KatrinHollister Presents: How to Plot a Fantasy Story

Hello, folks! My name is Katrin Hollister and I'm a doctor, fantasy writer, and menagerie owner from the UK. I shall be talking about PLOTTING A FANTASY STORY, specifically, how I plotted my fantasy story, RUNE MAGE.

There are many methods of plotting a novel. Two methods I've used before were the snowflake method and what I call the "There and Draft again" (TADA) method (found here: https://thereanddraftagain.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/how-to-plot-your-fantasy-novel/), named after the blog where I found it. I blogged about the snowflake method, used for Rise of the Vengeful Dragon, but am not a fan of it. The TADA gave me more room to work with, less concrete compartmentalising of my story, and the percentage makeup became a good guide to aim for. I'll talk briefly about character creation, magic lore, and world-building, too.

So let's work through how I plotted my YA fantasy adventure, Rune Mage. I've condensed my plotting notes to make for easier reading. This will contain spoilers!

CHARACTERS

For me, the mains came into being long before the story started rolling. I used a modified version of epiguide.com's "Character Chart for Fiction Writers" to create character sheets for each main gameplayer to know their basic appearances, backgrounds, and personalities. I started with my MC, Seiren Nithercott; her twin sister and voice of reason, Madeleine; Seiren's begrudging tutor, Rowan Woodbead; and foul-mouthed mastermind Kommora Haigh. The antagonists, the king's mages, manifested as a group rather than individuals initially.

Start with a single sentence to describe your entire story: orphaned sassy mage tries to resurrect dead sister, accidentally foils whole-country mass sacrifice. This is her MOTIVATION.

Each major character must have a motivation or aim, and the antagonists' must somehow force the aims to be mutually exclusive. This gives me the CONFLICT.

Seiren desires to bring back Madeleine by becoming a king's mage, but the king's mages are strict in maintaining their status quo. Rowan desires to lead a straight and rule-led life, but the king's mages are going to force him to break rules to use him as a scapegoat. Kommora desires to overthrow King Pollin and the king's mages' tyrannical reign, but the king's mages are going to kill her as she poses a threat to their greater plan.

MAGIC LORE

When writing magic, I find it helpful to keep a few rules in mind.

HISTORY [Or, "Can everyone do magic? Why (not)?"]

Magic stems from humans in the country of Karma acquiring the ability to utilise celestial energy showered from planets orbiting aeons ago from a pair of magical sisters. Genetics determine one's ability (and its extent) to utilise celestial magic.

LIMITATIONS/WEAKNESSES [Or, "Can my magic do literally anything?"]

Rune magic must be drawn (in chalk, ink, etc.). Burst magic requires a tranquil mind. Flash magic demands a controlled surge of emotions. Organic magic needs the blood of the victim drawn into a rune. Chaos magic is weak unless in the presence of life or death. There is a resource/fuel limitation or cost in how much magic output a person can produce in a set period of time before physical exhaustion (stamina).

INTEGRATION [Or, "How does magic fit into this story?"]

If magic is part of your story, then it will be part of the world you created. State mages are civil servants who aid the running of society by the provision of goods and services (runes for powering rune motors and trains, building repairs, light and heat) and occasionally call of duty if war arises.

WORLD BUILDING

I'm sure some could write a whole essay on the art of world-building. Most of my worlds come fairly formed to me, which means I'm not well-versed in actually the creation process. I found Taran Matharu's tips quite helpful in making the world of Rune Mage.

THE PREMISE

[Tell me four things about the basis of your world]

Summoning (by Hannans) and creation magics (by Karmans) used to be the same vein of celestial magic, powered by planetary orbits, until the country splits into two.

Magic users are usually from in the same magical bloodline, but some are born naturally with it.

Hannans are taught from a young age to bond with one special demon, summoned from the netherworld, which persists in this realm using the Hannan's stamina.

Karmans are taught from King's to utilise their ties to magic flow powered by planetary orbits for creation.

WIDER WORLD

[Tell me four ways in which magic impacts your world]

Magic has multiple uses including for warfare and healing. Burst and flash are primarily used in combat due to speed and power but rune is more versatile but slower.

Rune magic can aid everyday things including construction, modify conditions (e.g. keeping hay sheds dry), taking place of technology (runed motors).

Magic can be used in research e.g. in warfare, healing, technology, although most laypeople tend to manage without.

Use of magic in warfare has been implemented in the past, making Karma a major threat to other countries.

THE PEOPLE

[Tell me four groups of people in your world]

King's mages: Hanna sends spies into Karma to liaise with king's mages to plan a coup and overthrow Karma due to Karman king's oppression of magic.

Hannans: they feel Karmans are selfish for occupying their sacred land, thus preventing magic working in its natural state, and fully support the Hannan king's intention to reunite the two countries despite his violent methods.

Karmans: they feel Hannans are uncultured swines who wish invasion and destruction of peace and wish to have nothing to do with them. History books documenting the original source of magic as one was long overwritten by the Karman royal family.

Pollin, king of Karma: his selfishness and desire for solo power despite not possessing any magic himself is a source of ridicule and disdain from the king's mages who felt they alone hold the right to magical power, and should not be shackled.

GEOGRAPHY

[Tell me four geographical facts about your world]

Mountains in the north separate Karma and Hanna, making the city of Acrise difficult to penetrate due to high cliffs and runed walls.

