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Plan (Tips (Genre Writing (Yes, you can write a sci-fi or fantasy piece.…
Plan
Tips
Genre Writing
Yes, you can write a sci-fi or fantasy piece. However, why does your story need that setting? You have limited words. You have no time for backstory. Your fictional world can't be too complex. Try to avoid backstory, as it is more boring (because the events are over).
Scope
One of the most common errors student make is setting their story too far back in the plot. Cut out the boring crap. If you want to write an intense hostage negotiation, do that. I don't need to see the robber's prep work or drive. I don't even need to see the robbery. Open during the negotiation.
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Thematic meaning
A good story is playing with ideas while it is also laying out a plot. A knight who fights a dragon is more interesting when the author has woven an idea in this story. Is the story about bravery and courage? Maybe it is about the importance of cunning and intelligence? Good stories aren't afraid to play with social issues and ideas. Dracula was about immigration and the fear of female sexual freedom as much as it was about vampires. "Spiderman: into the spiderverse" was about maturity and growing up more than it was about being spiderman.
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A workable plan
Problem 1
They get through this one. Solving this problem lets the audience know that the protagonist has some skills and can establish their baseline response to issues. However, this needs to be followed by a bigger problem
Problem 2
They get through this as well, but things need to get worse. Ideally, this issues either introduces or transforms into a much bigger problem, and the skills the protagonist is comfortable using are obviously going to be less effective/useless.
As you are writing a story and not making a film, you want to push your character into a situation that requires them learn a new skill, or tests one of their established ideals/convictions. You can't rely on stunt workers and special effects for the climax.
Climax
Protagonist needs to try something different/risky/new. This new tactic should needs to be hinted at earlier on in the story, but the protagonist shouldn't want to use it. Things need to be so bad that the protagonist's go to solutions are inadequate and the solutions they do have need to signal character growth. This is true for all genres. Romance feels heightened when characters are willing to change themselves without being asked to.
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Basic setup. Skip the boring stuff. I don't need to know every detail about your sci-fi world. Only tell me something if I need it to understand the plot. I don't need to know the entire backstory of a character to know they are capable of violence. If your character is in a violent situation and not panicking, I can gather that they have experience with violence.
Aftermath
This part is actually optional. Importantly, any aftermath should focus on the effects of a character's choices. They can help make the decision made in the climax feel more meaningful. However, if the importance and the effects of the decision made in the climax are clear, you don't really need this.
Techniques you could use
Symbolism.
This technique is great, but you often layer it in after the story is finished. You probably have ideas about symbolism as you go, but you want the final copy to only have the best pieces. To do this, it might be easier to write a draft of your story first and then layer in the symbolism after your first draft is complete.
Foreshadowing
An excellent technique that you need to apply after the plot is finished. Let's say you were writing a story with a focus on mystery. To do this, you should write out the crime and the story first, and then add in the foreshadowing after this rough draft. Then, during the editing phase, you adjust your foreshadowing to the stage where your readers feel that that should have guessed the story, but they actually couldn't.
Cliches and subversion
A cliche is a very predictable or unoriginal thing or person. You should avoid them. A "loose-cannon detective" is a cliche
Subversion is when the author purposely uses a cliche for long enough that the audience starts predicting the story, and then the author beings to twist, bend, betray and corrupt the cliche to create surprise and comment about the cliche. If a "loose-cannon cop" screws up a case because they explicitly don't follow the rules, the author is probably subverting the audience's expectations.
Imagery
Describing things with the 5 senses. Use this technique. Avoid your natural over-reliance on sight. What does a person in that situation smell? Blood has a strong smell, rain has a strong smell. Think about the weather. If you writing a fight scene, think about the sounds.
Using this techniques adds weight and importance to the scene. If you want a certain moment to feel important to the reader, use imagery to heighten it.
Zombie story
Bad plan
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Boy gets in cool car and drives away, but now he has even more weapons.
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Better Plan
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Boy evades a ZomDad attack and ends up locked in another room with a kitchen knife, a bite on his fingers and he realises that if he keeps hiding, he will starve before ZomDad does.
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