominion) (I) Dictator 6a* (a) Monarchy (m) Usurper (b) Hierarchy (n) Potentate (c) Oligarchy (0) Mogul (d) Plutocracy (p) Chief (e) Democracy (f) Emperor 64* (q) Aristocrat (g) King (r) Political- (h) Pope (s) Demagog (i) Doge (t) Padrone (u) Master 63* G) Tyrant (v) Slave Driver (k) Despot (w) Miscellaneous 84 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — U 34. PARTY {Faction) 65* (a) Side (b) Alliance (c) League (d) Fraternity (e) Brotherhood (f) Committee (g) Cabal (h) Clique 66* (i) Club (j) Crew (k) Posse (1) Band (m) Clan (n) Tribe (0) Canaille (p) Horde (q) Miscellaneous 35. DISCORD {Dissension) 67* (a) Labor (b) Unemployed (c) Agitator (d) Socialism (e) Boycott (f) Sabotage' (g) Malcontent (h) Discontent 68* (i) Instigation (j) Public Opinion (k) Unrest (1) Quarrels (m) Insult (n) Enemies (o) Division (p) Vox Populi (q) License (r) Miscellaneous 36. COMBAT {Fight) 69* (a) Hand-to-Hand (b) Drunken (c) Gang (d) Fray (e) Duel (f) Tourney (g) Feud (h) — of Tongues (i) Pugilist 0) Gladiator 37. REVOLT {Rising) 70* (a) Strike (b) Mob (c) Violence (d) Riot (e) Bombs (0 Dynamite (g) Assassination 71* (h) Suffrage- (i) Race- 0) Mutiny (k) Vendetta (1) Pretender (m) Anarchy (n) Call to Arms (o) Militia (p) Miscellaneous 85 38. PATRIOTISM Patrice) 72* (a) The Flag (b) Anthem (c) Loyalty (d) Defiance (e) Fanatic (f) Sacrifice {Atnor THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (g) Woman's- (h) Hero (i) Martyr G) Alarms (k) Traitor 39. SOLDIER {Combatant) 73* (a) Recruit (b) Officer (c) Countersign (d) Sentinel (e) Scout (f) Amazon (g) Courage (h) Heroism (i) Veteran 74* (J) Conscript (k) Sharpshooter (1) Wire-tapper (m) Spy (n) Mercenary (0) Renegade (P) White Feather (q) Coward (r) Miscellaneous 40. WAR {Hostilities) 75* (a) International (b) Internecine (c) Rebellion (d) Revolution (e) Invasion (f) Expcditioa (g) Intervention (h) Tribal (i) Religious 0) Red Cross 86 76* (k) Ultimatum (1) Mobilizatioa (m) Internment (n) Passport (o) Defence (p) Aid (q) Campaign (r) War Dance (s) Miscellaneous 41. BATTLE {Conflict) 77* (a) Army (b) Land (c) Naval (d) Aerial (e) Challenge (f) Skirmish (g) Battle-Cry (h) Charge (i) Raid 78* (j) Attack (k) Ambush (1) Strategy (m) Trenches (n) Under Fire (o) Siege (p) Mine (q) Gas (r) Blunder (s) At Bay (t) Miscellaneous 42. VICTORY {Conquest) 79* (a) Armageddon (b) Triumph (c) Conqueror (d) Remedy (e) Reformation THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG H (f) Liberty (g) Uaioa 80* (h) Rescue (i) Reward 0') Territory (k) Avenger (1) Plunder (m) Hostage (n) Miscellaneous 43. SUBJUGATION (.Defeat) 81* (a) Defeat (b) Surrender (c) The Bitterness (d) Abdication (e) Dispersion (f) Taxation (g) Loot (h) Retribution 83* (i) Captive (j) Prison (k) Dungeon (1) Ransom (m) Exchange (n) Parole (o) Escape (p) Fugitive (q) Exile (r) Miscellaneous 44. CALAMITY Affliction) 83* (a) Revenge (b) "Qui SauvePeut" (c) Wounds (d) Pillage (e) Devastation (i) Famin* (g) Cruelty (h) Slavery (i) Rape (j) Horror 84* (k) Destroyer (1) Doom (m) Scalps (n) Massacre (0) Execution (p) Death (q) Extermination (r) Ghouls (s) Miscellaneous 45. PEACE {Concord) 85* (a) Diplomacy (b) Arbitration (c) Mediation (d) Neutrality (e) Truce (f) Treaty (g) Pacification (h) Peace-Maker (i) Peace Offering (j) Forgiveness (k) Reconstruction (1) Industries (m) Rebuilding (n) Prosperity (o) Education (p) Recreation (q) Art 46. HISTORY {Record) 86* (a) Myth (b) Legend (c) Antiquarian (d) Research THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (e) Discovery (f) — Repeats Itself (g) Anniversary (h) Reminiscence (i) Chronology (j) Statistics V. The Character of Man. Man's Desire for Luxury, his Relations with Morality and his Struggle against Sin. 47- MONEY {Wealth) (z) Pauper 87* (a) Gold (A) Alms (b) Property (B) Beggary (c) Fortune (C) Miscellaneous (d) Jewels (e) Thrift 48. TEMPTATION {Entice- (f) Luck metil) (g) Heir 90 *(a) Money (h) Plutocrat (b) Luxury (i) Idle Rich (0 Glory (J) Parvenu (d) (e) Graft Forgery 88* (k) Buried Treasure (f) Fraud (1) Ransom (g) Bribe (m) Munificent (h) Speculation (n) Speculation (i) Gems (0) Spendthrift (P) Misfortune 91 *a) Woman (q) Lost Fortune (k) Glitter (r) Land- Poor (1) Pleasure (m) Empty Promises 89* (s) Debt (n) Snare (t) Miser (0) The City (u) Stingy (P) Starvation (v) Money Lender (q) Miscellaneous (w) Loan Shark (X) Stranded 49- CHARACTER (Qualities) (y) Hireling 92 •(a) Psychology of — 88 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG H (b) Endowment (c) Principles (d) "Blood Will Tell" (e) Noblesse Oblige {£) Thorobrcd (g) Quality (h) Backbone (i) Environment 0) Type 93* (k) Strong (i) Honor (m) Loyalty (n) Generosity (o) Good Name (p) Compassion (q) Gentleness (r) Deeds (s) Hard (t) Meanness (u) Weak (v) Ingrate (w) Loafer (x) Degenerate (y) Miscellaneous 50. ERROR (Foible) 94* (a) Gossip (b) Eavesdropper (c) Tell-Tale (d) Liar (e) Scandal ({) Sharp Tongue (g) Temper (h) Profanity 95» (i) Vanity (j) Greed (k) Covetousness (1) Envy (m) Jealousy (n) Prejudice (0) Hatred (P) Hard Heart (q) Misanthrope 96* (r) Deceit (s) Perversity (t) Grafter (u) Wanderlust (v) Clothes (w) Gourmand (x) Tobacco (y) Miscellaneous SI. PASSION {Lusi) 97* (a) Evil- (b) Taint (c) Degenerate (d) — for Combat (e) Brute (f) Revenge 98* (g) For Money (h) Kleptomania (i) Gambler (J) Pyromaniac 99* (k) Habit (1) Drink (m ) Drugs 100* (n) 1 Sex (0) Vampire (p; 1 "Needle" (q; 1 "Wildcats" (r) Orgy (s) Wliite Slave 89 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (t) Prostitute (B) "Fsnce" («) Miscellaneous (C) Loot (D) Victim 52. CRIME {Felony) (E) Mystery ioi*(a) Psychology of — (F) Miscellaneous (b) The Underworld (c) Unregenerate 53- DETECTION {Discovery) no* (a) Police 102* (d) Thief (b) Pedigree (e) Burglar (c) Third Degree (f) Shop-Lifter (d) Frame-Up 103* (g) Blackmailer iii*(e) Detective (h) Black Hand (f) Clue (i) Kidnapper (g) Disguise G) Dynamiter (h) Dictograph (i) Deduction 104* (k) Hold-Up (J) Induction (1) Bandit (m) Outlaw 112* (k) Confession (1) Squealer I05* (n) Murderer (m) State's Evidence (0) Assassin (n) Betrayal (o) Decoy io6* (p) Wliite Slaver (P) Accusation (q) Fire Bug (r) Bunco Steerer 113* (q) Double Life (s) Counterfeiter (r) Conscience (t) Gangster (s) Guilt (t) Innocence 107* (u) Rustler (v) Moonshiner 114* (u) Pawnbroker (w) Poacher (v) Raid (w) Fugitive io8* (x) Pirate (X) Reward (y) Smuggler (y) Finger-Priat 109* (z) Plot IIS*U) Scar (A) Confederate (A) IdsQtificatiea 90 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — U (B) Capture (C) Exposure (D) Miscellaneous 54. THE LAW {Restraint) Il6*(a) Technicalities (b) Evasion (c) Within the — (d) Man-Made- (e) The Unwritten- (f) Justice (g) Injustice (h) Errors 117* (i) Law Suit (j) Trial (k) Defence (1) The Bench (m) Judge (n) Recall 118* (o) District Attorney (p) Lawyer (q) Cross Examination (r) Witness (s) Evidence (t) Death Sign (u) Bribery (v) Perjury Ji9*(w) Children's Court (x) Arrest (y) Prisoner (z) OldOfTender (A) Bail (B) Jury (C) Acquittal (D) Conviction (E) Miscellaneous 5S. PUNISHMENT {Correc- tion) 120* (a) Vigilantes (b) Vengeance (c) Lyncliing (d) Innocent (e) Vicarious 121* (f) Protectory (g) Reformatory (h) Workhouse (i) Prison (j) Prison Reform (k) Dungeon (1) The Hulks (m) Galleys (n) Warden (0) Keeper 122* (p) Discipline (q) Chastisement (r) Pillory (s) Execution (t) Guillotine (u) Garotte (v) The Ax (w) Gibbet (x) The Chair 123* iy) Convict (z) First Offense (A) Serf (B) Escape (C) Fugitive (D) For Life (E) Miscellaneous 56. REGENERATION hahilitation) 124* (a) Operation {Re- 91 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG 125* (h) (b) Conscience (i) Reformation (c) Repentance 0') Ex-Convict (d) Remorse (k) A "Past" (e) Trusty (1) Branded (f) Parole (m) Shame (g) Pardon (n) Retribution (o) Miscellaneous VI. The Flesh of Man. Man's Desire for Health, his Relations with Disease and his Struggle against Death. 57. HEALTH (.Soundness) 59- 128^ I2( >*(a) Bill of — (b) Eugenics (c) Cleanliness (d) Sanitation (e) Salubrity (f) Youth (g) Bloom (h) Beauty (i) joy S8. VIOLATION (Abuse) 127 '* (a) Uncleanness (b) Sloven (c) Slattern (d) Contamination (e) Pollution (f) Habits (g) Dissipation (h) Worry (i) Inanition (j) Decline (k) Impurity (1) Crime (m) Blight REJ (a) ^EDY (Alleviat Prohibition (b) Safety First (c) First Aid (d) Doctor (e) Medicine (f) Nurse (g) Hospital (h) X-Ray (i) Operation (J) Anesthetic (k) Radium (1) Convalescence (m) Recreation (n) Suggestion (0) Shock (P) Love (q) Panacea (r) Quacks 92 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG JI 60. DISEASE (Pe»a//:y) (0) By Fire 129* (a) Microbes (P) By Water (b) Infection (q) In Battle (c) Contagion (r) Foul Play (d) Heredity (s) Cruelty (e) Sins of the Fattier (t) Frightened to — (f) Venereal (u) Execution (g) Plague (v) Miscellaneous (h) White Plague (i) Leprosy 62. POST MORTEM {After (J) Pest House Death) 133* (a) Corpse 130* (k) Dwarf (b) Mummy (1) Hunchback (c) Skeleton (m) Cripple (n) Blindness 134* (d) Lying in State (0) Pain (e) Death Watch (P) Stoic (f) Wake (q) Age (g) Undertaker (r) Relapse (h) Coffin (s) Incurable (i) Funeral (t) Miscellaneous G) Mourners (k) Hearse 61. DEATH (Extinction) 131* (a) Mortality 135* (I) Morgue (b) Natural (m) Charnel House (c) Death Bed (n) Tomb (d) Resuscitation (0) Vault (e) Death House (P) Catacombs (f) Broken Heart (q) Cemetery (S) Martyr (r) Potter's Field (h) Vicarious (s) Burial (i) Error (t) Cremation (J) Starvation (u) Burning Ghat (v) Ashes 132* (k) Violence (1) Suicide 136* (w) Ghouls (m) Poison (x) Exhumation (n) Accident (y) Cadaver 93 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (z) Dissection (A) Epitaphs (B) Posthumous (C) LegaUy Dead 137* (D) Obituary (E) Will (F) Insurance (G) Estate (H) Heirs (I) Heirlooms (J) Intestate (K) Destitution (L) Widows (M) Orphans (N) Miscellaneous C. — DESTINY. — The Vicissitudes of Inquiry and the Infinite VII. The Mind of Man. Man's Desire for KnoAvledge, his Application of Reason and his Strug- gle against Ignorance. 