Wastelands to the southwest are due to a magical war 2000 years ago between Teirrin and Karma, and rebels had sacrificed Teirrin to recreate ancient celestial magic, resulting in devastation of Teirrin. A small collection of survivors live in the hazardous wasteland.

Desert to the east separates Karma and Moakai. Moakai has travellers, hunter-gatherers that survive dry conditions through constant moving for lush lands. The long stretch of desert prevents them from wandering into Karma.

An artificially-created river flows from east Karman-Hannan border via Lydden, Keycol, to Benover (via Danaway to the sea in south) to prevent Hannans from blocking off the water source to threaten Benover.

PLOTTING

Now, for the actual story plotting.

TADA suggests the story should progress in proportions, comprising as follows: Opening/Protagonist intro (1%), Inciting Incident (4%), First Turning Point (5%), First Big Twist (30%), Middle Turning Point (10%), Second Big Twist (20%), Climax (15%) , Resolution (15%), Finale (5%). I use it as a guideline, giving me the following (condensed to keep this post brief!)

OPENING/PROTAGONIST INTRO

[Introduce your character and show us their motivation/question.]

SEIREN is a bitter orphan shopping after graduating from magic academy. She spots an alleged spy for Hanna, the neighbouring country, and tracks him down with the help of her sister, MADELEINE, whose soul is trapped in a stone, a predicament she intends to reverse.

INCITING INCIDENT

[Status: peace. Now is the trigger for change.]

Seiren uses rune magic, destroys the demon summoned by the Hannan, and almost kills the Hannan had ROWAN, a state mage, not arrived. Impressed, Rowan secretly requests to be her tutor. Seiren is uninspired by his burst magic.

FIRST TURNING POINT

[Build up the tension in anticipation for Disaster 1 of 3.]

Rowan does not teach Seiren any rune magic, to her chagrin. He notices she struggles with burst magic and correctly guesses Seiren's concentration is sapped by fuelling the stone with Madeleine's soul. He tells Seiren she will never ascend the mage's ladder if she continues to fail.

Seiren is sent to a ruined city overrun by gangs to quell an uprising, a task wholly out of her league. When her life is threatened, KING POLLIN personally steps in, piquing the interest of veteran mage KOMMORA.

FIRST BIG TWIST

[Throw in a wrench. This is Disaster 1. A decision is made.]

Seiren gets involved in unethical research, approved and funded by the council, in her aim to bring Madeleine back to life, much to Madeleine's worry.

The rebel mages are first seen beginning a recruitment to overthrow Pollin's reign and kill their targets when they refuse to join their cause. Other mages begin to notice the magical murders. Kommora begins to investigate and is halted by the king's mages.

MIDDLE TURNING POINT

[Throw in two wrenches. This is Disaster 2 -- worse than 1. Another decision is made.]

During a particularly gruesome, failed experiment, Madeleine and Seiren argue about the morality of her work. Madeleine reveals she would rather die than see Seiren spiral into darkness. Distraught, Seiren abandons her research and is caught and nearly killed by a rebel mage had Pollin not once again stepped in. Rowan's friend LOREN teaches Seiren healing magic after hearing her plight.

Rowan looks into Seiren's past and questions the suspicious circumstances around her parents' deaths. Loren travels to Seiren's hometown and discovers Seiren's mother KRISTEN is still alive. Before Loren can relay the information, the king's mages kill her.

SECOND BIG TWIST

[Throw in ten wrenches. This is Disaster 3 -- worst of them all. Trigger the climax.]

Seiren and Rowan are sent north to aid the country borders due to the threat of Hannan invasion with the death of the Hannan king, where Seiren meets MAURA, Rowan's military-trained sister. They are instructed by a king's mage to instigate war by murdering their own. They refuse and escape with the aid of rebel mages in hopes of getting support from Kommora in the capital. They are arrested on arrival and Kommora is threatened to desist her investigation into Pollin.

CLIMAX

[Everything's gone wrong!]

Seiren is exiled, but escapes her captors and return to the capital where her unethical experiments have been unleashed on the citizens. Pollin attempts mass murder of the state mages but is foiled by the rebel mages' arrival. Led by Kommora, they storm the palace and defeat the king's mages. Seiren discovers her mother, Kristen, is alive and is part of the orchestration behind her faked murder six years ago, the murder and control of Pollin, and instigating war as a distraction, in order to recreate ancient magic benefiting the king's mages, with the support of the Hannan prince. Seiren refuses Kristen's offer to join her cause. Kristen triggers the magical mass sacrifice spell, catalysed by the death of capital citizens, to reap magic.

RESOLUTION

[Tidying up after the mess up there]

Rowan's sister Maura has implemented an anti-magic rune, negating the effect of the spell, which ceases, but not before killing Maura. Seiren uses that same catalyst to power up her healing magic, which turns out to be the same ancient magic Kristen seeks, and strips Kristen of her magic.

FINALE

[Must decide if Happy/Unhappy/Bittersweet. Must address motivation/question at the start of the story.]

Seiren uses the remains of Kristen's magic to imbue Maura's body with Madeleine's soul, bringing her sister back to life at the cost of her own magic. Kristen is arrested for treason and misuse of magic and awaits her sentence.

So what do you think of my plotting method? Do you do something similar or entirely different? Is there anything helpful in mine you might try out? Tell me all about it!

To celebrate the #WattpadBlockParty, I'm giving away in-depth critiques plus promotion on all my social media to TWO participants. This giveaway is open internationally.

Thanks for checking out my post! You're awesome. Keep writing!

Much love,

Katrin Hollister

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