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The Competition Plot

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 27, 2024
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As I'm writing this I'm counting down the hours to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games 2024 which are taking place in Paris. The Olympics are the king of all sports competition, and even being able to participate requires for athletes to have been rigorously through very challenging qualifying events. Everyone who is going to be marching behind their flag bearers today are winners, part of an elite class of athletes that have managed to yield performances that test the limits of our species. I have always been a rabid fan of the Olympics so there's little else on my mind right now.

So what better newspost than to talk a bit about the competition plot?

The competition plot could be a story's main one, or it can be a small B or C plot device that helps with character development. As far as plots go, it's really flexible and forgiving for the creator, because all it requires in terms of setting is a very simple set of rules that audiences will immediately relate to and understand: Participant A (or Team A) has to go up against Participant B (or Team B) and compete using a specific skillset in order to win a prize.

Over this very simple rigging, anything can be dressed and make any competition be novel, enthralling, and deeply engaging: What the prize is and what it means to Team A vs Team B is a big element of who the audience will root for in the competition.


If winning the prize of a dance competition means having money to survive, we want those guys to take it more than whoever isn't in dire need of cash.

The way every character acts and reacts in a competition is also pivotal in showing, rather than telling, what kind of person they are. Do they cheat? Do they take advantage of an opponent and if so, in what ways? Are they sportsmanlike or are they vindictive? How do they treat their team mates if they have them?

This also holds for characters that are in the supporting roles for contestants. How does a coach train their contestants?


A coach can be the real villain or the real hero of a story.

How do parents act when their children compete? How about spouses and SOs? What happens when the competition is going well? How about when it isn't going well at all?

Every reaction and initiative a character takes regarding a competition is a brushstroke in the painting of who they really are. Even whoever cheers or boos as audiences in a competition can be incredibly significant in the emotional charge of a story. An audience that was booing or was laughing at or was indifferent to a Team or Contestant that is moved enough to begin cheering for them can potentially be one of the most powerful scenes in a story.


This is from Cool Runnings' finale. If you know you know.

And of course, a competition is a neatly packed and partitioned Hero's Journey: Your character begins at before the competition, has to prep, then face challanges, then face opponents, then win or lose, and learn from the entire experience to come out of the competition a developed, different character than at the beginning.

Personally, I haven't had the opportunity to use the competition plot, but I love to see it in stories, movies, and webcomics. It's a wonderful, easy-to-immerse in plot that gives characters room to breathe and develop every step of the way.

Have you ever used the competition plot?

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comment

anonymous?

Hockey Webcomics at 2:54PM, July 28, 2024

You picked such a nice gift for the post cover image B-)

Banes at 8:42PM, July 27, 2024

If you want a conflict-ridden plot, this is a reliable one! I'm not really a sports fan, but there've been a few of these that were a lot of fun. Dodgeball comes to mind. I liked Mystery Alaska, too, though I don't remember anything about it anymore. Ah, Cool Runnings! John Candy's last movie, I think. Bless that legend!

usedbooks at 5:42PM, July 27, 2024

All that said, some things get competitive in Used Books but I try to subvert or use it specifically because it's unpleasant. Yuki's family are competitive in a toxic way. The bad guys get competitive with each other too. It's usually not overt but in undertones.

usedbooks at 5:34PM, July 27, 2024

I've never enjoyed a competition plot. Whether it's sports, academics, career, or love triangle, it just makes me uncomfortable. (I think I have a bias because of a girl in my class from grade school through highschool who thought we were rivals. It was WEIRD. I just did my best trying to get through school, but she was actively competing against me. She'd have little tantrums if I got a higher grade/place and gloat if she did. I did nothing. I hate competing in the job market and I don't date. It's all awful to me.) Competition fiction is just unpleasant. Anti-escapism.

bravo1102 at 5:14AM, July 27, 2024

Girls und Panzer was one really enjoyable competition movie. It made a sport out of a very difficult skill set that still emphasizes team work. Tanks. Of course there are any number of martial arts stories that have a particular charm and others that are pure formula. My current comic has that going on and I've done gladiatorial combat before.

mks_monsters at 4:47AM, July 27, 2024

My old comic Cupcake War Machine had a baking competition going on in the background that helped the MC heal from their trauma as well as discover their hidden talent.

PaulEberhardt at 2:44AM, July 27, 2024

To be honest, I could never really warm to sports competition plots very much, but that's mostly down to the way many of them are staged, either as: "If my girlfriend's team doesn't win this beach volleyball match, she will be locked away in a convent in East Timor and I'll never see her again, and if that happens, we will never be able to marry and our great-great-great-grandson, who used a time-machine to warn us about this, will never be born and then nobody will be able to stop the sun from exploding as a result of his research team's irresponsible experiments." Or: "Mini golf is awesome! Just look at how awesome mini golf is!! It's a great sport that should be taken more seriously!!! Bet you wanna try it yourself after watching this awesome mini golf movie!!!! (sponsored by Acme Mini Golf Inc.)" Those that manage not to fall into the trap of becoming one of these are really great, though, and often fun. I liked Cool Runnings for that very reason.


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