63. PROBLEMS {Questions) (c) Dreams 138* (a) Cause and Effect (d) Meteors (b) Enigma (e) Talisman (c) Cui Bono (f) Luck (d) Free WiU (g) Hoodoo (e) Religion (h) "13" (f) Science (g) Ethics 140 *(i) Myths (h) Law (J) Haunted (i) Social (k) Ghosts G) Race (1) Banshee (k) Economic (m) Witches (1) Labor (n) Enchanted (m) — of the Day (0) (P) Cursed Miscellaneous 64. superstition {Cred:i- lity) 6S. CHARLATANISM {De 139* (a) Omens cepti-cn) (b) Evil Portents 141 *(a) Magic 94 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — H (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (J) (k) 0) (m) (a) Necromancy Black Art Astrology Crystal Gazing Palmistry Fortune Telling Voodoo Fraud Oracle Divining Rod Luckstone Cults Sophistry (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) G) (k) (1) Discovery Chemistry Astronomy Physics Electricity Radium * Phonograph Sacrifice 66. INQUIRY (Edi'xatwn) 142* (a) Ignoranct (b) Instinct (c) Curiosity (d) Incredulity (e) Expression ({) Renascenee (g) CoUege (i) Book! 143* (T) Teacher (j) Student (k) Co-Ed 0) Scholar (m) School Days (n) Pedant (o) Over-Education (p) Alumni (q) Ikliscellaneous «7. SCIENCE {Knowledge) 144* (a) Scientist (b) Inventor (c) Experirae«t (d) TwJt (m) Rewards 68. REASON {Intellect) 145* (a) Intuition (b) Thought (c) Theory (d) Credulity (e) Conviction (f) Wisdom (g) Reason (h) Sagacity (i) Genius (j) Profundity (k) Opinion (I) Propaganda (m) Argument (n) Debate (o) mt (p) Stupidity 69. LITERATURE lional History) 146* (a) Literati (b) Author (c) Hack (d) Editor (e) Struggles (f) Inspiration (g) Masterpiece (h) Plagiarism {Emo- ^S THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG 147* (i) Grammar iSi*(h) Idealism (j) Rhetoric (i) Arcadia (k) Phrase (j) Utopia (1) Style (k) Golden Age (m) Expression (1) Poetry (n) Power (m) Dark Ages (0) Description (n) Middle Ages (p) Belles Let tres (0) Chivalry (q) Journalism (p) Knights (q) Troubadours 148* (r) Manuscript (r) Cavalier (s) Letters (s) Adventure (t) Diary (u) Copy 153* (t) Juvenile (v) Publication (u) Fairies (w) Fiction (v) Youth (x) Poetry (w) The Dreamer (y) Drama (x) Love (z) Essay (y) Love Potion (A) Learning (z) Witching Hour 149* (B) Books (A) Old Age (C) Tracts (B) By-Gones (D) Magazines (C) Miscellaneous (E) Novel (F) Short Story 71. SUGGESTION iFascina (G) Melodrama Hon) (H) Reading 153* (a) Auto- (1) Book-Worm (b) Hypnotism (J) Library (c) Domination (K) Miscellaneous (d) Fear (e) Men are like Sheep 70. ROMANCE {Day Dreams) (f) Panic 150* (a) Fancy (g) Guilt (b) Reveries (h) A Curse (c) Castles in Spain (i) The Senses (d) Make-Believe (e) Supposition 1 54* (j) Sentiment (f) Expectation (k) Reminiscence (g) Exaggeration (1) Memories 96 THE UNI\^RSAL PLOT CATALOG — II (m) Music (0) Despair (n) A Song (P) Memories (o) Springtime (q) Aphasia (P) Solitude (q) Allegory 158 *(r) Obsession (r) Miscellaneous (s) (t) Brain Storm Hysteria 12. PSYCHIC {Metaphysics) (u) Delirium 155 ' (a) Occult (v) Idiot (b) Supernatural (w) Alienist (c) Mystery (d) Psychology 159 *w Insanity (e) "Gifts" (y) Asylum (0 Prophecy (z) Mistake (g) Premonition (A) Maniac (h) (i) Dreams Telepathy (B) Miscellaneous G) Fate 74- TRUTH {Enlighlenment) (k) Zodiac 160 *(a) Authentic (1) Miracles (b) Certainty (m) Sleep (c) Exactitude (d) Positiveness 73- DERANGEMENT {Dis- (e) Definite order) (f) Infallible iS6*(a) "Character" (g) Inviolable (b) Visionary (h) Genuine (c) Freak (i) Orthodox (d) Fanatic (J) Absolute (e) Crank (k) Ultimate (f) Defective (g) Age 161 *(1) Knowledge (m) Mathematics 157* (h) Insomnia (n) Deduction (i) Somnambulism (0) Disclosure (J) Voices (P) Realism (k) Nostalgia (q) Veracity (1) Melancholia (r) Bona Fide (m) Moodiness (s) Literal (n) Fear (t) Plain Dealing 97 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (u) Outspoken (h) Consequenc* (v) Unvarnished (i) Harvest (w) Sincerity (x) Miscellaneous 163* (j) Fatalism (k) Hazard 75- FATE (Destiny) (1) Accident 162* (a) Predestination (m) Lot (b) Will of God (n) Nemesis (c) Chance (0) Irrevocable (d) Luck (p) Inexorable (e) Necessity (q) Doom (f) Inevitable (r) End (g) Efifect (s) Miscellaneous VIII. The Soul of Man. Man's Desire for Divinity, his Re- lations with his God and his Struq:g:le for his Religion. '&o' 76. REVELATION {The (b) Christian Word) (c) Mohammedan 164* (a) Nature (d) Buddhist (b) The Bible (e) Confucianism (c) Talmud (f) Shintoism (d) Koran (g) Sun Worshippers (e) Creator (h) Pantheism (f) Prophets (i) Theology (g) The Messiah (j) Doctrine (h) Commandments (k) Orthodox (i) Beatitudes , (j) Visions 78. ORGANIZATION (k) Oracle (Church) (1) Providence 166* (a) Synagogue (b) Temple 77. INTERPRETATION (c) Mosque (Creed) (d) Catholic 165* (a) Jew (e) Greek 98 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II (f) Anglican (g) Protestant (h) Non-Conformist (i) Huguenot G) Quaker (k) Christian Science (1) Mormon (m) Salvation Army (n) Edifice 79. CONSECRATION (Priest) 167* (a) Patriarch (b) "Call" (c) Renunciation (d) Seminary (e) Consecration (f) The Cloth (g) Deacon (h) Minister (i) Preacher (j) Parish (k) Flock (1) Woman (m) Unfrock (n) Rabbi 168* (o) Priest (p) Early Fathers (q) Monk (r) Jesuit (s) Trappist (t) Cure (u) Nun (v) Celibacy (w) Vows (x) Bishop (y) Cardinal (z) Pope (A) Miscellaneous 80. INSPIRATION (Compre- hension) 169* (a) The Bible (b) Revelation (c) Christ (d) The Cross (e) Mohammed (f) Evangelists (g) Sermon (h) Propaganda (i) Works 81. RECOLLECTION (Con- science) 1 70* (a) Conscience (b) Temptation (c) — Ignored (d) Backslider (e) Pariah (f) Remorse (g) Revivals (h) Regeneration (i) Atonement 82. CONVICTION (Faith) 171* (a) Miracles (b) Lourdes (c) Healing (d) Conversion (e) Proselyte (f) Disciple (g) Confession (h) Absolution (i) Hope (j) Blind (k) —that WiU Move Mountains (I) Martyrs 99 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG 83. REUGION (Works) 172* (a) Godliness (b) Duty (c) Penance (d) Sacrifice (e) Purity (f) Humility (g) Forgiveness (h) Mercy (i) Charity (j) Alms (k) Missionaries 173* G) Brotherhood (m) Christmas (n) Peace (o) Miscellaneous 84. DEVOTION (Worship) 174* (a) Worship (b) Adoration (c) Prayer (d) Intercession (e) Virgin Mary (f) Shrines (g) Mass (h) Sacraments (i) Ritual (j) Service (k) Praise 0) Incense (m) Holy Days (n) Last Rites 85. VISION (Romance) 175* (a) Prophets (b) Visions (c) Saints (d) Martyrs (e) Relics (f) Miracles (g) Legends (h) Transcendentalism (i) Templars (j) Holy Grail (k) Santa Claus 86. FANATICISM (Bigotry'] 176* (a) Moor (b) Dervishes (c) Wild Sects (d) Holy War (e) Crusaders (0 Asceticism (g) Inquisition (h) Persecution (i) Sanctuary 0) Excommunicatioa (k) Zealot (1) Unbeliever (m) Martyr (n) Reformer (o) Puritan (p) Ranter 87. DECEPTION (Delusion) 177* (a) Disillusionment (b) Myth (c) Schism (d) Apostate (e) Heretic (f) Pharisee (g) Sanctimonious (h) Spiritualists (i) Trance (j) Medicine Man (k) Sorcerer G) Healer 100 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — U (m) Amulets (n) Cults 88. DAMNATION {Powers of Evil) 178* (a) Satan (b) Sin (c) Anti-Christ (d) Temptation (e) Hypocrite (f) Blasphemy (g) Sacrilege (h) Desecration (i) Mockery (j) Witch (k) Demons (1) Exorcism (m) Human Sacrifice (n) Atheist (o) Heathen (p) Idolatry (q) Purgatory (r) Hell 89. DESTINATION (Goo/) 179* (a) Grace (b) Perfection (c) Blessedness (d) Savior (e) Salvation (0 Redemption (g) Resurrection (h) Transmigration (i) Eternity (j) Future State (k) Immortality (!) Spirit (m) y^x>theosi3 (n) Sainthood (o) Translation (p) Angels (q) Paradise (r) Elysian Fields (s) Valhalla (t) Happy Hunting Ground (u) Olympus (v) Heaven 90. REALIZATION {God) 180* (a) Divinity (b) Mohammed (c) Christ (d) Jove (e) Brahma (f) Buddha (g) Allah (h) Trinity (i) GOD lOI THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG D.— HUMOR.— The Vicissitudes of the Ridiculous and the Sublime IX. The Emotions of Man. Man Impassioned by the Domination of the Ludicrous, the Stimulation of Diversion, Participation in Pleasure and the Stress of Pathos. 91. FARCE {Broad Comedy) (y) Situation 181* (a) Farce (z) Courtship (b) Burlesque (A) Contrast (c) Travesty (B) Fashions (d) Comedy (C) Family Jars (e) Buffoonery (f) Tomfoolery 184* (D) Clown (g) Pranks (E) Character (h) Practical Jokes (F) Darkey (G) Old Maid 182* (i) Mistaken Identity (H) Hired Girl (j) Superstition (I) Suffragette (k) Misunderstanding Q) Monstrosity (1) Absent-Mindedness (K) Butt (m) Wrong House (L) Miscellaneous (n) Nationality (0) Dialect 92. AMUSEJvIENT (Ew/fr/a/K- (p) Hen-Pecked inent) (q) Stupidity 18s* (a) Pastime (r) Mked Babies (b) Recreation (c) Frolic 183* (s) College- (d) Antics (t) Skit (e) Lark (u) Hoax (f) Madcap (v) Accident (g) Games (w) Fraud (h) Sport (x) Intoxication (i) HoUday 102 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II 0) Camping (k) Picnic G) Feast (m) Festival (n) Carnival (0) The Dance (P) Regatta l86*(q) Humorist (r) ^^'it (s) Epigram (t) Pun (u) Drollery (v) The Play (w) Comedy (X) Caricature (y) Pantomime (z) Cartoons (A) Puppet Show (B) Jester (C) Cap and Bells (D) Mountebank (E) Circus (F) Clown (G) Toys (H) Miscellaneous 13. PLEASURE (/try) .87* (a) Fancy (b) Whims (c) Sociability (d) GeniaUty (e) Optimism (0 HonejTnooii (g) Beatitude (h) Palmy Days (i) Jubilee G) Voluptuous (k) Laughter 188 94- 189^ 0) Merriment (m: ) Song (n) Fun *(o) Thankfuhess (P) Gratilkation (q) Contentment (r) Relaxation (s) Cheerfuhiess (t) Luxury (u) Fruition (v) Rapture (w) Enchantment (x) Love (y) Happiness (z) Miscellaneous PATUOS {Tragic EiP. ■(a) Failure (b) Disappointment (c) Too Late (d) Sacrifice (e) Endurance (f) Hopelessness (g) Poverty (h) Melancholia (i) Doomed U) Tragedy (k) Sorrow (1) Suffering (m) Emotion (n) Tears (0) Anxiety (P) Pining (q) Loneliness (r) Harrowing (s) Crushed 103 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG 191' (t) Contrast (A) Broken Heart (u) Masquerade (B) Regret (v) Character (C) Remorse (w) Care (D) Sympathy (x) Shock (E) Pity (y) Ordeal (F) Miscellaneous (z) Desolation E.