ract, but the test is much easier to apply to a
concrete story idea than it is to formulate in terms. If the idea
consists of a tentative grouping of incidents which suggests an
interesting phase of character in an interesting phase of development,
the conception may be elaborated into the story which emphasizes
character. On the other hand, if the initial idea is simply of a phase
of character which can be adequately shown in progression by a series of
incidents devised to that end, the same treatment is advisable. In each
case it is possible that such treatment will give maximum effect to the
conception.

The story of complication of incident interests primarily because of its
plot, and not because of its people or the totality of its emotional
effect.[A] It is more than a type of story; in a way it is really the
archetype of all stories. An historical analysis will show the truth of
the statement. First came the tale, a chain of incidents having no
essential connection except that they all happened to the characters.
Then came the story, a chain of incidents which are not fortuitous and
accidental, but each essential to the whole design. And from the story
have sprung such variations as the character story, which emphasizes the
element of personality, and the story of atmosphere, which emphasizes
the setting, spiritual or material. But the story of plot, which
stresses the bare incident, is archetypal of all fiction in that
interest centers in the story rather than in the persons or their
environment. Perhaps the French conte, or brief dramatic narrative, is
the strictest story type of all.

I have chosen to touch upon the character story first, rather than the
more fundamental and inclusive story of plot, simply because the
potential story of plot is easily recognizable, and my sole aim here is
to state some of the tests which the writer may apply to his idea after
conception to discover its true character, that he may know how to
handle it. The germ of a plot can be distinguished at a glance, while
the question of what a plot really is requires separate treatment.

If the writer would produce a strict short story, he cannot rest content
with the apparent fact that his initial conception is the germ of a
story plot, that being the case. The story of plot may be easy to
recognize as a genre, but not all stories of plot are potential short
stories. All plot germs are not susceptible of adequate development
within t