: Re: How do I start writing a good plot line? so I've been working on this story for about two years, and I have a whole world and set of characters built. I have extensive lore and descriptions

@Welton431

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+1 Mark. In keeping with his description, I consider most stories to be a description of a change or transformation of a main character, and potentially other characters in the show.

This is true of coming of age stories; the transformation from a child to a sexual adult, including the dawn of romantic love (at least).

There are other transformation stories: Say a young adult, 18, loses his parents in a car accident. He is the oldest of four children, three of them minors. He loves them. What does he do next? Who is he, by the end of the book?

Star wars is a transformation story, of Luke Skywalker, and to a lesser extent Hans Solo and Princess Leia. Later installments detail the transformation of Darth Vader, from good to evil.

Any story where lessons are learned is a transformation story. I did say most: In many action stories the hero doesn't change, they solve a puzzle, kill some bad guys, gain some reward and are done. 007, Taken, Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones are examples. On the other hand, I cannot recall a romantic comedy that is NOT a transformation story, it almost certainly is by definition.

Your fantasy world is all fine and good, except perhaps for your characters. They sound like you have them set, and (to me and the kinds of stories I write) you need characters that are NOT so set, that can become somebody different, that can be reshaped by stressors that come and kick them in the face.

A plot arises when a relatively comfortable character (even if it is a kid) is coerced (by people, accident, maturation, or bad luck or the universe) into an uncomfortable situation the cannot undo; so they can no longer remain who they are.

A soldier in battle freezes, and watches his friend get killed, which he could have prevented just by pulling a trigger. He cannot undo the past, he cannot return to what he was. He feels a coward, and literally a traitor. Can he come to terms with these feelings before they drive him to suicide? How, exactly?

Or take the movie Juno: A 15 year old virgin is in love, she seduces her equally virgin love interest, and she gets pregnant. Now what?

You need a main character in your world to undergo a transformation. You need an event in your world that triggers the need for such a transformation. Mark provides the details of how plots generally unfold, what you need is a REASON behind a story, a problem to solve, a situation to resolve, by some character. It cannot be something they can just walk away from, they have to do something, even if they are not sure what to do: Figuring out what to do is part of the story, too. Usually your story starts a little before our character encounters the problem, so we get some sense of who they are and what world they inhabit. Then the problem occurs or is revealed, and our character is coerced and must deal with it. Often becoming a different person in the process.

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