— NOT-MAN X. The Personification of Man. The Humanizing of All Creation, Crea- tures and Mythology and the Appropri- ation of their Phenomena as Dramatic Material. 95. 192'' MATURE {The Elements) (t) Polar Regions (a) Mountains (u) Glacier (b) Valleys (c) Plains 193* (v) Fire (d) Oasis (w) Heat (e) Streams (x) Volcano (f) Forests (y) Earthquake (g) Equator (z) Lightning (h) Islands (A) Meteor (i) Seasons (B) Cold (j) Springtime (C) Ice (k) Cultivation (D) Crevasse 0) Irrigation (E) Snow (m) Conservation (F) Storm (n) Harvest (G) Wind (0) Mines (H) Cyclone (p) Night (I) Typhoon (q) Caves G) Flood (r) Desert (K) Falls (s) Waste Places (L) Bog 104 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II (M) Quicksand (N) LandsUde (O) Miscellaneous 96. THE SEA (Phenoinena) Jg4* (a) Mariner (b) Tides (c) Cruise (d) Compass (e) Log (f) Wireless (g) Pilot (h) Haven (i) Light-Ship (j) Lighthouse (k) Beacon (!) Fisherman (m) Lifesaving 195* (n) Stowaway (o) Submarine (p) Iceberg (q) Reefs (r) Wreck (s) Raft (t) Adrift (u) Derelict (v) Flotsam and Jetsam (w) Phantom (x) Marooned (y) Rescue (z) Miscellaneous 97. THE AIR (The Conquest) 196* (a) Kite (b) Balloon (c) Dirigible (d) Aeroplane (e) Hydroaeroplane (f) Lost (g) Collision (h) Battle (i) Rescue 98. PERSONIFICATION ilhimanizalion) 197* (a) City (b) Village (c) Crowd (d) House (e) Furniture (f) River (g) Tree (h) Engine (i) Automobile 99. ANIMALS {Creatures) 198* (a) Tame- (b) Pets (c) Horse (d) Dog (e) Cat (f) Birds (g) Fable (h) Vivisection I39*(i) Wild- (j) Bull (k) Stampede (1) Rats (m) Bats (n) Ants (o) Bear (p) Wolves (q) Lion (r) Ape (s) Snakes (t) Scorpions (u) Shark 105 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG lOO. 200 (v) WTiale (j) Dragon (w) Dinosaur (k) Grimn (x) Miscellaneous (1) Unicom (m) Fairj'land MYTHOLOGY {Not Man (n) Witches or Beast) (0) Giants *(a) AUegoty (p) Ogres (b) Half-Gods (q) Salamander (c) Satyr (r) The Star World (d) Siren (s) Star Maiden (e) Fauji (t) Martians (f) Myth (u) Legends (g) Mermaid (v) Valkyries (h) SeaSerper.t (w) Primeval (i) Fable (x) Preliistoric 106 A Scheme that merely gratifies its in- ventor is at best but a speculative Theory; while a System that satisfies the student is at the very least a practical Science. CHAPTER X A Fiction Example Illustrating the Value of the Catalog "a weaver of dreams;" its classification and analysis. FROM the foregoing chapters, it is not to be assumed that the writer of this volume has devised a scheme with the magical mechanical properties of grinding out well- rounded plots from misshapen particles of "material." All said and done, the Catalog is only a re-creator, stimulator and tonic for those gifted with fictional imagination. It takes for granted that the student is potentially a creator of convincing fiction or moving drama, eloquent prose or emotional poetry. It not only holds the mirror up to the innermost depths of the writer's soul, but it also moti- 107 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG vates it with trains of thought and action that carry it on its way with renewed hope and spirit. The Universal Plot Catalog is a Hand-book of Re-creation. If it gives a single original thought that might have been lost to the student without its aid, it has not been devised in vain. "A Weaver of Dreams" has been chosen as an exam_ple because of the fact that it had its inception from a newspaper clipping contained in the author's collection of plot material. The construction of the plot of this story will illustrate the purely stimulative and suggestive value of the Catalog as op- posed to the wooden method of appropriating material "just as it stands." {EX A MPLE 21.) GIRL FINDS A S UITOR THR U AN EGG. — An Egg Packer Writes Her Name 07i One thai Proved to be Good and Receives Her Reward. ... // was filed under Qi. FARCE {Broad Comedy), (z) Court- ship. Obviously here is a comedy idea. Also it suggests a variation of the trite story of a girl finding a lover by means of a message conveyed thru the anonymity of her daily employment. Thus the clipping would have 1 08 A FICTION EXAMPLE been filed for "future reference" had it not stimulated an idea. The basic idea seems never to pall on readers, therefore why not devise one that is serious and yet unique in development. The clipping was thereupon filed and forgotten, overshadowed by the more important train of thought that it had brought into existence. 2T,. AVOCATION {Occupation) was con- sulted, pausing at (d) Labor. Immediately container 45* was emptied. There were many items dealing with interesting phases of almost every variety of Labor. THE SILK WEAVERS OF FRANCE THREATEN TO STRIKE. Weavers— here was an attractive occupation. Our heroine could weave her name into her product! A French weaving girl was appealing too. There was the objection, however, to foreign stories. Americans must be introduced to remove the stigma. Artists studying in Paris would lit into the fabric most naturally. 24. VOCATION {Call), (b) Artist, container 46* is consulted with refreshing results. All the artists are dreamers, if the data be true. Our plays and stories likewise emphasize this 109 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG fact. Why not make our heroine the dreamer instead, and vary the monotony? Dreamer, 70, is located in the index which directs to ROMANCE {Day Dreams). Con- tainers 150* and 152'^ are sparkling with gems of ideas. Nothing can stop the flow of ideas now. The Catalog has bountifully fulfilled its mission. It is replaced on the shelf and forgotten in the welter of work. {EXAMPLE 22.) The following brief synopsis was made as the basis for t lie future Complete Plot: A WE A V- ER OF (SILKEN) DREAMS. . . . A fanciful tale of a girl in a silk mill — a girl of rare fancies and prone to dreams atid flights to the stars and an aptitude for sub- lime romance — 7ueai'es her wishes and dreams into the fabric she works upon and then thru some strange power her dreams work themselves out upon the wearer of the woven garment — who perhaps traces the garment back to the weaver by means of some sign-manual — thus she meets him of her dreains. The story itself shows that man}- of these fancies were never employed, while many that are not mentioned were created in the building of the plot. IIO A Vv^EAVER OF DREAMS By HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS (Published in The National Sunday Magazine, October 29, 191 1.) E stumble, sometimes, into our graves on the street; Curie, the renowned inventor of radium, did. Our fates hang on a toss of the penny of circumstance. As for ours — Gerard's and mine — I went out one day and fell, all unknowingly, into the pit of Romance. Still, they say Romance is no more ! It was the second year that Gerard and I had been together in Paris, living in one of those typical ateliers of the Quarter * A large, bare room, up four flights of rickety stairs, cheek by jowl with an unsightly company of chimney pots. We had had a hard winter of it with the wolf literally at the door, in the form of a snarling, rapacious landlord. * Italics are employed thruout the story, not for emphasis, but to distinguish the particular matter discussed in the notes. Ill THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Strange as it may seem, it was I who earned most of the meager funds that kept our bodies and souls together and a leaky roof to cover them. Poor Gerard fretted and fussed over trivial daubs in imitation of mine; but the inevitable genius would creep out like a jealous mistress and make a botch of them. (The progressive writer will clip descriptive matter of scenes that seem to lend themselves especially to his pur- poses. These are filed under their respective heads.) He, like so many misguided artists, thought that damp, smelly Paris, somewhere within sound of Montmartre's hoarse cries and rumble, would bring out the best that was in him. But I knew better. God's open country was the true place for all good and beautiful things to fructify in. The seed of genius and greatness was not wanting; rather the soil and some fortuitous circum- stance which was yet to be discovered. I was looking fpr that circumstance. With the approach of Spring, a riot of desire broke loose in me to get up and leave Paris and to carry Gerard, willy nilly, with me. 112 A WEAVER OF DREAMS With this in mind — one afternoon when his blue mood had become too infectious — I fled, resolving not to return without some plan of immediate action. And yet it was so char- acteristic of my reckless nature of those days to come back to the studio, not v/ith a definite plan of procedure, but instead with a little, rich-hued tapestry for which I had paid the last franc v/e had in the world ! Simply because I knew it would delight Gerard's rare passion for color, and dissipate his fit of melancholy! {A filed excerpt on the effect of color on the emotions of certain artistic people, stirs a thought of its possible employment in the construction of a plot.) "It is beautiful and has raised my spirits beyond the need of supper; but what now — a pauper's plot in Pere la Chaise?" he ob- served, fondling every inch of the tapestry. "No; have you forgotten our inevitable pot-boilers?" I had three almost finished. "Do you believe in fairies?" he exclaimed; and when I looked toward him_ in alarm — for jocular remarks were not in his line — I found him examining a little strip of silk v/hich had been sewn to the edge of the tapestry. 