9 Plot Mistakes Every New Fantasy Writer Makes
Summary
TLDRIn this video, a seasoned fantasy writer-editor identifies nine common plot pitfalls that can undermine a novel's structure, leading to a lack of suspense, repetitive scenes, and passive protagonists. The speaker shares insights and solutions, such as avoiding early antagonist defeat, diversifying scene formats, ensuring active character choices, maintaining a clear through line, and preventing a 'soggy middle.' The summary also addresses the importance of consequences, aligning the story's promise, progress, and payoff, compressing plot resolutions for a stronger climax, and avoiding reliance on luck to resolve conflicts, providing a comprehensive guide for aspiring fantasy authors to craft compelling narratives.
Takeaways
- 😀 The first mistake new fantasy writers make is defeating the antagonist too early in the story, which diminishes suspense and character growth.
- 🔍 The second mistake is using repetitive scene formats, which can lead to a lack of variation and engagement for the reader.
- 🏃♂️ The third mistake is having a passive protagonist, where the story happens to them rather than them driving the story forward.
- 🧵 The fourth mistake is lacking a consistent through line, which can result in a meandering and purposeless plot.
- 🌊 The fifth mistake is a 'soggy middle,' where the middle of the story lacks progression, leading to a slow and boring pace.
- 🔄 The sixth mistake is weak consequences for character failures, which hinders character growth and reader connection.
- 🤝 The seventh mistake is misalignment of the 'three P's': promise, progress, and payoff, which can disrupt the story's natural flow.
- 🔚 The eighth mistake is 'Patriot endings,' where multiple plot threads are resolved separately, leading to a drawn-out conclusion.
- 🚫 The ninth mistake is relying on luck to help the protagonist, which can feel unsatisfying and like cheating to the reader.
- 📘 Outlining is a crucial tool for avoiding these plot mistakes and ensuring a structurally sound first draft that requires minimal editing later.
Q & A
What common plot mistake does the script mention that new fantasy writers often make with their antagonists?
-The script mentions that new fantasy writers often make the mistake of beating the antagonist too early in the story, which can diminish the suspense and threat throughout the rest of the narrative.
What is a 'scene format' according to the script, and why is it important to vary them?
-A 'scene format' is a structural archetype that defines the prime memory action taking place in a particular unit of the story. Varying scene formats is important to keep the readers engaged and to ensure the conflict in the story is always shifting, forcing characters to adapt and overcome new challenges.
Why is having a passive protagonist considered a mistake in storytelling?
-A passive protagonist is considered a mistake because it means the story happens to them rather than because of them. This can lead to a lack of interest, as the character's inaction can make the plot feel stagnant and uneventful.
What is a 'through line' in a story, and why is it crucial for the narrative?
-A 'through line' is the core conflict that runs through the story, essentially the one-sentence summary of the book. It's crucial because it provides a consistent source of conflict and challenge, preventing the story from meandering and ensuring that there is a clear direction and purpose.
What is the 'soggy middle' and how can it be avoided?
-The 'soggy middle' refers to the middle part of a story that lacks progression and purpose, feeling slow and boring. It can be avoided by using a more structured approach, such as the seven-point plot structure, which provides more anchoring scenes and a better guide for maintaining excitement, development, conflict, and tension.
What is the three-act structure and what are its main issues according to the script?
-The three-act structure is a traditional narrative framework that divides a story into three parts: the first act (exposition and inciting action), the second act (rising action and turning point), and the third act (climax and ending). The script points out that the main issue with this structure is the long middle part, which can lead to a 'soggy middle' if not properly managed.
What is the seven-point plot structure and how does it help to avoid the 'soggy middle'?
-The seven-point plot structure is an alternative to the traditional three-act structure that provides more specific plot points and a better guide for maintaining narrative tension and excitement. It includes the opening hook, plot term 1, pinch point 1, midpoint, pinch point 2, plot turn 2, and the resolution, ensuring constant development and conflict throughout the story.
Why is it a mistake for new fantasy writers to avoid punishing their characters for failure?
-Avoiding punishment for failure is a mistake because it prevents characters from facing adversity, which is crucial for character growth and development. The depth of adversity directly corresponds to the depth of character that can be revealed, affecting the reader's sympathy and connection to the characters.
