english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/short_story/plot.htmlHighlights:

THE INVITED/UNIVITED GUEST: The successful outcome of the relationship structure is conception – a baby is either an invited or uninvited guest. The arrival of death (another guest) is a conclusion of the life. Stories developed on this structure explore how a pre-existing circle of people is affected by the arrival of a stranger. Will the stranger be benign or a threat, be assimilated or destroyed? This is the basis of genre writing… horror, ghost stories, westerns and science fiction. Our own lives in terms of news stories are patterned on this as well – a hurricane, a disease, a fire are the uninvited guests. This structure has, according to Howker, got the most power because it deals with the greatest mysteries and fears. We have all, at sometime, been invited or uninvited guests in a circle of people.

If you are using this structure ask: Who is in the circle? A family? A gang? Who or what is the invited or uninvited guest? A disease? The death of a grandparent? Will the guest be assimilated or ejected?

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