113 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG He handed it to me, and I read the following: Jacques — If you believe in Romance, come to Anconville. Ghisleine awaits you. Give the normal youth Romance or promise of adventure, and he will move mountains. Gerard proved to be a whole range of them; but I moved him to Ancoiiville, in just two weeks from the day I bought the little tapestry. {Favorite fiction localities — like Paris — might be ilhiminated with maps of their envirotis torn from maga- zines or books.) "Don't be so scrupulous," I protested to his eternal objections. "To me it's not Romance, but adventure. I'm an adventurer pure and simple. If she throws her heart at my feet it is likely to be trampled on. She shall give us entree to her yokel class, which I shall convert into pot-boilers, and from which you shall draw types and perhaps find a suggestion for your great picture." "But, if she should think of nothing but Romance? You would break her heart!" "Don't worry, Bobbs-boy; if love making is necessary, she shall have it for the afore- 114 A WEAVER OF DREAMS said value received. Personally, I haven't much pity for a woman who deliberately baits a trap for a man, as this one has done. I'm simply going to perpetrate a little fraud at her invitation — and expense." (A n excellejil detail is to put slips of paper in tlie proper places 171 the File, bearing notations where superb descrip- tions have been read and may be found at length.) "It must at least make a pitiable fool of the girl," he persisted. His heart was a moat of tenderness that could not permit a straw of cruelty to float on its surface. And as fools rush In, so did I, conscience- less, laughing and singing. Well, I found her! And what am I to say of all the shame and horror that pierced my heart when I entered that immaculate room all fragrant with fresh-picked roses, and saw there on a snow- white pillow the most exquisite head in all the world! Inside the aureole of golden tresses was a face more delicate than Botti- celli's Simonetta, and eyes that dreamed beautiful — holy things. (Small lithographic reproductions of great art subjects that have especial stimulative qualities are valuable.) THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG So this was the weaving girl — Ghisleine! She was the very antithesis of everything my pitiless mind had conceived. A fragile young creature hovering on the edge of the grave ! In a corner stood the loom, on which it had been her strange fancy to weave the dream of her life and send it out into the world, that it might reach the pure heart of some worthy man. A rom^ance as pure and holy as a legend of the saints. {The legends of the saints teem with suggestive matter for fictive parallels or occasional incidents that are strong dramatic motives in themselves.) "Jacques!" Her soft, sweet voice struck like fire into my guilty heart. I had gained admission by that name. Involuntarily I advanced. "Ah, Jacques, you have come!" "I am not Jacques!" I cried in anger that anyone should think that I was worthy. "Not Jacques? " she said softly, in bewilder- ment. Then it was that I began truly to realize what a cruel thing I had done, and what difficulty I should have in setting matters straight again. "No," I said. But no alternative came to my mind; helpless pity paralyzed my tongue. Il6 A WEAVER OF DREAMS "And yet how can that be? Madame Giraflam said Jacques. And in this, decep- tion were impossible. I have dreamed of him too long — and you are he!" She shook her head and smiled with a confidence not to be refuted. I had gone out to hunt a fawn with a cud- gel, and now Vv^as caught in a trap of steel. "I am an impostor!" I cried in agonized perplexity, and then a way to let me out of her life occurred to me. "I came, yes; but why? To make use of you, to make a fool of you — you." "Ah, you would try to deceive me, Jacques! That is not possible. " All that I said had not made the slightest impression. "Listen, girl, you do not understand" — I almost groaned. "It vv^as not I who first found your message." "But what matters that since you are here?" What was I to say? "Tomorrov/ he who first received your mes- sage — Monsieur Robert — he will visit you." "Leave me if you think it well; send another if you choose. He is not my Jacques, 117 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG that I know. But I shall be glad to see him and will try to like him. " "If you would like it, he will paint your portrait." It was all I could think to say at the time. "How lovely! And you will always stand near? My expression shall be pleasant then. " "No, no, no!" I cried, with a sudden over- whelming sense of my unfitness to remain and to listen to more of her hallucinations. "1 am going to leave Anconville!" (/« medical reports, and magazine articles by doctors are to be found interesting mention of the phenomena of hallucinations. These contain ifiany plot germs.) At this she seized my hand, and the next instant her cool lips had pressed it! I could endure the torture no longer; drawing my hand roughly away I rushed from the house. I hurried back to the Inn. Dear old Gerard stood at the door to meet me. "Jaimie, what has happened.''" he cried anxiously. I told him. "This is a sad business, boy," he said solemnly. Il8 A WEAVER OF DREAMS "Don't misunderstand me, she isn't crazy. Here are the hallucinations of the born dreamer, who has worn the barriers to the grave so thin that she sees thru them Beyond. She hasn't a year to live, poor child, I'll swear to it. That idea of Jacques has become part of her life, and she seized on me like a last straw. Just what it is she thinks of me, God knows. Knowing my own insincerity, I can't go back again and keep up the tragedy. You go, Bobbs; you're more fit. Amuse her; paint her portrait, the idea seemed to please her. I must stay away. I'd only succeed in making her last hours miserable." "I'll go. There's nothing in all the wide world I would'nt do for you, you know that. But I don't like it," he protested. After ten days of it, one would have thouglit that Gerard and I had deliberately exchanged natures. He had become happy and buoyant, and I morose. How that weird little experience with Ghisleine had wrought such a change in me was beyond my comprehension. By nature, I was neither sentimental nor thin skinned. I was five miles from Anconville, moping along the river bank one afternoon six weeks 119 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG later, when the revelation dawned on me. I had loved Ghisleine from the moment of meeting her! The cruelty and selfishness of my conduct brought me to the verge of tears. My place was there by her side — filling her room with roses, gladdening those precious hours with smiles, cheering her with every breath. I think I ran all the v/ay back to the Inn. "Bobbs, " I cried, out of breath when I found him; "Bobbs, I'm the biggest fool in the world." " I've come to the same conclusion, Jaimie." "Why — v/hat do you mean?" I asked, in my surprise postponing my confession. "Simply, that the girl you said was dying is not dying at all — now." "Ghisleine?" I asked in amazement, as tho there must be some mistake. "Ghisleine," he assured me. "Why, she has improved by leaps and bounds ever since that fortunate hour I went to see her. Brace up now, isn't that splendid!" {Here is an interesting case of therapeutics that might have been suggested or based upon a clipping from an article discussing the Jiealing value of Suggestion.) 120 A WEAVER OF DREAMS "Thank God!" I murmured. "It seems too good to be true! And — and does she ever ask for me, Bobbs?" "Yes, often; and when I tell her you are here, she just smiles and says: 'Oh, he will come; Jacques wnll come!' If I were you, I'd go round and see her. I'll wager you'll scarcely recognize her." "Oh, I see," I said; but my enthusiasm had lost its fire. "And have you attempted to paint her portrait?" "A portrait — and something greater, Jaimie. I've found myself in this picture, boy. The little silk tapestry suggested the motif: A frail, exquisite girl sitting at a loom, her eyes half turned upward as her delicate hands weave the figures of her dream into a gor- geous-hued fabric before her!" He paused, breathless, his eyes alight with tenderness. "A weaver of dreams!" I murmured. "Excellent! We shall call it that." "But can she really sit for you — the long hours?" It seemed incredible to me. "Only once have I had her sit at the loom — for a rough sketch. Now I paint her sitting all propped up in a wonderful, shaded 121 THE UNIVERSAX PLOT CATALOG bower in the garden. You see, the soul of the picture will lie in that wonderful expres- sion that never leaves her face — that of a dreamer who waits with serene confidence for her hour of awakening!" "For her hour of awakening!" I echoed with a sudden access of rapture. The time had come to tell him. "And what message do you suppose will awaken Ghislcine?" he asked; taking the words, as it were, out of my mouth. "Love," I said simply; and before he could speak I added : ' ' And do you know who — what man — has that message?" "I can guess," he returned, smiling. Now was I all ready to overwhelm him with the story of my joy, when his manner sud- denly changed to one of trembling solemnity and, before I could speak, he was telling me: "Why, haven't you noticed it in me, Jaimie-boy? It's changed my nature, awak- ened my power for big things, and made me the happiest of men! Jaimie, I love her!" The piercing spasm of emotion that shot thru me brought me sharply to my feet, tvhich fortunately thrust my face into the 122 A WEAVER OF DREAMS shadow that the waning sun was casting over the tiny room. "Well, Jaimie — have you nothing to say?" "Congratulations!" I muttered, and he seized my listless hand. "Why, your hand is like ice," he remarked solicitously; but in the next breath he was singing his anthem again: "Jairnie, Jaimie, I at last know what happiness is. And I owe it all — all — to you. You promised you'd bring it to me — and you have." "I should be happy," I insisted. "And you are, of course. I know you too well, Jaimie." "Yes," I lied bravely, trying to recall the sweet face that I could never hope to see again. " I know she loves me, " Gerard was saying, his voice sweeping