What are the 'three P's' of storytelling and why is their alignment important?
-The 'three P's' of storytelling are Promise, Progress, and Payoff. Their alignment is important because it ensures a logical flow from beginning to end, where each scene naturally leads into the next, preventing the reader from feeling cheated and maintaining the narrative's momentum.
What is the issue with 'Patriot endings' and how can they be improved?
-A 'Patriot ending' is when the story's ending drags on, resolving plot threads gradually over several chapters, leading to a sense of the story petering out. This can be improved by compressing the resolution of plot threads into a single moment, creating a more dramatic and satisfying climax.
Why is relying on luck to help the protagonist considered a poor storytelling choice?
-Relying on luck to help the protagonist is considered poor storytelling because it can feel unsatisfying and like the writer is cheating. It's more satisfying and believable when luck helps the antagonist, creating a sense of peril for the main character and advancing the story in a more compelling way.
Outlines
📚 Common Plot Mistakes in Fantasy Writing
The paragraph discusses the common plot mistakes that new fantasy writers make, which can ruin their stories. The speaker, an experienced fantasy writer and editor, highlights nine recurring errors they've noticed in the novels they've edited. The first mistake mentioned is defeating the antagonist too early in the story, which diminishes suspense and character growth. The speaker suggests making the protagonist an underdog to avoid this issue. Additionally, the paragraph touches on the importance of avoiding repetitive scene formats to maintain reader engagement and ensure the conflict shifts, forcing characters to adapt and overcome new challenges.
🔍 Identifying and Correcting Structural Flaws in Fantasy Writing
This paragraph delves into the importance of having a consistent through line in a fantasy novel, which is the core conflict that runs throughout the story. The speaker explains that without a clear through line, a story can become meandering and pointless, leading to reader disinterest. They also discuss the problem of passive protagonists, where the story happens to them rather than because of them. To avoid these issues, the speaker recommends outlining as a tool for ensuring structural integrity and engaging the reader. The paragraph also touches on the 'soggy middle' syndrome, where the middle of the story lacks progression and purpose, and suggests the seven-point plot structure as a solution to maintain excitement and tension.
🎯 Enhancing Story Structure and Character Development
The speaker introduces the seven-point plot structure as a method to avoid the 'soggy middle' and ensure a well-paced narrative. This structure includes the opening hook, plot terms, pinch points, the midpoint, and the climax, leading to a satisfying resolution. They also promote their six-week fantasy outlining boot camp, which aims to teach writers how to create comprehensive outlines that cover story structure, character arcs, themes, world-building, suspense, and pacing. The boot camp is designed to help writers avoid common plot mistakes and produce successful novels.
💥 Crafting Compelling Conflicts and Resolutions in Fantasy Stories
In this paragraph, the speaker addresses several additional common mistakes in fantasy writing. They discuss the importance of imposing strong consequences on characters to drive growth and depth, aligning the promise, progress, and payoff of the story to create a logical flow, and avoiding prolonged endings that can diminish narrative drive. The speaker also warns against relying on luck to resolve conflicts for the protagonist, suggesting that it can feel unsatisfying and like cheating. Instead, they propose that luck working against the protagonist can be a more satisfying narrative tool.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Antagonist
💡Scene Format
💡Passive Protagonist
💡Through Line
💡Soggy Middle
💡Three-Act Structure
💡Seven-Point Plot Structure
💡Consequences
💡Three Ps (Promise, Progress, Payoff)
💡Patriot Endings
💡Luck
Highlights
Common plot mistakes in fantasy novels can lead to structural issues and a difficult editing process.
Nine recurring mistakes are identified that fantasy writers often make, affecting the story's suspense and character growth.
Defeating the antagonist too early in the story can diminish the threat and suspense for the reader.
Having the protagonist as an underdog can create more suspense and room for character development.
Repetition of scene formats can lead to a lack of variation and engagement for the reader.
Outlining can help avoid plot mistakes by providing a clear structure for scene formats and character actions.
Passive protagonists who do not drive the story can make the narrative less interesting.
