%% Last Updated: - [[2021-02-16]] - [[2020-09-15]] tags: ['#TVZ'] %% Instructor:: [[Brandon Sanderson]] <!--ID: 1631100133678--> Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cf-qdZ7GbA&list=PLSH_xM-KC3Zv-79sVZTTj-YA6IAqh8qeQ Brandon writes down [atomic]([[Principle of Atomicity]]) ideas in a notebook and then sees what he can combine to create something interesting. - Ex: setting: visual image of cathedral lights shining in the mist, or an Ocean's 11 heist cast of characters in a fantasy world - This is [[Zettelkasten]]! ## Plot ### Promise - Can be a tone promise: set the tone you'll stick to for the book as early as in the first scene - Sample of how the rest of the book is going to turn out, like in a "cold start" or "cold open" - A cold start is when you jump into a character's adventure or some other exciting event that is a foreshadowing of a future event or at least similar to it - Character arc promise - Show how what your character desires and set up a promise to deliver that in the book - Or, show what we know the character __should__ want and show that the character doesn't want it. - Ex: We want Bilbo to go on an adventure at the start of __The Hobbit__, but he doesn't want to! - Plot promise - Introduce the problem statement that will become the core plot (ie the structural, meaty plot) and maybe also the "juicy" plot (like a romance that keeps you reading) - Promises can easily turn into tropes or clichés, so sometimes you have to __break__ that promise to make your story more interesting. ### Progress - Don't be too quick to get to the payoff: show some struggle, with a few steps forward and one step back each time - Hook readers in by answering a few questions at a time - Every scene should show progress in one of the major plot arcs (even backsliding). ### Payoff - Give them everything you said you would in the beginning, but also consider giving them something additional or something new. - You can try a substitution plot where you promise one thing but deliver another, and that can be effective too. - Brandon is an architect vs gardener: he prefers to outline up front - Characters - Intro: who are they? - What is their arc? - Arc 1 - Arc 2 - Setting (more like encyclopedia entries) - Magic or tech - World-building - Physical setting - Cultural setting - Plot - When outlining, Brandon starts with the progress because then he can figure out what promises he needs to make or how he's going to deliver in the payoff. - Plot archetypes - Examples for [[Book/Mistborn (series)]] - "My Fair Lady" or Master/Apprentice: [[Vin]] trains under [[Kelsier]] and learns to use [[Allomancy]] - Heist - Ocean's 11 - Assemble a team, one of which is a newbie - Plan - Here's the problem, and this is why it's impossible - Let's break the problem into smaller pieces - There's one piece that's missing - Prepare: follow the newbie as they prepare - Execution: when they get to the piece that's missing, everyone but the newbie appears - Mystery around Lord Ruler - Romance: Vin and Ellend ## Characters ## Setting ## Conflict - is the glue that intersects with the previous three ## See also [[Writing]]