painfully across the dark- ness of my future thru which my thoughts were groping. "Why, she began to improve the very moment I went to her! And now — tonight at eight — we shall be the happiest pair in Anconville." These last words gave my tired, aching brain an idea. I had nearly an hour before eight. When Gerard returned from his tryst, 123 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG I should be gone from Anconville — and them — forever. "And our bridal flowers shall be roses!" he exclaimed suddenly, echoing my latest thought, and all unconscious of the jagged wound he made. For this word "roses" must ever be the saddest in all the human language to me. It was the last I ever heard from the lips of him, my dearest friend. Thus I left him, seated dreaming of his first-known happiness and shrouded in the soft twilight shadows. I passed out un- noticed. A sudden cowardice had sprung up in my heart in which I shrank away from that brutal word, "good-bye." Renunciation was the only way. I loved them both too much. It was early candle-light when I arrived before Ghisleine's home. Quickly I slipped to the small garden beyond the house. As I entered the little bower, my heart beat painfully at the thought that I must rest content with leaving a few kissed flowers — unguessed and unappreciated — to deck the altar upon which I was being sacrificed! As 124 A WEAVER OF DREAMS I placed them on the rustic table I could not forebear saying softly, "Ghisleine!" "Yes," answered a voice, and at the same instant — to my mingled dismay and joy — Ghisleine stepped into the bower beside me! "I am always watching and waiting, Jacques; and from the window I saw you come. Scarcely believing, I came out to see. And, oh, how thoughtful of you to bring me the flowers I most love." She stooped and pressed her face deep into the blossoms. All the while I stood, thinking of nothing but things I dared not utter. "You see, Jacques, how I have changed? I put my every breath and thought into a desire for health and strength — and like my knight, they too have come. Look, Jacques!" She stepped from the bower and stood out bewitchingly against the fading light of the western sky, the fairest vision I ever saw. "You are beautiful — wonderful!" I sighed. "I am glad," she said simply; "Monsieur Robert tells me that many times a day." Monsieur Robert! In the rapture of her presence I had forgotten Gerard, the sinister 125 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG reason for my being there. And now? What was I to do — to say? "Ghisleine, I did not expect to meet you when I came here tonight." . I must say something to those dear hungering eyes. "No?" she asked, in what seemed hurt sur- prise. "Yet you bring me flov/ers, Jacques?" I bit my Hp with vexation, and then came out with it: "Yes, they were to have been my message of farewell. " "Farewell?" she murmured in bewilder- ment, and then: "I don't think I under- stand, Jacques, my mind has become so tired." " I am leaving Anconville tonight, Ghisleine — forever. ' ' "Jacques!" It was a tiny, birdlike cry, more from deep hurt than alarm. Already two small hands fluttered on my sleeve. I saw that I must end it now all at once. "Good-bye, Ghisleine." I began slowly to gather enough super- human power to move away. I made one more efl'ort to break thru — possibly to crush — her maddening simplicity. "Ghisleine, I must go away. If I stay, I 126 A WEAVER OF DREAMS shall spoil your happiness — and Robert's — and ruin the lives of all of us!" "Jacques, if you go away I shall die!" "Ghisleine! Ghisleine!" I cried in anguish, looking into her upturned, pleading eyes. There was something in them that arrested my breath, something to which my strength of purpose must have been blinded till now. Even then, with the specter of Robert's hopeless love staring me in the face, it was never my intention to take her in my arms and smother her glad cry on my breast. "Ah, Jacques!" she sighed softly, as I drew her close and kissed her again and again, heedless of the passing time. Then there came a moment when I fancied that a shadow fell across the entrance of the bower and with it a sigh, freighted with a pain, that must have come from other lips than ours. It took me a moment to shake off the glamor of it all. "Someone was there," she said shyly. With a sinking heart I pulled out my watch, the face of which I could just discern. It was five minutes past eight! Robert Gerard had come with a singing 127 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG heart at eight, to find the woman — in whom lay all his new-found happiness — in the arms of his best friend! "Poor Bobbsi" I muttered; "Poor old Bobbs!" Something choked further utter- ance. True, I had given him happiness, and then had stolen it from him. Yet, I knew that he understood all, and would do just as I had intended to do. "Monsieur Robert will be here soon — at eight," she was saying happily. "I thought it was he then. " "Ghisleine, Robert v/ill not come tonight — nor tomorrov/." "Not coming?" she pouted, keenly dis- appointed. "And I had so wanted to tell him — this. For weeks I have wanted to tell him what was gladdening and saddening my heart. And now you say that you expect him, and now that he is gone! Ah, Jacques, I fear that of all the things that have hap- pened I was able to understand but one — that you would come to me!" 128 Valuable Plot Material mislaid be- comes an obstacle — instead of an alli- ance — in plot buiMing. CHAPTER XI Index of Plot Subjects alphabetized with cross references. Abdication - 43 Abide - 26 Absent- Mindedness - 91 Absolute - 74 Absolution - 82 Abuse - 58 Accident - 61, 75, 91 Accusation - 53 Achievement - III - 27 Acquittal - 54 Actor - 24 Adolescence - 5 Adoption- 15 Adoration - 84 Adrift - 96 Advantage - 25 Adventure - 21, 70 Adventurer- 21 Adventuress -21 Advertisement - 28 Aerial - 41 Aeroplane - 97 Affection - 12 Affianced - 1 2 Affinity- 12 Affliction - 44 After Death - 62 Age -I, 14, 60, 70, 73 Agitator - 24, 35 Aid - 40, 59 Air - 97 Alarms - 38 Alienation- 18 Alienist - 73 Allah - 90 Allegory -71, 100 Alleviation - 59 Alliance - 34 Alms - 47, 83 Altruism- II 139 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Alumni - 66 Amazon - 39 Ambition- III -29 Ambush - 41 Amity- 11 Amor Patriae - 38 Amulet - 87 Amusement - 92 Anarchy - 37 Anesthetic - 59 Ancestor- Worship - 14 Ancestry- 16 Ancient - 3 Anecdote - 28 Angel - 89 Anglican - 78 Animals - 99 Animation - 4 Anniversary - 46 Annulment- 13 Antagonists - IV Anthem - 38 Anti-Christ - 88 Antics - 92 Antiquarian - 46 Ants - 99 Anxiety - 94 Ape - 99 Aphasia - 73 Apostate - 87 Apotheosis - 89 Application- VII Appropriation - X Arbitration - 45 Arcadia - 70 Argument - 68 Aristocracy - 31 Aristocrat - 33 Armageddon - 42 Arms - 37 Army - 22, 41 Arrest - 54 Art -32, 45 Artist - 24 Artistic - 27 Asceticism - 86 Ashes - 62 Aspiration - B - 29 Assassin - 52 Assassination - 37 Astrology - 65 Astronomy - 67 Asylum - 73 Atavism - i At Bay - 41 Atheist - 88 Atonement - 81 Attack - 41 Auction - 1 7 Auld Lang Syne- 1 1 Authentic - 74 Author - 69 130 INDE3<: OF PLOT SUBJECTS Automobile - 98 Auto-Suggestion - 71 Avenger - 42 Avocation - 23 Ax -55 Aztec - I Baby- 15, 91 Bachelor - 5 Backbone - 49 Back Home- 17 Backslider - 81 Back to the Farm - 20 Bail - 54 Balloon - 97 Band - 34 Bandit - 52 Bankruptcy - 22 Banshee - 64 Battle -41, 61, 97 Barbaric - 9 Battle Cry - 41 Bats - 99 Beacon - 96 Bear - 99 Beast - 99, 100 Beatitudes - 76, 93 Beau - 30 Beauty -6, 13, 57 Beggar - 23 Beggary - 47 Believe (Make) - 70 Belles - 30 Belles-Lettres - 69 Bench (The) - 54 Benefaction - il Betrayal- 18, 53 Bible (The) - 76, 80 Bigotry - 86 Bill of Health - 57 Biography - 4 Birds - 99 Birth - 2 Birth Day - 2 Birth Mark - 2 Bishop - 79 Bitterness - 43 Black - 9 Black Art - 65 Black Hand - 52 Blackmail - 52 Black Sheep - 16 Blasphemy - 88 Blessedness - 89 Blind Faith - 82 Blindness - 60 Blight - 58 " Blood Will Tell" - 49 Bloom - 57 Blunder- 13, 22, 41 Body (Home) - 17 Bog - 95 131 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Bohemian - lo Bombs - 37 Bona Fide - 74, 82 Bonds (The) - 30 Book- Worm - 69 Books - 66, 69 Boycott - 35 Brahma - 90 Brain-Storm - 73 Branded - 56 Bread Line - 22 Bread-Winner - 5 Breath - 4 Breeding- 10 Bribe - 48 Bribery - 54 Broad Comedy - 91 Broken Heart - 22, 61, Brotherhood - 34, 83 Brothers- 16 Brute -5, 51 Bubble - 28 Buddha - 90 Buddhist - 77 Buffoonery - 91 Bunco Steerer - 52 Bull - 99 Burglar - 52 Buried Treasure - 47 Burial - 62 Burlesque - 91 Burning Ghat - 62 Business - 23, 25 Butt - 91 By-Gones - 70 Cabal - 34 Cad - 30 Cadaver - 62 Calamity - 44 Call - 24, 79 Call to Arms - 37 Campaign - 40 Camping - 92 Canaille - 34 Cannibals- 21 Cap and Bells - 92 Captive - 43 94 Capture - 53 Cardinal - 79 Care - 94 Career - 29 Caricature - 92 Carnival - 92 Cartoons - 92 Caste - 30 Castles in Spain - 70 Catacombs - 62 Catholic - 78 Cat - 99 Cause and Effect - 63 Cavalier - 70 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Caves - 95 Cave-Man - i Celibacy - 79 Cemetery - 62 Certainty - 74 Challenge - 41 Chair - 55 Champion - 27 Chance - 75 Chaperon - 10 Character - V - 49, 73, 94 Charge - 41 Charity - 1 1 , 83 Charlatanism - 65 Charnel House - 62 Chastisement - 55 Cheerfulness - 93 Chemistry - 67 Chief - 33 Child Labor- 15 Childless- 13 Child Life- 15 Children- 15, 16 Children's Court - 54 Chivalry - 10, 70 Christ - 80, 90 Christian - 77 Christian Science - 78 Christmas - 83 Chronology - 46 Church - 32, 78, 84 Circus - 92 Citizen - 7 City - 48, 98 Civility - 10 Civilized - 9 Clan - 34 Clandestine - 12 Cleanliness - 57 Climber - 30 91, Clique -34 Clod -7 Cloth (The) - 79 Clothes - 29, 50 Clown - 91, 92 Club - 34 Clue - 53 Code - 19 Co- Ed - 66 Coffin - 62 Coincidence - 26 Cold - 95 College- 66, 91 Collision - 97 Colonist- 21 Combat- 36, 51 Combatant - 59 Comedy -91, 92 Commandments - 76 Commerce - 32 Committee - 34 