Active choices by the main character are crucial for an engaging plot and character development.
A consistent through line or core conflict is essential for a coherent and focused narrative.
Lack of a clear through line can result in meandering subplots and a loss of reader interest.
The 'Soggy Middle' occurs when the story's middle lacks progression, leading to a slow and boring pace.
The traditional three-act structure can contribute to a weak middle, whereas a seven-point structure offers more guidance.
Weak consequences for character failures can hinder character growth and reader sympathy.
Adversity and conflict are key to revealing character depth and creating an emotional connection with readers.
Misalignment of the 'three P's' - promise, progress, and payoff - can disrupt the story's natural flow.
A prolonged ending with multiple plot resolutions can lead to a sense of the story petering out.
Compressing plot resolutions into a single moment can create a more dramatic and satisfying climax.
Relying on luck to help the protagonist can feel unsatisfying and like cheating to the reader.
Using outlining as a tool can help writers avoid common plot mistakes and produce more engaging stories.
Transcripts
so listen if you're a new fantasy writer
you're probably making plot mistakes
with your novel and they're ruining your
story and I say that because over the
past year I've edited a ton of different
fantasy novels and I see the same nine
mistakes come up again and again in most
cases the writers have no idea they're
making these mistakes but they lead to
really big structural issues that turn
the editing process into a nightmare now
I've been writing fantasy stories for
over 10 years and on my road to
publication I've had to learn about
these errors the hard way so I'm going
to show you how to avoid these nine
common mistakes and write a structurally
sound first draft that only requires
minimal editing later in the process and
the first mistake is beating the
antagonist too early so let's imagine
that you open your fantasy story with a
confrontation between your protagonist
your main character and your antagonist
perhaps they're having some sort of duel
where they're both using their magical
abilities against each other let's say
that your protagonist manages to
successfully defeat or beat the
antagonist in this scenario and then the
story goes on and you kind of progress
from there and maybe the antagonist
comes back and tries to attack them
again in the future
what's the problem with this setup well
if that is your primary antagonist and
that is the main force of opposition
within your story and your main
character has already beaten them within
the first couple of chapters the main
character has proven themselves more
powerful than this antagonist early on
there's not really a lot of suspense
when they have to fight them again later
in the story is there and of course I'm
using the word fight here but this can
also apply to more verbal battles to
confrontations that aren't purely
physical of course you can level up that
antagonist as the story progresses you
can make them more powerful more
intimidating more threatening but I
often find that when stories start with
the antagonist being easily beaten
easily vanquished it just really means
we have diminished threat throughout the
rest of your story and there's not a lot
of room for the main character to grow
the solution to avoiding this mistake I
often find is to have your main
character be the underdog so perhaps
they fight the antagonist early in the
story but instead of beating them easily
they just manage to fend them off and
they make a desperate Escape but they're
doing so from this perilous place where
it's very clear that the antagonist is
stronger than them mistake number two is
repetitive scene formats a scene format
is a specific structural archetype that
defines the prime memory action taking
place in a particular unit of your story
an example scene format might be a
romantic confession between two
characters or a stealthy infiltration
into a palace you can kind of think of
scene formats as different containers
and you could fill these containers with
whatever you want but they provide a
base level of structure almost like this
sort of template and these guidelines
for what you might expect to write in a
scene like this so there are hundreds of
different scene formats and you could
perhaps make the argument that within
the fantasy genre there are hundreds of
fantasy specific scene formats as well
but oftentimes when I am editing
writer's books inside my story coaching
program I usually find that they're just
using one or two scene formats over and
over again so chapter one might have two
characters having a conversation in
their house and then chapter two might
have two characters having a
conversation in their house and chapter
three has two characters having
conversation in a barn something I like
to do at the outlining phase of my
writing process and I find that
outlining is a really useful tool for
avoiding all of the plot mistakes I'm
about to talk about in this video I
often put down next to each of my scenes
in the outline what type of scene format
it is so maybe my first scene is a
sneaking scene the second scene is an
argument between two characters the
third scene is a battle and it's just a
really easy way to see at a glance am I
providing enough variation with my scene
formats so that readers are constantly
going to be engaged and so that the
conflict in the story is always shifting
