Wednesday, February 20, 2019

February is Fantasy Month Week 3// Plots



So yeah, this is a little last minute. When I tried to start writing this post yesterday, my page wouldn't load and then I forgot. *coughs* Anyway, welcome to week three of February is Fantasy Month. Congratulations to everyone who made it this far.

This week I will be talking about plots. As a character driven author (I think I mentioned that once or twice during my last post about characters) plots take a bit of a back seat for me. But that doesn't mean that they aren't important, because it most certainly is not. There are many great plot archetypes so I guess we'll look into some of them, eh?

Lots of fantasy plots are overused, sometimes it is hard to find an original one in the midst. Some fantasy plots could be: defeat the dark lord/dragon/tyrant, hunting monsters, saving a village/town/country from destruction, become/dethrone ruler. Trying to stop a war, trying to win a war, there is even trying to start a war. Actually, that's the plot of My Time in Amar book 3 A Season of Subterfuge, Courtiers, and War Councils.

The quest. Ah, the great pinnacle of fantasy plots, the great and terrible and impossible quest. Obviously the best example here is Lord of the Rings.


via GIPHY

A small band of friends, an ancient evil, a grueling journey, several battles along the way... Tolkien did it all. Which makes it a little hard to write this type of story without it being considered "cliche". In fact, I have all of these elements in my own My Time in Amar series. What did I do differently? Well, I made it so that my characters don't know what the quest they are trying to accomplish is. They don't actually know for some time, in fact, the first type of their journey is just them trying to figure out what they are supposed to do. They didn't know anything about any ancient evils.* They were just unwitting pawns.

*they still don't so shhh, don't tell them

Which brings me to the real main point of this post. I think that really, to make your story all the more developed and unique that you have to divide your plot into two elements. The character's goal, and the actual story plot.

And they do not always have to be the same thing. Frodo's goal was to destroy the ring. The story plot was him trying to destroy the ring. Your story can branch away from that. In fact, my character's goals rarely ever coincide with the main story plot. They are trying to do their own thing and the story plot is what naturally arises from that struggle.

For instance, in My Time in Amar my characters just want to go home, that is their goal. However, in order to get home, they have to first accomplish a quest, and in order to first accomplish that quest they need to learn what it is. In the companion series Return to Amar my heroine Alicia is trying to save her mother. In order to save her mother, she has to steal something from the faeries then I get a story plot because she has to find people to help her steal from the faeries and then survive the faerie world. Similarly, in Of Gold and Iron Jaye wants to save her brother, but in order to do that she must become an assassin because #reasons#spoilers.

See, you knew I was going to turn this back to having to do with the characters. I always do. Figure out your character's goal. The story plot is what is standing between them and that goal.

That's enough from me. For more February is Fantasy you can read these posts here and here. You can find the whole schedule here. Don't forget to check out our amazing prize because... DRAGONS!

What about you? Do you have a favorite fantasy plot archetype? Writers, what is something that you do to avoid the cliche in your plots? Readers, what is a book you read that took a cliche an twisted it on its head in a new and unique way? Comment Below!

15 comments:

  1. Hehe, I actually really really like the quest archetype. It’s just so FUN. I found that Lunar Chronicles took a lot of tropes (especially fairy-tale ones) and twisted them in an amazing way. Great post!

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    1. I do too. Lord of the Rings is my MUSE. You're right, it did such a good job at that! Thank you :P

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  2. Ugh, the cliche plot is hard for me to shy away from. But, I'm experimenting with adding different tropes commonly found in other genres and adding a fantasy twist to it :)

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    1. It is hard. Aha! I do that too, it's always so fun. Like I'm trying to figure out how to retell my favorite classics, what better way than in a fantasy world right? ;P

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  3. Great post, again! I'm a questioning-driven author (there's not really another way to put it, xD) and so I usually string out my plot by asking myself questions. Clichés and tropes are seriously my biggest pet peeves in reading, which is why I try to make my writing as wildly different as I can. The epic fantasy plot quest is definitely used a lot, but I like how you put a clever little twist on it! Too many fantasy authors these days really need to change up what they're writing. Sigh. xD

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    1. Thanks, Merie. I'm curious, how would you describe a "questioning-driven author"? Honestly, I didn't use to have a problem with cliches and tropes, but after reading so many they're starting to get old. Thanks, I really try to add some twists in with my writing ;P

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    2. Hmm... I'm not character-driven or plot-driven, and I'm not a storyworld-builder either. By "questioning-driven" I mean I develop a story by asking myself questions about it. You know, questions like "what if so-and-so" or whatever. Lots of questions. Most of my outlines consist of questions. xD

      And you're welcome! I love your books :)

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    3. Hmm, yeah I think I understand now. I do that kinda sometimes myself. Mainly when I don't know what is supposed to happen so I fill my outline with questions like "why does Radmir not trust Sahir?" and "Who really is Damien?"

      I mean, honestly when I'm developing I will do all of the above, anything to get the story developed, but I am most definitely predisposed toward characters.

      :) I'm so glad that you do!

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  4. Excellent post!

    I love quests and defeating evil rulers-bent-on-conquering-the-world type tropes. And I often start there, but I also love it when a sub-plot takes over, and that often happens in my writing. (And side characters who suddenly demand to be the center of attention... that's been known to happen too).

    I do a lot of bouncing of ideas off my husband, and he in turn asks awesome questions that tend to make me think about my story and/or characters differently, and it usually helps me avoid cliches. Wish he'd been around when I was writing my first two books, they would have been better. :)

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    1. Thanks, Jenelle!

      What's not to love hmmm? Yes, that's always so fun! (side characters are the best)

      It's always good to get another perspective! :)

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  5. Ok, but my favorite thing is when someone takes an archetypal plot from another genre and drops it in a fantasy setting. Like, give me a standard murder mystery set in a world where the fae are real and active. Give me the fantasy equivalent of a pioneers/wagon-trail story in a world where the travelers have to deal with dragons and mythical beasts on top of the normal dangers and where the land itself lives. Give me a classic heist story with a magical thieving crew. BOOM. The standards on both sides are now extraordinarily UN-standard.

    That said, I'll never say no to a good quest or a lost-heir-reclaiming-the-throne story . . .

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    1. Yesss... I'm a huge fan of that as well. I love your examples and I also kinda did some of these myself XD My short story A Feast of Starlight is about a human guard trying to find the murderer before they can strike in a world of the fae, and in A Certain Sort of Madness, my characters have to preform a heist against faeries. Haven't tried the pioneer one though.

      Oh no, neither will I ;P

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    2. Ooooh, I'll have to look up those. And I haven't seen anyone do the pioneer one either, but I want someone to!

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  6. Thanks for sharing nice information with us. i like your post and all you share with us is uptodate and quite informative, i would like to bookmark the page so i can come here again to read you, as you have done a wonderful job. Plots

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  7. Please continue this great work and I look forward to more of your awesome blog posts. Villas

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