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Communication- 19 Compass - 96 Compassion - 49 Competition - 25 Comprehension - 80 Comrades -11 Conceit - 28 Concord - 45 Condition - 7 Confederate - 52 Confession - 53, 82 Conflict - 41 Confucianism - 77 Congeniality - 1 1 Conqueror - 42 Conquest - 42, 97 Conscience - 53, 56, 8x Conscript - 39 Consecration - 79 Consequence - 75 Conservation - 95 Contagion - 60 Contamination - 58 Contemporaneous - 32 Contentment - 8, 93 Contrast -91, 94 Convalescence - 59 Convention - 10 Conversion - 82 Convict - 55 Conviction - 54, 68, 82 Copy - 69 Co-Respondent - 18 Corporation - 25 Corpse - 62 Correction - 55 Cost (The) - 27 Counterfeiter - 52 Countersign - 39 Courage - 39 Court - 54 Courtship - 12, 91 Covetousness - 50 Coward - 39 Crank - 73 Creation - A - I, X Creator - 76 Creatures - X - 99 Credit - 27 Credulity - 64, 68 Creed - 77 Cremation - 62 Crevasse - 95 Crew - 34 Crime - 22, 52, 58 Cripple - 15, 60 Crisis - 26 Critical - 26 Crook - 23 Cross -40, 80 Cross Examination, 54 Crowd - 98 134 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Cruelty- 13, 44, 61 Cruise - 96 Crusade - 24 Crusaders - 86 Crushed - 94 Cry (Battle) - 41 Crystal Gazing - 65 Cui Bono - 63 Cultivation - 95 Cults -65, 87 Cure - 79 Curiosity - 66 Curse- 71 Cursed - 64 Customs- ID, 16 Cyclone - 95 Damnation - 88 Dance - 40, 92 Dark Ages - 70 Darkey -91 Darwinian Theory - i Date - 3 Daughter- 15 Day - 2, 26, 66, 84, 92, 93 Day (Problems of the) - 63 Day Dreams - 70 Deacon - 79 Death -44, VI -61, 62 Death Bed - 61 Death-House - 61 Death Sign - 54 Death-Watch - 62 Debate - 68 Debt - 22, 47 Deceit - 50 Deception- 13, 65, 87 Decline - 58 Decoy - 53 Deduction - 53, 74 Deeds - 49 Defeat - 43 Defectives- 15, 73 Defence - 40, 54 Deference - 10 Defiance - 38 Definite - 74 Degenerate - 49, 51 Degrading - 27 Delineation - 4 Delirium - 73 Delusion - 87 Demagog - 33 Democracy - 33 Demons - 68 Derangement - 73 Derelict- 22, 96 Dervishes - 86 Description - 69 Desecration - 88 Desert - 95 135 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATAXOG Desertion - 18 Desire -I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII Desolation - 94 Despair - 73 Despot - 33 Destination - 89 Destiny - C - 75 Destitution - 62 Destroyer - 44 Detection - 53 Detective - 53 Deterioration - B Devastation - 44 Devotion - 84 Dialect - 91 Diary - 69 Dictator - 33 Dictograph - 53 Dinosaur - 99 Diploma - 27 Diplomacy - 45 Dirigible - 97 Disappointment - 94 Disclosure - 74 Disciple - 82 Discipline - 55 Discontent - 35 Discord - 35 Discovery - 46, 53, 67 Discrimination - 25 Disease - VI - 60 V, Disgrace - 22 Disguise - 53 Disillusionment - 87 Disorder - 73 Dispersion - 43 Disposition - 8 Dissection - 62 Dissension - 35 Dissipation - 58 District Attorney - 54 Diversion - IX Divining Rod - 65 Divinity- VIII -90 Division - 35 Divorce- 1 8 Doctor - 59 Doctrine - 77 Dog - 99 Doge - 33 Domination- 71, IX Dominion - 33 Do-Nothing - 25 Doom - 44, 75 Doomed - 94 Double Life - 53 Doubles - 8 Dragon- 100 Dram.a - 69 Dram.atic Material - X Dreamer - 70 136 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Dreams - 64, 70, 72 Dregs - 30 Drink -51 Drollery - 92 Drunken (Fight) - 36 Drugs- 51 Dual Personality - 8 Duel - 56 Dungeon - 43, 55 Duty - 83 Dwarf - 60 Dynamite - 57 Dynamiter - 53 Early Fathers - 79 Earner (Wage) - 6 E^arthquake - 93 Eavesdropper - 50 Economic - 63 Exlitor - 69 Editorial - 28 Education - 45, 66 Effect - 67, 75 Effect of Suffrage -17 Egotism - 8 Egyptians - i Electricity - 67 Elements - 95 Elopement- 12 Elysian Fields - 89 Emotional History - 69 Emotions - IX - 94 Emperor - 33 Empty Promises - 48 Enchanted - 64 Enchantment - 93 End - 3, 75 Endowment - 49 Endurance - 3, 94 Enemies - 35 Engine - 98 Enigma - 63 Enlightenment - 74 Entertainment - 92 Enticement - 48 Environment - 49 Envy - 50 Ephemeral - 4 Epigram - 92 Epitaphs - 62 Epoch- 3 Equator - 95 Error(s) - 50, 54, 6r Escapade- 15 Escape -21, 43, 55 Essay- 69 Estate - 62 Estrangement- 18 Eternal - 4 Eternal Lover- 12 Eternity - 3. 89 Ethics - 63 137 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Eugenics - 14, 57 Evangelists - 80 Evasion - 54 Events - 4 Eviction- 17 Evidence - 53, 54 Evil - 88 Evil Passion- 51 Evil Portents - 64 Exactitude - 74 Exaggeration - 70 Examination - 54 Exchange - 43 Exclusion- 18 Excommunication - 86 Ex-Convict - 56 Execution - 44, 55, 61 Executioner - 23 Exhumation - 62 Exile- 18, 43 Existence - I - 4 Exorcism - 88 Expectation - 70 Expedition - 40 Experience - 4 Experiment - 67 Explanations - 20 Exploit - 21 Exploration - 21, 32 Exposure - 53 Expression - 66, 69 Expulsion- 18 Extermination - 44 Extinction- 61 Fable - 99, 100 Faction - 34 Failure - 22, 94 Fairies - 70 Fair>-land- 100 Faith - 82 Fails - 95 False Report - 28 Fame - 29, 32 Fame Over Night - 32 Family - II - 16, 29 Family jars-91 Famine - 44 Fanatic - 38 Fanaticism - 86 Fancy - 70, 93 Farce -91 Farm - 20 Fascination - 71 Fashion - 6, 91 Fatalism - 73 Fate -72, 75 Father- 12, 14, 60, 79 Faun - 100 Favorite- 15 Fear -71, 73 Feast - 92 138 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Felicity - l6 Felony - 52 Female - 6 Feminism - 6 "Fence "-52 Festi\'al - 92 Feud - 16, 36 Fiction - 69 Fidelity - 13 Fight - 36 Filial - 12 Finger Print - 53 Fire- 17, 41, 61, 95 Fire-Bug - 52 Fireside - 17 First Aid - 59 First-Born - 2 First Offence - 55 Fisherman - 96 Fitness - 10 Flag -38 Flesh - VI Flirt - 6 Flock - 79 Flood - 95 Flotsam and Jetsam Foible - 50 Foolhardy - 21 Forebear - 14 Forests - 95 Forever - 3 -96 Forgery - 48 Forgiveness- 11, 20, 45, 83 For Life - 55 Forsaken - 14 Fortune - 47 Fortune Telling - 65 Foul Play - 61 Foundling - 2 "Four Hundred" -30 Frame-Up - 53 Fraternity' - 34 Fraud -48, 65, 91 Fray - 36 Freak - 73 Free Love -12 Freeman - 7 Free Will - 63 Friend in Need -11 Friendship -11 Frightened - 61 Frolic - 92 Fruition - 93 Fugitive- 18, 43, 53, 55 Fun - 93 Funeral - 62 Furniture - 98 Future -3, 26 Future State - 89 Galleys - 55 Gambler - 51 139 THE UNRrERSAL PLOT CATALOG Games - 92 Gang - 36 Gangster - 52 Garotte - 55 Gas - 41 Gems - 47, 48 Generosity - 49 Geniality - 93 Genius - 68 Gentleness - 49 Genuine - 74 Ghosts - 64 Ghouls -44, 62 Giants - 100 Gibbet - 55 Gifts - 13, "jZ Girl - 6, 91 Glacier - 95 Gladiator - 36 Glitter - 48 Glory - 32, 48 Goal - 89 God - VIII - 90, 75, 100 Godliness - 83 Gold - 47 Golden Age - 70 Good Name -49 Gossip - 28, 50 Gourmand - 50 Government - 32 Grace - 89 Graft - 48 Grafter - 50 Grammar - 69 Grand Parent - 14 Gratification - 93 Greed - 50 Greek (Church) - 78 Griffin - 100 Guillotine - 55 Guilt -53, 71 Gypsy - 9 Habit- 10, 51, 58 Habitation - 17 Hack - 69 Half-Gods - 100 Handicap - 25 Hand-to-Hand Combat - 36 Happiness- II, 93 Happy Hunting Ground 89 Happy Marriage - 13 Hard (Character) - 49 Hard Heart - 50 Harem- 13 Harrowing - 94 Harvest - 75, 95 Hatred - 5, 50 Haunted - 64 Haven - 96 140 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Hazard -21, 75 Healer - 87 Healing -82 Health -VI -57 Hearse - 62 Heart- H -22, 50, 61, Heat - 95 Heathen - 88 Heaven - 89 Heir -15, 47, 62 Heirlooms- 16, 62 Heliograph - 19 Hell - 88 Hen-Pecked-91 Heredity - 60 Heritage - 2 Heretic - 87 Hero -15, 38 Heroine -21 Heroism - 39 Hermit- 10 Hierarchy -31, 33 High (Birth) - 2 Hired Girl -91 Hireling- 47 History - 46, 69 Hoax -91 Hold-Up - 52 Holiday - 92 HoUowness (Society) - Holy Days - 84 Holy Grail - 85 Holy War - 86 Homage- 31 Home- 17 Home Body- 17 94 Homeless -6, 17 Homeliness - 6 Home-Making- 17 Home Seekers- 17 Home Town - 17 Honesty - 27 Honeymoon - 13, 93 Honor - 32, 49 Hoodoo - 64 Hope - 82 Hopelessness - 94 Horde - 34 Horror - 44 Horse - 99 Hospital - 59 Hostages - 42 Hostilities - 40 House -55, 58, 61, 62, 91, 96,98 Huguenot - 78 Hulks -55 Humanization - 98 Humanizing- X Human Sacrifice - 88 30 Humility - 83 Humor - D 141 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Humorist - 92 Hunchback - 60 Hungry Heart - 12 Hunter -21, 89 Husband - 13 Hydro- Aeroplane - 97 Hypnotism - 71 Hypocrite - 88 Hysteria - 73 Ice - 95 Iceberg - 96 Iconoclast - 30 Idealism - 70 Identification - 53 Identity- 8, 91 Idiot - 73 Idle Rich - 47 Idolatry - 88 Ignorance - VII - 66 Illegitimate - 2 Illicit (Love) - 12 Imitation- 10 Immemorial - 3 Immigrant - 18 Immortality - 89 Impassioned - IX Impersonation - 8 Impotency - 22 Impurity - 58 Inanition - 48, 58 Incense - 84 Incognito -21 Incorrigible- 15 Incredulity - 66 Incurable - 60 Indian -9 Individuality - I - 8 Indolence - 22 Induction - 53 Industries - 45 Inefficient - 22 Inevitable - 75 Inexorable - 75 Infallible - 74 Infatuation- 12 Infection - 60 Infelicity- 18 Infinite- C Ingrate - 49 Injustice - 54 -In-Laws (Family) - 16 Innocence - 6, 15, 53 Innocent - 55 Inquiry - C - 66 Inquisition - 86 In Print - 28 Insanity - 73 In Season - 26 Insomnia - 73 Inspiration - 69, 80 Instigation - 35 142 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Instinct - 14, 66 Insult - 35 Insurance- 62 Intellect - 68 Intercession - 84 Inter-Marriage- 13 International (War) Internecine- 40 Interment - 40 Interpretation -77 Intervention -40 Intestate -62 In the Rut -22 Intoxication -91 Intrigue - 16 Intuition- 68 Invasion - 40 Inventor - 67 Inviolable - 74 Irrevocable- 18, 75 Irrigation - 95 Islands - 95 Jealousy - 50 Jester - 92 Jesuit - 79 Jetsam - 96 Jew - 9, 77 Jewels - 47, 48 Jilt -18 Jokes - 91 Journalism - 69 Jove - 90 Joy -57. 