The staircase is the fundamental skeleton of the plot
The term escaleta is the diminutive of scale . The first meaning mentioned by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) refers to a device formed by a plank, a pair of wood and a bolt, used to achieve the suspension of the axle of a vehicle and thus turn its wheels to repair, clean or repair them. replace them.
Outline of written work
The most common use of the concept, however, refers to the scheme that is developed as a preparation for a television or film script , a story or a novel .
It is often said that, when creating a work, the rundown is located between the synopsis and the finished text . The synopsis summarizes, in a broad sense, the idea that will be developed, while the outline organizes the information and allows it to be structured. Therefore, the first step is to write the synopsis , then the outline and finally the work as it will be used in the project.
The rundown does not always appear in the work of short story writers and novelists. On the other hand, for TV or film scriptwriters, it is a fundamental tool since the organizational needs are greater. In fact, a script usually involves more than one person, so the data must be clear and accessible to all project participants.
The creation of the rundown, ultimately, depends on the author's habits and the needs of the work . While a children's story can probably be developed without the instance of the staircase, a historical novel does require this scheme to minimize possible errors.
The first step: put order
Each person or group reaches the point in which they will begin to write the outline in a different way: there are those who have only defined the plot, others who have developed the plot synopsis or it is even possible to only have certain scenes in mind. The first step is to organize all the content that we have devised or captured to obtain a clear structure of the story, from its beginning to its outcome.
At this point in the writing process it is necessary to answer the fundamental questions, such as where and when the story is set and who the protagonists and antagonists are. Once we have this, we can begin to build the ladder without fear of overlooking some essential information .
Creation of the ladder
Another way to understand the staircase is as a diagram of all the "steps" that the story has, of the main points that can be seen in the dramatic progression . It is important to mention that this should not coincide with other conventional divisions, such as acts or scenes, something that is usually thought of later.
We start from disordered ideas and organize them on the ladder
For the moment, it is enough to put on paper each action of the plot located in its respective time and space . Also at this point, cause-consequence relationships are usually drawn, which give consistency to the story and make it credible for the public. The degree of clarity of this document must be such that any reader can understand it.
We must review this scheme of steps to change any location, add anything that we have forgotten or remove what is extra, among other possible modifications. Once we are satisfied, we can proceed to think about the scenes, within which there are usually several steps, although it can also happen that only one is counted in more than one scene. The last review must control the intervention of the characters, the succession of events over time and the plot twists, among other important aspects.