and forcing characters to adapt and
overcome new challenges and on the note
of challenges this leads to mistake
number three passive protagonists so a
passive protagonist is a character where
the story happens to them rather than
the story happening because of them the
rule of thumb I like to follow is that
if you can easily take your main
character out of the story and nothing
changes
your character is probably overly
passive and it probably means the story
isn't as interesting as it could be
often it feels like a novel doesn't
really begin until your main character
makes their first truly active choice
and if you never have your characters
make an active Choice it can constantly
feel like you're waiting for the novel
to begin all the way to the end and this
is something that I notice and often
note down for my story coaching clients
I often tell them this here this point
at 35 of the way through the novel or 65
of the way through the novel this
actually feels like it's Where Your
Story begins because it's the first
active choice that your character made
up until that point I felt like I was
just waiting for something to happen now
of course your character can start out
as being passive and a character's
passiveness can be an interesting aspect
of their design but generally speaking
the more active choices your character
makes the more interesting the plot is
going to feel and as the plot progresses
you usually want your character to make
more and more active choices becoming
increase recently active as the story
progresses towards the climax mistake
number four no consistent through line
so a through line I like to think of as
the core conflict that's kind of running
through the story in other words what is
the one sentence summary of your book
that's probably going to touch upon
through line and it's going to touch
upon the core conflict of your story and
this is a question that's very important
to ask yourself when you're writing is
what actually is the one sentence three
line in this story maybe that sounds
like stupidly obvious but there are a
lot of writers who I talk to who
struggle to summarize their story in one
sentence and of course your story is
about so much more than that one
sentence description so trying to
encapsulate it in one sentence can be a
really difficult task but I think it's
immensely valuable to force yourself to
do this because very quickly you're
going to realize if your story has this
consistent through line or not and the
problem with not having a consistent
through line is that it leads to a lot
of meanderingness and purposelessness
with your sins oftentimes when I'm
reading a story and it feels like
there's all of these pointless subplots
or it feels like I'm bored within the
scene it's usually because the writer
has forgotten what the through line is
of their narrative and they have
deviated away from it in a way that
feels like it's cheating me as a reader
I came here for this specific conflict
and now we're over here doing this
different thing instead I want to get
back to this conflict that's where my
interest is that's where all of my
curiosity lies in this narrative this
mistake can also manifest as a lack of
conflict if it feels like there's just
not really anything happening in the
story and your main character isn't
being challenged isn't being forced to
overcome difficult obstacles it may be
because you have lost sight of the
through line of tension and conflict in
your narrative or perhaps it wasn't
really clearly defined to begin with now
if that is the case and you feel like oh
yeah Jed you're kind of right maybe my
story has a bit of this mistake right
now what do I do oftentimes the through
line is there there just might be four
or five three lines that you weren't
really sure
which one to commit to and your job as a
writer when you're going back and
editing through the book or perhaps
you're working through the first draft
right now is to write down all the
different through lines and I say this
with a lot of conviction because I
literally told this to a story coaching
client the other day
write down all the different through
lines that you are kind of interested in
exploring in the story or that you have
explored in your first draft so in the
case of this writer she had you know
maybe four or five different through
lines that were being explored in the
narrative but it didn't necessarily feel
like there was one that was standing out
to me that was driving the spine of the
story write down all these different
through lines and then ask yourself
which one of these is the most developed
in the narrative right now and which one
am I most interested in pursuing and of
course you can have these different
subplots but it's really useful to just
know what is the core source of conflict
and Challenge and growth for your main
character mistake number five is a soggy
middle this occurs when the middle of
your story lacks progression and purpose
and feels kind of slow and boring with
the pacing oftentimes as writers we come
into a narrative with perhaps a very
clear idea of our beginning and our end
but that middle stretch of your
narrative can be quite intimidating and
I hear from writers all the time who say
ah Jed I got 20 30 000 words into my
novel but then I kind of gave up and
that's exactly what the Soggy middle is
all about this mistake is very common
where you see writers maybe have a
strong start to their story man in the
middle things kind of dip and gets a bit