93 Jubilee -93 Judge -54 Jury -54 40 Justice -54 Juvenile -70 Keeper -'55 Kidnapper - 52 Kin -16 King - 33 Kiss- 12 Kite - 97 Kleptomania - 51 Knights - 70 Knocks but Once (Oppor- tunity) - 26 Knowledge- VII -67, 74 Koran - 76 Labor- 15, 23, 35, 63 Lady Killer - 5 ' Land -29, 41, 100 Land-Poor - 47 Landslide - 95 Lark - 92 Last-Rites of the Church -84 Laughter - 93 Law - 52, 54, 63 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Law Suit - 54 Lawyer - 54 Leadership - 29 League - 34 Learning - 69 Legally Dead - 62 Legends - 46, 85, 100 Leprosy - 60 Lese Majeste- 41 Letters- 12, 19, 32, 69 Liar - 50 Liberty - 42 Library - 69 License - 35 Life -4, 15, 55 Life Saving- 96 Lighthouse - 96 Lightning - 95 Light-Ship - 96 Likeness- 1 6 Lion - 99 Literal - 74 Literati - 69 Literature - 69 Loafer - 49 Loan Shark - 47 Loneliness - 14, 15, 94 Longevity - 4 Log - 96 Loot - 43, 52 Lord and Master - 5 Lost- 15, 18, 97 Lost Fortune - 47 Lot - 75 Lothario- 12 Lourdes - 82 Love- 12, 59, 70, 93 Love Letters- 12 Lovelorn- 12 Love Potion - 70 Lover- 12 Low (Birth) - 2 Loyalty - 38, 49 Luck - 26, 27, 47, 64, 75 Luckstone - 65 Ludicrous - IX Lure - 29 Lust- 18, 51 Luxury -7, V-48, 93 Lying in State - 62 Lynching - 55 Madcap - 92 Magazines - 69 Magic - 65 Make-Believe - 70 Malcontent - 35 Male - 5 Man- 1 -5, n. in, IV, V, VL viL vin, IX, X Maniac - 73 Man-Made-Law - 54 144 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Man of the Hour - 26 Manuscript - 69 Mariner - 96 Mark - 2 Marooned - 96 Marriage - 13 Martians- 100 Martyr -13, 15, 38, 6 82, 85, 86 Masquerade - 6, 94 Mass- 84 Massacre - 44 Masses (The) - 30, 33 Master - 5 Masterpiece - 32, 69 Matchmaker - 19 Material - 27, X Maternity - 14 Mathematics - 74 Meanness - 49 Medal - 27 Mediation- 45 Medicine - 59 Medicine Man - 87 Melancholia - 73, 94 Melodrama - 69 Melting Pot - 9 Memories- 71 Memory - 19, 73 Men are like Sheep - 71 Mercenary - 39 Mercy - 83 Merit - 27 Mermaid - 1 00 Merriment - 93 Mesalliance - 13 Messiah - 76 Message - 19 I, Metaphysics - 72 Meteor - 64, 95 Microbes - 60 Middle Ages - 70 Might - IV Militia - 37 Mind-Vn-91 Mines- 41, 95 Minister - 79 Miracles - 72, 82, 84, 85 Misanthrope - 50 Miscegenation - 13 Mischief- 15 Miser - 47 Misfortune - 47 Mishap - 22 Missing Link - i Missionaries - 83 Mistake - 73 Mistaken Identity -91 Misunderstanding - 91 Mixed Babies -91 Mixture - 9 Mob - 37 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Mobilization - 40 Mockery - 88 Mock Marriage - 13 Mogul - 33 Mohammed - 80, 90 Mohammedan - 77 Molly Coddle -22 Monarchy - 33 Money- 13, 47- 48. 5i Money-Lender - 47 Monk - 79 Monopoly - 25 Monstrosity -91 Moodiness- 73 Moonshine - 12 Moonshiner - 52 Moor - 9, 86 Morality - V Morganatic- 13 Morgue - 62 Mormon - 78 Mortality -61 Mortgage- 17 Mosque - 78 Mother- 12, 14 Motion - 4 Mourners - 62 Mountains - 95 Mountain Climber - 21 Mountebank -23, 92 Mrs. Grundy - 10 Mummy- 62 Munificent - 47 Murderer- 52 Music- 19, 71 Mutiny - 37 Mystery -21, 52, 72 Myths - 46, 64, 87, 100 Mythological - i Mi'thology-X- 100 Name -8, 13, 16, 49 National - 10, 40 Nationality - 91 Natural (Death) - 61 Nature- I, 76, 95 Naval - 41 Necessity - 75 Necromancy - 63 Need - 1 1 Needle -51 Ne'er- Do-Well - 32 Neighbors - 1 1 Nemesis - 29, 75 Neutrality - 45 Nevermore - 3 News- 19 Night - 32, 95 Nobility - 31 Noblesse Oblige - 49 Nomad - 9 Nonconformist - 78 146 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS No Place Like Home Nostalgia- 17, 73 Not-Man - E Not Man or Beast - Notoriety - 28 Novel - 69 Now - 26 Nun - 79 Nurse- 15, 59 Oasis - 95 Obedience - 13 Obituary - 62 Obsession - 73 Obsolete -3, 10 Occult - 72 Occupation - 23 Offender - 54, 55 Officer - 39 Official - 31 Ogres - 100 Old Age - 70 Old Flame - 12 Old Maid -91 Old Offender - 54 Oligarchy - 33 Olympus- 89 Omens - 64 Only Child -15 Opening - 26 Operation - 56, 59 -17 Opinion - 35, 68 Opportunist - 26 Opportunity - 26 100 Optimism - 8, 93 Oracle - 65, 76 Oratory - 25 Organization (Church) 78 Orgy -51 Ordeal - 94 Origin - A - 2 Orphans - 15, 62 Orthodox - 74, 77 Outlaw - 52 Outspoken - 74 Over-Education - 66 Over Night (Fame) - 32 Pacification - 45 Padrone - 33 Pain - 60 Palmistry - 65 Palmy Da\'s - 93 Panacea - 59 Panic- 71 Pantheism - 77 Pantomime - 92 Paradise - 89 Parasite - 30 Pardon - 56 Parenthood - 14 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Parental Instinct- 14 Pariah - 30 Parish - 79, 81 Parnassus - 32 Parole - 43, 56 Participation - IX Parting - 18 Partners - 1 1 Party - 34 Parvenu - 47 Passer- By - 20 Passion - B, 51 Passport - 40 Past - 3, 6, 56 Pastime - 92 Pathos- IX -94 Patriarch - 14, 79 Patriotism - 38 Pauper - 47 Pawnbroker - 22, 53 Peace - 45, 83 Peace-Maker- 15, 45 Peace Offering - 45 Peasant - 7 Pedant - 66 Pedigree -31, 53 Peer - 30 Penance - 83 Penalty - 60 Peon - 30 Perfection - 89 Peril -21 Perjury -54 Persecution - 86 Persistence - 26 "Personal" -28 Personality - 8 Personification - X - 98 Perversity - 50 Pessimism - 8 Pest House - 58 Pets - 99 Phantom - 96 Pharisee - 87 Phenomena - X - 96 Philanthropy- II Phonograph - 67 Phrase - 69 Physics - 67 Picnic - 92 Pigeon- 19 Pillage - 44 Pillars (of Society) - 30 Pillory - 55 Pilot - 96 Pining - 94 Pioneer- 21 Pirate - 52 Pitfalls- 21 Pity - 94 Plagiarism - 69 Plague - 60 148 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Plain Dealing - 74 Plains - 95 Platonic- 12 Plaudits - 28 Play - 92 Pleasure -48, IX -93 Plodder - 22 Plot - 52 Plunder - 42 P! utocracy - 33 Plutocrat - 47 Poacher - 52 Poetry - 69, 70 Poison- 61 Polar Regions - 95 Police - 53 Politeness - 10 Political - 33 Politics - 23, 25 Polution - 58 Polj'gamy - 13 Pomp - 3 1 Pope - 33, 79 Position - III - 30 Positiveness - 74 Posse - 34 Posterity - 16 Posthumous - 32, 62 Post Mortem - 62 Potentate - 33 Potentiality - 27 Potter's Field - 62 Poverty - 7, 22, 47, 94 Power -IV -33, 69 Powers of Evil - 88 Practical Jokes - 91 Praise - 29, 84 Pranks -91 Prayer - 84 Preacher - 79 Precocity- 15 Predestination - 75 Prehistoric - I, lOO Prejudice - 50 Premonition - 72 Present - 3 President - 31 Press (The) - 28 Pretender - 37 Pride -31 Priest - 79 Prime - 5 Primeval - I, 100 Prince - 31 Principles - 49 Print (In) - 28, 53 Prison - 43, 55 Prisoner - 54 Prison Reform - 55 Problems - 63 Profanity - 50 Profession - 23 149 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Professional - 25 Profundity - 68 Progress - 26 Prohibition - 59 Propaganda - 68, 80 Propagandist - 24 Property - 47 Prophec}' - 72 Prophets - 76, 85 Propitious - 26 Proselyte - 82 Prosperity - 45 Prostitute -51 Protectory - 55 Protestant - 78 Providence - 76 Providential - 26 Psychic - 72 Psychology - 49, 52, 7: Publication - 69 Publicity - 28 Public Opinion - 35 Pugilist - 36 Pun -92 Punishment - 55 Puppet - 8 Puppet Show - 92 Purgatory - 88 Puritan - 86 Purity - 83 Pyromaniac - 51 Quacks - 59 Quaker - 78 Qualities - 49 Quarrels - 35 Questions - 63 Quicken (To) - 4 Quicksand - 21, 95 "Qui Sauve Peut"-44 Rabbi - 79 Race - 9, 37. 63 Race Suicide - 9 Radium - 59, 67 Raft - 96 Raid -41, 53 Rank -31 Ransom - 43, 47 Ranter - 86 Rape - 44 Rapture - 93 Rats - 99 Reading - 69 Realism - 74 Realization - 90 Reason -VII -68 Rebellion - 40 Rebuilding - 45 Recall - 54 Recollection- 81 Record - 46 Reconstruction - 45 150 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Re-Creation - A Recreation - 45, 59, 92 Recruit - 39 Red Cross - ^o Redemption - 89 Reefs - 96 Reform - 55 Reformation - 42, 56 Reformatory - 55 Reform.er - 86 Refuge - 17 Regatta - 92 Regeneration - 5^:, 81 Regret - 94 Rehabilitation - 56 Rejection- 18 Rejoining - 20 Rejuvenation - 20 Relapse - 22, 60 Relations -I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII Relaxation - 93 Release - 56 Relics - 19, 85 Religion -63, VIII -83 Religious - 24, 40 Remarriage - 1 3 Remedy - 42, 59 Reminder- 19 Reminiscence - 46, 71 Remorse -20, 56, 81, 94 Renascence - 66 Renegade - 39 Renown - 32 Renunciation - 79 Repentance - 56 Reportorial - 28 Rescue - 21, 42, 96, 97 Research - 46 Restraint - 54 Resurrection - 89 Resuscitation - 61 Retribution - 43, 56 Return - 20 Re-Union - 20 Revelation - 76, 80 Revenge -44, 51 Reveries - 70 Revivals - 81 Revolt - 37 Revolution - 40 Reward - 27, 42, 53, 67 Rhetoric - 69 Rich - 47 Ridiculous - D Riot - 37 Rising - 37 Ritual - 84 Rivalry - 25 Rivals- 12 River - 98 Romance- 12, 70, 85 151 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Royalty -31 Ruin - 22 Ruler -31 Runav/ay- 13, 15, 18 Russian - 9 Rustler - 52 Rut - 22 Sabotage - 35 Sacraments - 84 Sacrifice- II, 14, 16, 38, 67, 83, 88, 94 Sacrilege - 88 Safety First - 59 Sagacity - 68 Sainthood - 89 Saints - 85 Salamander - 100 Saloon - 22 Salvation - 89 Salvation Army - 22, 78 Salubrity -57 Sanctimonious - 87 Sanctuary - 86 Sanitation - 57 Santa Claus - 15, 85 Satan - 88 Satellite - 31 Satyr- 100 Savages -21 Savior - 89 Scalps - 44 Scandal - 28, 50 Scape-Goat - 22 Scar - 53 Schism - 87 Scholar - 66 School Days - 66 Science - 32, 63, 67, 78 Scientist - 67 Scorpions - 99 Scout - 39 Sea - 96 Sea Serpent - 100 Season (s) - 3, 26, 95 Secret Marriage- 13 Secrets (Family) - 16 Seekers (Home) - 17 Self - 8 Selfish - 29 Seminary - 79 Senses - 4, 71 Sentiment - 12, 71 Sentinel - 39 Separation - 18 Serf - 55 Sermon - 80 Servant - 23 Service - 24 Sex -51 Shame - 56 Shark - 47, 99 152 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Sharpshooter - 39 Sharp Tongue - 50 Shintoism - 77 Shock - 59, 94 Shophiter - 52 Short Story - 69 Show - 92 Shrines - 84 Side - 34 Siege - 41 Signals - 19 Sin - Y - 88 Sincerity - 74 Sinecure - 23 Sins of the Father - 60 Siren - 100 Sisters - 16 Situation - 91 Skeleton - 16, 62 Skirmish - 41 Skit -91 Slattern - 6, 58 Slave -7, 30, 51 Slave Driver - 33 Slavery - 44 Sleep - 72 Sloven - 58 Smuggler - 52 Snakes - 99, lOO Snare - 48 Snob - 30 Snow - 95 Sociability - 93 Social - 7, 63 Socialism - 35 Society - 10, III - 29, 30 Sociology - 10 Sophistry - 65 Solace - 1 1 Soldier - 39 Solitude- 71 Son - 15 Somnambulism - 73 Song -71, 93 Sorcerer - 87 Sorrow - 94 Soul -VIII Soundness - 57 Souvenirs - 11 Species - 9 Speculation - 21, 47, 48 Spendthrift - 47 Spinster - 6 Spirit - 89 Spiritualists - 87 Spoiled (Child)- 15 Sport - 25, 92 Springtime -71, 95 Spy - 39 Squabbles - 16 Squaw - 6 Squealer - 53 Stampede - 99 Star Maiden - 100 153 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Starvation - 48, 58, 61 Star World - 100 State - 7, 62, 89 State's Evidence - 53 Statesman - 31 Station - 31 Statistics - 46 Step-Child- 15 Step-Mother - 14 Stimulation - IX Stingy - 47 Stoic - 60 Stone Age - i Storm - 73. 