Successful plot writing
Having written almost 6 million words since 2005, writing 5 novels in 2 years, and being a 15-time New York Times bestselling author, Brandon Sanderson is a prolific fiction author.
Promise, progress and payoff are the points he focuses on, using conflict as the glue.
As an outline (architect) writer, he plans out:
Characters, both main and side arcs.
Settings for magical, physical and social information.
Plot progress, promises and payoff.
Discovery (gardener) writers, working the story out more as they write.
Brandon uses bullet points to give a sense of progress for each character arc. Used in sections on what's next for each characters perspective.
Promise expectations set the tone and plot type, such as:
Overcoming a monster.
Rags to riches.
Heist.
Quest.
Underdog journey.
Mystery.
Relationship conflict.
Comedy.
Tragedy.
Etc...
A suggestion to mash film story lines together for inspiration, but to add a pitch. Something different.
Each scene adding progress to a promise in some way. Conversations adding connection, progress or information.
Then the payoff bringing together the promise of the plot, and progress of character journeys to a satisfying ending.
Also giving something new or additional from the expected ending.
Answering opened questions and closing the MICE openings.
Milieu: A location journey of a character, conflict getting to the destination.
Inquiry: Finding the answer to a question.
Character: From unhappy to happy, conflict being the change.
Event: An abnormal event trying to find the status quo. Conflict preventing status quo.
Character development
Each reader will pick a favourite character, but it can change as the story evolves.
Be sure to develop the villain or antagonist like a character. Establish motivations, flaws they could fix, handy caps they might overcome and limitations they can't.
The Heroes journey is commonly used to help develop a character arc.
Departure: Decision to start.
Initiation: Conflict in the journey.
Return: Rewarding journey back.
These can be written with 3 main viewpoints:
Omniscient: As a present narrator, everything being true.
First person: Told through thoughts or diary like entries. (epistolary)
Second person: Used sparingly to address the reader directly.
With various character archetypes, these are commonly used…
Protagonist: The main character.
Antagonist: A person, organization, or even an idea as the primary obstacle to the protagonist’s success.
Guardian: Protecting the protagonist, helping them on their journey.
Herald: Brings news or information that sets the story in motion.
Lover: Romantic relation to the protagonist.
Innocent: Naïve, often in need of assistance.
Explorer: Seeking adventure
Shadow: Dark reflection of the protagonist.
Mentor: Wise character helping the protagonist learn and grow.
Trickster: Humorous or deceptive to achieve their goals.
Setting and world building
Setting defines the work, but it is the least important of the 3... Character, plot, then setting.
Give less information than you think readers need, but find interesting ways to share information potentially through action, or conversation, using social interactions to set tone and feeling of tension.
Perspective and location described through action, experience and feel of characters.
Try and avoid translation problems between fantasy and real world interpretations by being specific.
Treat the setting like a character evolving through the story.
Don't pick too many things to discuss in the physical and social settings:
Physical
Weather
Map
Magic
Visuals
Terrain
etc...
Social
Religion
Government
History
Economics
Greetings
etc...
Sanderson suggests 3 laws:
Your ability to solve problems with magic satisfyingly is directly proportional to how well the realm understand said magic.
Flaws, limitations or costs are more interesting than powers.
Before adding something new to your magic setting, see if you can instead expand what you have.
Avoid solving conflict with unknown magic. Give readers a chance to figure it out.
Too much power limits the conflicts that can be used.
Create the illusion of deep background understanding, helping the reader trust you have done the rest of the work (hollow iceberg analogy).
For magical systems, be consistent with internal logic, but show there is lots to learn, leaving room for mystery.
Magic systems transcend genre. However, when considering magic systems, Brandon proposes a spectrum from soft to hard magic.
Believable magic makes stories simpler to keep logical, also staying true to the second law.
Innate or developed magic will differ with how hard, or rule governed, the magic system will be. Each having pros and cons.
Using this example from Harry Potter.
But an awesome idea trumps everything else in world building and magic systems.
Plots and character arcs close, but world building can inspire and connect future stories.
Outlining an idea
Brandon uses Microsoft Word outline view to help him plan his stories with an example.
First focusing on prewriting:
Character
Personalities
Conflicts
Character arcs
Setting
Culture
Magic
Visuals
Then when plotting out the story he starts with the end in mind.
Building up a map to follow:
Main parts
Climaxes of the story
Foreshadow lists
Expanding on points in more detail such as:
Introduce...
Hint at...
Show...
This leads to writing chapters having rising and falling actions, as though there were mini-stories on their own.
Publishing success
Work out what success means to you as an author. Sales, popularity, money, readers, or personal goals.
Some independently (indie) publish, others traditionally (industry) publish, each with pros and cons.
Whichever you choose, pay for a good cover and editing!
Various book types add complexity to publishing:
E-book
Audiobook
Hard back
Soft back
Paper back
Alpha readers and revisions help with refining the story before beta readers. Polishing with strong verbs and cutting the passive voice.
Don't defend yourself. Listen and reflect on the feedback, giving yourself time to think.
When Brandon wrote 5 novels in 2 years he was writing ~55% of his time awake, ~500 words an hour, thinking about the story in other hours.
Using wikidPad as an encyclopaedia of information, Microsoft Word and Dropbox for the main writing.
Antagonist age +2 is typically the audience, with longer series growing through time like Harry Potter, starting middle grade ending in young adult (YA). Bare this in mind.
But every author has their own preferences, so there is no right way!
Just get writing.
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