boring and it gets a bit stale and that
is probably when readers are going to
put down your book and move away so one
of the things I think actually creates
this soggy middle is the traditional
three-act structure now three-act
structure has a lot of prose to it but
one of the big issues that I see with it
is that you've got the First Act the
first 25 of the novel you've got the
third act the last 25 of your novel and
then you've got the second act which is
the middle part of the story but that
middle part is like 50 and if you look
at traditional three-act structure the
only really anchoring scene you've got
in that second act is perhaps the start
of the second act the end of the second
act and the midpoint but that doesn't
actually give you a lot to go on as a
writer because that could represent
present like 60 80 000 words of your
novel and to give a really quick
definition of three-act structure here
Act One involves the sort of exposition
setting up the world the inciting action
that kicks the story off and then the
turning point where the character sets
off on their Adventure Act 2 involves
rising action the midpoint of the story
where there's usually some sort of
traumatic change and then the Turning
Point into act three often described as
sort of The Dark Knight of the Soul
where it looks like the character has
all hope lost for them and then act
three is the climax and the ending of
your story now of course you can make
three-act structure work but for me
personally I found it way easier to
avoid the Soggy middle syndrome when i
shifted to a seven point plot structure
and that's because the seven points of
this structure provides you with just
more stuff happening in the middle part
of your story and it just gives you a
better guide and template to make sure
that there's constant excitement
development conflict and tension
throughout the narrative to provide a
brief summary of seven point plot
structure you've got your opening book
where you introduce the protagonist and
especially his flaws and Desires in a
compelling way then you have plot term 1
which is where the protagonist is taken
from the Ordinary World and thrusts into
the extraordinary world of your story
pinch point one where pressure is
applied to the main character usually
through the introduction or some sort of
action from the main antagonist then you
reach the midpoint and this is typically
where the protagonist fully moves from
passive reaction to active action and
resolves to stop or fight the antagonist
next you have pinch Point 2 where more
pressure is applied to the protagonist
really forcing them into their darkest
and lowest moment possible and that
leads to plot turn two where the
protagonist discovers or sometimes
realizes a key piece of information that
helps them defeat the antagonist lastly
we have the resolution where the
protagonist achieves or fails to achieve
his object of Desire now if you want to
go deeper with structuring your novel
and not only just structuring it by
looking at plot points but also looking
at the character arcs also looking at
how you weave World building and themes
and suspense and pacing all throughout
an outline in a way that is really
comprehensive and sets you up to write a
really successful book then you might
want to apply it for my six week fantasy
outlining boot camp this is a group
coaching program where I'll be taking
eight writers on and I'll be showing you
everything I know about outlining which
is the most important part of my writing
process it's the thing in my experience
that will most help you avoid these nine
plot mistakes and the Myriad of other
plot mistakes that you can make as a
fantasy writer and in the program we'll
go through a series of live calls where
I basically show you my complete
outlining process and how that's evolved
over my 10 years of writing and over my
three published novels and my video game
but then not only will we have these
live training sessions but we're also
going to have these live group coaching
sessions where I'll personally help you
develop a comprehensive outline for your
own fantasy novel that not only allows
you to master story structure character
arcs theme design World building
suspense pacing and all these other
elements of story but makes you excited
to write a story and allows you to get
over the hump if you have perhaps
struggled with finishing novels or
perhaps you have finished novels but
they are in a really messy place for me
outlining was a tool that helped me get
over that hump that actually helped me
produce really great stories and it's
also something that I have shown a lot
of writers in my one-on-one story
coaching program as well with really
great results my outline was pretty
sparse I knew what I wanted to do at the
beginning and it would be generous to
say I had a loose idea of what I wanted
to do in the air I gave it to Jed and
once he kind of saw where everything was
going he then was able to point out
parts of the story elements of the story
that I had been trying to work in and
maybe wasn't doing so successfully but
he also was able to point out things
that I hadn't even realized I've been
doing either wrong or correct and been
setting up for the future and so from
there we worked together to create a
very robust outline having that outline
to help me get over the hump and finish
my story was crucial I would not have
been able to finish without it and I
definitely would not have been able to
make it as good as it is without Jed's
help I'm getting ready to self-publish