95 Story - 69 Stowaway- 15, 96 Stranded - 47 Stranger - 8 Strategy' - 41 Streams - 95 Stress - IX Strike - 37 Strong (Character) - 49 Struggle -I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, 69 Student - 66 Stupidity - 68, 91 Style - 69 Subconscious - 8 Subjugation- 43 Sublime - D Submarine - 96 Subtlety - 8 Success - 27 Suffering - 94 Suffrage- 17-37 Suffragette - 6, 91 Suffragist - 24 Suggestion - 59, 71 Suicide - 9, 61 Sun Worshipper - 77 Superman - 6 Supernatural - 72 Superstition - 64, 91 Supposition - 70 Suppressed (Fame) - 32 Supremacy - IV Surrender - 43 Survival of the Fittest- 9 Sweetheart - 12 Sym.pathy - 94 Synagog - 78 Taint -51 Talisman - 64 Talmud - 76 Tame (Animals) - 99 Taste- 10 Taxation - 43 Teacher - 66 Tears - 94 Technicalities - 54 Telepathy - 19, 72 154 INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS Telescope - 19 Tell-Tale - 28, 50 Temper - 50 Temperament - 8 Templars - 85 Temple - 78 Temptation - 48, 81, 88 Tempus Fugit - 3, 26 Termagant - 6 Territory - 42 Test - 67 Thankfulness - 93 Theology - 77 Theory- i, 68 Third Degree - 53 Thief - 52 Thirteen - 64 Thorobred - 49 Thought - 68 Thrift - 27, 47 Throne - 29 Tides - 96 Ties- 16 Time -3, 71 Time-Honored - 3 Times - 3 Time- Worn - 3 Title - 29 Tobacco - 50 Tomb - 62 Tomfoolery - 91 Tomorrow - 26 Tongues (Combat of)- 36, 50 Too Late - 26, 94 Tourney - 36 Town (Home) - 17 Toys - 92 Tracts - 69 Traditions- 16 Tragedy - 94 Tragical - 28 Tragic Emotion - 94 Traitor - 38 Trance - 87 Transcendentalism - 85 Translation - 89 Transmigration - 89 Trappist - 79 Travesty- 91 Treasure - 47 Treaty - 45 Tree - 98 Trenches -41 Trial - 54 Tribal - 40 Tribe - 34 Tribulation - 21 Trinity - 90 Triumph - 42 Troubadors - 70 Truce - 45 Trust - 1 1 Trusty - 56 THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG Truth - 74 Trysts - 12 Twins- 15 Type - 49 Typhoon - 95 Tyrant - 33 Ugly Duckling- 15 Ultimate - 74 Ultimatum - 40 Unbeliever - 86 Uncleanness - 57 Under Fire -41 Undertaker - 62 Underworld - 52 Unemployed - 35 Unfaithfulness- 18 Unfrock - 79 Unicorn - 100 Union - 20, 42 Unregenerate - 52 Unrest - 35 Unsavory (Notoriety) 28 Unvarnished - 74 Unwritten Law - 54 Uplifting (Success) - 27 Urchin- 15 Usurper - 33 Utopia - 70 Valhalla - 89 Valkyries - 100 Valleys - 95 Vampire - 51 Vanity - 50 Vassal - 30 Vault - 62 Vendetta - 37 Venereal - 60 Vengeance - 55 Veracity - 74 Veteran - 39 Vicarious - 55, 61 Vicissitudes - A, B, C, D Victim - 52 Victory - 42 Vigilantes - 55 Village - 98 Violation - 58 Violence - 37, 61 Virgin Mary - 84 Virility - 5 Visions - 76, 85 Visionary - 73 Vitality - 4 Vivisection - 99 Vixen - 6 Vocation - 24 Voices - 73 Volcano - 95 Voluptuous -93 Voodoo - 65 Vows - 79 Vox Populi - 35 INDEX OF PLOT -SUBJECTS Wage Earner - 6 Wake - 62 Wanderlust- 18, 50 War -32, 40 War Dance - 40 Warden - 55 Warning- 21 Warrior - 24 Wasted Opportunity - Waste Places - 95 Water (Death) - 61 Weakness - 6 Wealth - 29, 4-7 Wedding- 13 Wedlock - 13 Whale - 99 Whims - 93 White (Race) - 9 White Feather - 39 White Plague - 60 White Slave -51 White Slaver - 52 Widowhood - 1 8 Widows - 62 Wife - 13 Wild Animals - 99 Wild Oats -51 Wild Sects - 86 Wild West -21 Will - 62, 63 Will of God - 75 Will-o'-the-Wisp - 32 26 Wind - 95 Winner - 5 Wireless - 96 Wire-Tapper - 39 Wisdom - 68 Wit - 68, 92 Witches - 64, 88, lOO Witching-Hour - 70 Within the Law - 54 Witness - 54 Wolves - 99 Woman- II, 6, 38, 48, 79 Woman-Hater - 5 Women First - 10 Word (The) - 76 Workhouse - 55 Works - 80, 83 Worry - 58 Worship- 12, 77, 84 Wounds - 44 Wreck - 96 Wrong House - 91 X-Ray - 59 Yellow (Race) - 9 Yesterday - 26 Youth - 57, 70 Zealot - 86 Zodiac - 72 157 The Mctt Notevorthy Aunharv That the iy'rxter't Workshop lias Ever Knoicn. AN ESSENTZAL SUPPLEMENT TO "The Universal Plot Cataiog." THE PHILLIPS AUTOMATIC PLOT FILE AND COLLECTOR Will hold many thousands of uniform items of plot ma- terial. Designed to contain plot Material, Plot Germs and Complete Plots — as well as statistical and reference data — in the form of Notes, Items, Newspaper Clippings, Excerpts, Photographs, Pictures, Pages and Complete Articles. There are 200 especially made Containers, numbered to correspond with the starred figures in "The Universal Plot Catalog." These are filed in a convenient life-long cace. There are more than 2,0C0 headings and sub-headings under which matter may be filed and located. All divisions are logical, progressive and comprehensive. The most infinitesimal phase of fiction, drama or humnn emotion or endeavor can be located, filed or re-produced in a few seconds. 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The File and Collector is a tp'er.did arUunrt to t^e vrrHng eguipmen' of the Editor, the Cleipvma.-, the Reporter, (he Librarian, tne atatistician , the Liitrarv ^forker, the Secretary, the Settlement iVorker, the Collector, the Bookseller, the Author, etc., etc. THE PHILLIPS AUTOMATIC PLOT FILE AND COLLECTOR TOGETHER V/iTII THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (NOTK: It la necessary to posses."? the above Book In order intelligently to use the Plot File aud Catalog.) By HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS The BooK and the File sait together prepaid, S8.00. (To those already possessing The Plot Catalog, the Plot Fll9 Will be Bent alone for $7.00.) SOLE DISTRIBUTOr.S THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL SPaiNGFISLD. MASS. OTHER VOLUMES IN THE AUTHORS' HAND-BOOK SERIES THE PLOT of the SHORT STORY BY HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS Author of " A Complete Coarse in Short Story Writing:," "A Complete Courso in Photoplay Writing:." "A Complete Course in Plot Construction," "Art in Short Story Narration," "The Photodrama," anil formei ly Associate Editor of tlia "Metropolitan Magazine." InSoduction by Matthew White, Jr., Etlitor of "Argosy" The only serious ivorJ: c:i Plot Sources, Construction and Analysis there is; just as valuable to PUofoplaywri^ht as to Fiction Wriier. "An amazin» book. I recommend it to ever/ writer seek- ing light."— ROB'T H. DAVIS, Editor, Ali-Siory Weekly. "Beginners will find the book invaluable and advanced writers too will find out why they have not done even better." — Boston Globe. "It's mighty nourishing to have a mf:"snj:s like the one contained in your book."— RICHARD WASHBURN CHILD. "Everything relating to the germinating and development of plots is touched upon and analyzed." — Sun Francisco Call. "Analyzes the Plot and is worth the attention of every practical writer." — Tke Independent (New York). "As applicable to the Phofoolay as to the fiction story." EPES VVINTHROP SARGENT, (In the Moving Picture World) . "The most practical hand-book for Photoplaywrights ever written."— E. V. BREWSTER, Editor Motion Picture Magazine. It is certainly a fine little work !" — ARTHUR LEEDS. "This hand-book may be regarded as the best thing of its kind extant." — North Cnro'ina Education. "It is an excellent thing excellently done." — ^JACK LONDON. A Thousand Other Testimonials! Now in its Third Large Edition. PRICE POSTPAID $1.25 PU3U3HED BY THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL SPRINGFIELD. MASS. OTHER VOLUMES IN THE AUTHORS' HAND-BOOK SERIES THE PHOTODRAMA The Philosophy of Its Principles, the Nature of Its Plot, Its Dramatic Construction and Technique, Illumined by Copious Examples, togetlier with a Complete Photoplay and a Glossary, making the work A PRACTICAL TREATISE By HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS Of the Conlributing Staf of The Edison Studios and Y. M. C. A. Lecturer on Flwtoplay Writing; Wdl-Knowrt Authority and Feature Play Writer. Introduction by J. STUART BLACKTON Pioneer Manufacturer, Author and Producer and Secretary of Vitagraph Company of America. Epes W. Sargent (In The Moving Picture World) says: "A book that can honestly be commended. It is a book worth while. Better still, it is not a rehash of any work, but original in treatment and thought." Russell E. Smith, Editor of The Famous Players: "THE PHOTODRAMA is the best thing of its kind." Marc Edmund Jones, Editor The Equitable Film Corporation : "I recommend THE PHOTODRAMA wherever and whenever I can." Prof. C.H.Getz, Dept. of Journalism, University of Montana : "I find it one of the best technical works of any kind that has ever been written." THE PHOTODRAIvIA, PRICE TWO DOLLARS ART IN SHORT STORY NARRATION A Searching Analysis of the Qualifications of Fiction in General and of the Short Story in Particular, with Copious Examples, making the work A PRACTICAL TREATISE By Henry Albert Phillips Introduction by Rex Beach "Have read it with continued interest in your works." — BRANDER MATTHEWS. "The book is admirable; as a canon of literary good taste it is faultless." ^ Toronto Mail and Empire. " Teachers will find much in Mr. Phillips' book that will help them." — America. " You have treated your subject with great justice and discern- ment."— ANTHONY HOPE. " I find it fuU of suggestions." —WILLIAM J. LOCKE. " 'Art in Short Story Narration ' is a wonder book. A constant source of enthusiasm. It answers all the vital questions so perple.':- ing to the beginner." — NELLE JACKMAN. PaXCE, POSTPAID. $1.25 THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL SPRINGFIELD. MASS. ^,- iy V'' >• JP .Tu \iZ. r=i V ^ — 1 I*r"V S^ ^ i UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. '0: MAY 01 1995 LV »M»-P2|gjp V '96 AfR v/ X W'^''' L 006 670 700 ^^^il!BRARYQA^ ^U1BRARY(?a, . ^ m '^.i/OJlWD-JO'^ .^\^EUNIVERy/A ^OinVD-JO"^ ^J^il33WSO^^' <: 03 o o 5_l • OF'CAllFOi?^ ' ^^-Abvagni^ DC '■ ^ # ,^WE'UK'IVER% ^n s s ^vylOS-Af o •< ,\WEUNIVERS-/^ --a: c«= O ,>;lOS-ANCflfj> 03 > <,^l•UBR,AllYa-^ ^OJilVJ-JO"^ <_3 ,:^WEUNIVERr//^ cc -I 111 |i \ ;i~ ?3 '^s, ^isdT' CO J* ^OF-CAUFO/?^^ 'OAMvyaii-^^ ^.OFCAI -^^■"-'?-r?Y^ uj <^^^l•LIBRARYQ^ 1 irr ^ ^\WEUHIVER% o r t iliiiil|iiiil|ili|i3 ^•imm:^^wm^mmMm!\'\m %m'^y:W'^^^^^^^^^^i^M^:'^m^^'