Our indiscretion sometime serves us well
When our deep plots do pall; and that should learn us
There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will—– Hamlet
The One Page Novel structure isn’t just useful for plotting your novel.
Over the years, I’ve found it an invaluable tool for studying the workings of stories I’ve read, of characters I love, of spiritual teachings, and of my own life experiences.
This framework has revealed unexpected layers of information hidden in narratives, and confirmed my belief in a benign universe tending towards happy endings.
Of course these insights feed into my work as a writer, but even more vitally they lead me down new avenues of delight in language and literature for their own sake.
One of the best (and most fun) exercises I recommend to students of creative writing is to study their favourite novel or script through the filter of story structure. It doesn’t have to be the One Page Novel, there any many other plot formulas to choose from.
Your outline need not be long or detailed. Even for a story as deep and complex as Hamlet, a simple overview can afford clarity:
Hamlet’s Plot
STASIS
– Hamlet’s father has died, and his mother has married his father’s brother, who has become King.
– Hamlet is in a state of deep grief and disdain. — his Stasis states.
– [We later learn that Hamlet has secretly been courting Ophelia.]
TRIGGER
– Horatio & Marcellus tell Hamlet about the ghost.
– Hamlet says he’ll follow the ghost and heed it.
– The ghost of his father charges Hamlet to avenge his murder.
QUEST
– [We later learn that Hamlet has been training since Laertes left for France.]
– The Quest Plan: Hamlet devises the play to make certain of Claudius’ guilt.
– The King & Queen employ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet.
– Polonius and the King spy on Hamlet, using Ophelia as bait.
BOLT
– Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius.
– The ghost reappears, chiding Hamlet for his delay.
– King Claudius sends Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
– Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are discovered (finally) to be shapeshifters. — this is Hamlet’s Night-Sea Journey.
SHIFT
– Hamlet returns to England, having duped Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
– He comes across the gravedigger. — John Gielgud remarks that it feels like Hamlet has returned from a holiday, that he has a new, more settled perspective.
DEFEAT
– Hamlet learns that Ophelia is dead.
– Hamlet consents to the duel with Laertes, though he feels in his heart that it will go ill. — his decision to “let be” is characteristic of the surrender of control in the Defeat.
– Hamlet is wounded by Laertes’ poisoned sword, and wounds him in turn.
– The Queen drinks poison intended for Hamlet, and dies.
Does Hamlet ever reach his moment of POWER and RESOLUTION?
– Perhaps his murder of Claudius might be considered his discovery of inner Power. He tried many times to bring himself up to the task in the Quest, and now, with only minutes left to live, he accomplishes the deed swiftly and without hesitation (and seemingly in spite of opposition around him).
– He and Laertes “exchange forgiveness” before they die, and Hamlet even arranges posthumous matters in his kingdom by charging Horatio with telling his tale, and giving Fortinbras his vote to become King of Denmark.
– Though Hamlet never accomplishes a Resolution state the opposite of his Stasis, perhaps it isn’t surprising that by dying he does attain the end that he envisioned so long and so persistently…
