When we say Realistic, we mean Coherent
- Consistent & Coherent.
- We are not looking for Realism in Stories.
- If we were we’d need expertise in many domains.
- A lot of time to do a lot of research.
- And we don’t do that.
- If we think a decisions was dumbfounded or ill-justified it is as is.
- Ill-justified.
- When you write you only need to think about your next move.
- What triggered the Story?
- What’s the Outcome of each Crisis?
- How will you end a character?
- How do you keep the pace higher after each Crisis?
- We want contingency.
- As the Story unfolds the Characters will develop.
- We rarely accept unchanging characters, but they have their uses.
- Harsh consequences, death and the sort, need to bring continuity.
- Contingency is Continuity.
- Causality is too important of a rule in every world.
- It is always expected.
- These words are crucial to the Story.
- To learn them, you’ll need to experiement.
Start with a 1-shot.
- The Golden Rule is Experimentation.
- Write a 10-15 pages chapter.
- Read it.
- What would you keep?
- What would you remove?
- Give it to your team members.
- What would she change?
- Do we need to change the characters?
- Do we need to change the setting?
- Should we reuse existing characters in a different setting?
- Re read it together.
- Is it Global enough?
- Is it Inclusive enough?
- Are the characters relatable?
- Do you want to follow this character?
- Does the Public want to follow this character?
- Do you want to follow the Story?
- Why write 1-shots?
- To introduce the Public to a new system/world/character.
- To take a break from a long series of books.
- To present your Core World Rules.
- See if they are understood.
- See if they are liked.
Why do I need to be Global?
- If you want to show consequences you have to display as many elements as necessary.
- There’s been a war.
- How did it affect the Planet?
- How did it affect the People?
- How did it affect the Wildlife?
- Being Global is being Diverse.
- Why did the War took place?
- What Triggered it?
- What were the stakes?
- That’s a different question
- What one would have won from it?
- Who were the stakeholders?
- Warmongers, Profiteers & Pacifists
- How did they engage into this war?
- Resources, Material & Tools
- What was the aftermath in term of Alliances?
- Affinity can evolve through the course of the conflict
- Diversity holds the World together.
- Your World will have Adorable parts.
- Where does the little Cloudian Shrubbery live?
- Why are they so fluffy & muffy?
- Your World will have Horrendous parts.
- Where does the Crimson Mandrake live?
- Why does it puncture animals’ spine to drink their essence?
- Parts of the World represent Serenity.
- Where is the Grand Sanctuary?
- What is the Grand Sanctuary?
- Parts of the World represent Dissension.
- Where is the Gallery of Treaties?
- What is the Gallery of Treaties?
Why do I need to be Inclusive?
- The Characters evolve according to each other.
- They Evolve with & for one another.
- Wherever we’re dealing with a friendly or an adversarial relationship.
- The Protagonist runs after the Antagonist & the Antagonist runs further & faster.
- The supporters of both sides will hinder the other party.
- A team of character needs to be held together to show consequences.
- If there’s a separation it needs to be explained.
- Or not be explained if you wish to create frustration, but there needs to be elements of preparation & conjecture
- Why did a character quit?
- Did she bring anyone with her?
- Who/What caused the separation?
- What are your Characters quirks?
- Is one of them Thievy & Sneaky?
- Prepare an Infiltration or an Impersonation sequence
- Is one Strong & Agile?
- Prepare a Fight or a Survival sequence
- Is one Cunning & Brilliant?
- Prepare an Enigma or a Negotiation sequence
- Have some Cake for everybody.
- Do the characters know each other previous to the beginning of the story?
- How did they meet?
- Where did they meet?
- Are they relatives/friends/colleagues?
- Were they strangers beforehand?
- If they are strangers, cause an event that will force them to reveal their intentions fast
- Prepare some support characters.
- How do they support the protagonist?
- What do they provide?
- What’s their interest in doing so?
- Use Encounters.
- Who’s meeting who?
- What do both parties want?
- What’s their mean of transaction?
- Will they use brute force/financial influence?
What is expected?
- What has been established?
- How has it been established?
- By who?
- How early in the Story?
- What’s the main Crisis?
- What’s the visible Crisis?
- What’s the hidden Crisis?
- Display Consequences through Common Knowledge.
- Display fundamental elements early.
- What are the main Dangers of your World?
- What is perceived as a Threat?
- What is the Pain Scale of your World?
- What are the main Crisis in the World’s history?
- What is Common Knowledge in your World?
- Does everyone knows what a Plane is?
- Is everyone afraid of Planes?
- Changing the core of Natural rules makes your World Different.
- How is Gravity in your world?
- What is the effect of other Forces?
- How does it affect settlements?
- How does it affect species?
- How does it affect Evolution?
- How does it affect settlements?
- What are the effects of Radioactivity?
- How does it affect settlements?
- How does it affect Genetics?
- What are the effects of Electromagnetism?
- Think about the light’s dynamics.
- How is Electricity used?
- Do animals use magnetoception?
- How does Temperature & Weather articulate?
- At the surface.
- Underground.
Can I be as absurd as I want?
- Creating Surprise is 1 of the most efficient ways to display consequences.
- Events always follow each other.
- I went out for a pizza & the house burned.
- If I stayed home I could have caught the arsonist.
- Or I would have died in the fire.
- Either way I would have a place to stay.
- I’m in a situation where I sleep on the floor.
- And a major comes to me.
- She asks questions about arson.
- But I don’t really care anymore.
- I sleep on the floor.
- She asks if I want to sleep on a comfy bed & earn loads of money?
- Here comes the Conflict.
- All that matters is to keep the Story Moving.
- Be fast.
- Be short.
- Love interruptions.
- Put a lot of interruptions.
- A lot of entertaining interruptions.
- Conflict creates Contrast, Contrast creates Interest.
Can I do whatever I want?
- Always.
- And that’s why you need to be clear in your intentions since the beginning.
- If you need to break a rule you’ve established, be clear about the reason.
- Always be fair to the Characters & the Story
- Diverse Outcomes is the clearest way to display consequences.
- Branched narration is essential if your story grows over a certain scale.
- 2-3 different outcomes for each Crisis (chapters 3, 6 & 9) is enough
- 1 good outcome, 1 bad outcome & 1 surprising outcome
- Multiple endings is also a clear way to show consequences.
- How desirable the outcome is
- Where did the character failed/succeed
- What should they have done instead
- What’s the Climax of the story?
- Will your character find the Arsonist?
- Will there be a new War after a tensed Peace?
- Was there a hidden cause?
- What’s that monster at the end?
- Was it responsible for the arson?
- Was it the 1st cause of the War?
- The 2 plots that seemed unconnected were.
- Where you preparing a sequel all along?
Can I undo things?
- No.
- But you can do new things.
- Be flexible.
- That’s the best way to have fun.
- Play with expectations.
- That includes your own.
- Let the Story surprise you & you’ll surprise everybody.
- Prepare Back-ups & Layers.
- That’s the easiest way to be flexible.
- If you give your 1-shot to your team and they ask you to review the whole structure, you’ll have another one.
- If they don’t enjoy the 2nd structure either combine 1 & 2 to create a 3rd structure.
- If they still don’t want to go through the 3rd structure, synthesize the best ideas of the 3 structure into a 4th one.
- This 4th structure should include most elements of the previous versions that enticed your team mates.
