Every story has a plot, and follows that plot toward the conclusion of an arc. Getting there, though, is one of the biggest challenges every writer faces. It can be grueling, frustrating, and annoying. But it doesn't have to be; experienced, practiced writers know to use a simple tool known as the Story Plan.

In this Workshop competition, we'll be exploring how that works.

In an email to KoA, the Knight-Commander will outline the details of story planning and establish a good system to use for planning short stories. Following these guidelines, the Knights of Allusis will be creating story plans around an idea for a future story arc. The most well thought-out, comprehensive plans will take the win; plans have no minimum or maximum length, but must include the following:

*Mission - The overall arc or point your story is trying to tell, or the goal it attempts to reach. *Setting - Where your story takes place. Quick details are the key. *Exposition - An outline of the beginning of your story, in a few sentences or paragraphs as needed. *Rising Action - What propels the story toward the climax, and gets the situation moving. *Climax - A summary of the story's highest point, in a few sentences or paragraphs as needed. *Denouement - The ending of the story summarized in a few sentences or paragraphs; can bleed into the events of the climax, or happen after them, as the author requires.

Entries will be graded on a rubric of 15 points, broken into 5 points for clarity, 5 points for detail, and 5 points for execution. The goal is to create a plan that could be used to author a short story in the future; hang on to these rubrics, Knights, because they will be important again.

Fifth-level Crescents to the top three participants. Though this is a fiction competition, entries will not award CIs due to the short length of each entry.