Plotting 101 (Quite Literally)...

...In which we learn that the elements of a strong plot are primal.

My two-year-old daughter Lucy told her first story yesterday. She sat her doll, Elizabeth, on her lap, wrapped her arm around the doll's shoulder and began:

"Once upon a time..." (My favorite opening line!)
There was a little girl named Elizabeth. (Ta-da! A main character for us to follow. General age established, too.)
(Insert much babbling which even a mother cannot interpret.)
Then she went to the marketplace. (A setting!)
Aladdin was there. (Ooh, a love interest.)
(Sorry, more babbling. We'll have to imagine whether or not they end up together, but I suspect there was a wedding and a long, pretty dress at some point.)
She had a castle. (A little late arrives the set-up. We see what Elizabeth's life was like before...)
Aunt Regina broke the castle! (Conflict! Loss! Poor homeless Elizabeth!)
But then Aunt Regina put the castle back together. (Resolution. A complete arc.)
Oh, and there was a monster. (Oh, yeah, there's supposed to be a bad guy...)
He had scary eyes. (...and we should make him as bad as possible.)
The End."

Hmm...We'll have to work on the logical arrangement of these elements when she's just a little older.