soon and I couldn't be more excited
about how it's going you can apply for
my outlining boot camp by going to
jettone.com forward slash outline
applications closed on October the 2nd
and we're kicking off the cohort on
October the 16th mistake number six weak
consequences many new fantasy writers
are really afraid to punish their
characters for failure and that's a huge
mistake because it's through adversity
that a character really gets the chance
to grow the depth of adversity that a
character faces
directly corresponds to the depth of
true character that you can reveal that
is the deeper the conflict that you put
characters through the more you really
challenge them and force them to face
their demons the deeper we can kind of
dive into their psyche as a reader and
that's really what causes readers to
develop sympathy and connection to your
characters and if you think about the
characters that you remember well from
the fantasy novels that you love they're
usually the ones that have to go through
hell they go through the most difficult
circumstances possible and they somehow
manage to emerge from the other side the
question I like to ask myself is what is
the worst possible thing that could
happen to my protagonist in this
situation you don't always have to make
that thing happen but it can really give
you good inspiration and maybe guide you
down directions that you wouldn't have
initially gone in if you hadn't asked
that question mistake number seven
misaligning the three p's when it comes
down to it a story is just comprised of
your promise your progress and your
payoff now that framework might sound
really simple but oftentimes when this
structure of your novel doesn't really
feel like it's clicking it's because
there's a misalignment between these
three p's so maybe you promised readers
a particular type of story through the
tone and the scenes and the dialogue and
the actions the characters were taking
in the first few chapters but then as we
get to the middle of the story it's not
really going there readers will feel
cheated and the structure of the story
just won't feel like it's working you
want your narrative to feel like it's a
logical flow from beginning to end where
each scene naturally leads into the next
moment ensuring that your promise and
your progress and your payoff is really
nicely aligned is the pathway to
achieving that natural feeling flow
mistake number eight is the Patriot
endings so I've shared this framework
with a few story coaching clients but
this is the first time I've really
talked about it publicly in a video and
there have been a few novels I've edited
recently where the ending drags on a
little bit longer than it should and
perhaps there are let's say four or five
key plot threads going through this
story one of those threads might be
resolved in a chapter towards the end
then the next chapter has another thread
kind of being resolved and then the last
chapter has the final thread being
resolved and it kind of leads to this
slow sense of ending where you're
getting these threads gradually being
resolved as we go towards the end of the
story but oftentimes it kind of leads to
this sense of the story petering out or
puttering it out towards the end because
once that plot thread is done then that
source of narrative Drive of narrative
energy
it is no longer present in the rest of
the story the better approach and this
is something I've shared with a lot of
my clients is look at the moments where
the plot threads within your story are
being resolved and then ask yourself how
can I compress these and move them
closer together oftentimes you can turn
an all right ending into an amazing
Ending by simply taking the four or five
plot threads that get resolved over the
course of let's say two or three
chapters and instead compressing them
into a single moment almost taking these
plot threads and knotting them together
into one knot where they all kind of get
resolved in this one moment it usually
leads to a much more dramatic and
interesting climax because instead of
having this little explosion here little
explosion here a little explosion here
you're just combining all your Firepower
into one massive explosion and then the
last mistake mistake number nine is luck
that helps the protagonist so of course
as with all of these mistakes here there
are ways to do them well you can have
luck that helps your protagonist in a
way that doesn't feel like cheating and
does actually Advance the story but
generally speaking if you're using
coincidences or luck to get your main
character out of a hole that they've
fallen into it's not going to feel very
satisfying to readers and it's going to
feel like you're cheating particularly
within fantasy novels you oftentimes see
magic used for this purpose where
characters will just invent New Uses of
the magic that we've never seen before
or they'll discover these loopholes that
were never clear before or they'll just
use aspects of the magic that weren't
really foreshadowed or set up in a way
that felt logical and believable on the
flip side of this it's totally fine and
it often is very satisfying to have luck
help your antagonist that is for the
main character's plan to be going well
but then they get unlucky the antagonist
gets lucky and then this throws your
main character into Peril now if you
enjoyed that video you might like this
one over here where I share six World
building mistakes so that new fantasy
writers make
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