#plot advice

Protagonist's External

The "outer journey" of the character.

Protagonist's Internal

The "inner journey" of the character. The antagonist is often the self, a flaw, a weakness, or a misbelief that the character must overcome.

Relationship/B Story

How the relationship between the protagonist and others influences the way the character develops, grows, or changes. This plotline fits well between internal plotlines. It's not as extreme or far-reaching as the external plot, but it's not as deep or intimate as the internal plot.

Society/World

Conflict the the society or world the protagonist inhabits. This plotline is broader than the protagonist's external plotline because it has more participants. They may intersect in a significant way, but this plotline is outside of it.

Influence Character

A key, influential character. This is a character the reader is observing, mostly from the outside. The reader isn't as close to them as they are to the protagonist, but they aren't set against them like they are the antagonist.

Undercurrent Story

For the two 6 sided dice: Assign one of these as the "doing" dice, and the other as the "thing" dice. The thing dice will generally give nouns, and the doing dice will give adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. It will depend on your interpretation.

The "Thing" Dice

Assign these words to the numbers:

1 -> Environment

2 -> Secret

3 -> Artifact

4 -> Monster

5 -> Character

6 -> Magic

These are not "rigid" definitions. You will have to interpret them depending on the context. Keep this in mind.

The "Doing" Dice

Assign these words to numbers:

1 -> Old

2 -> New

3 -> Weak

4 -> Strong

5 -> Legendary

6 -> Dead

Remember: flexible definitions. Nothing is set in stone.

And a regular old d20. Alright, now let's talk about:

The "How" Of The Plotting

Take your half-assed stupid WIP. Or if you don't have one, create it. This will be the framework, the starting point. Make sure to have some vague setting and a few characters.

Take your "doing" and "thing" dice. Roll them. The result will usually be in the format of "adjective + noun". Try to understand what it is referring to, related to your story. [Roll the d20 to confirm you're thinking about the correct thing if you're insecure and indecisive.]

There are no rules. This is a very flexible method, so you can either ask yes/no questions to the d20 to learn about the thing OR throw the "doing" dice to see what the thing does (the result will usually be a "verb", and added to the previous roll it will become a proper "adjective + noun + verb").

That's it. Repeat as required.

However, you might get stuck at some point, or the dice might tell you something batshit crazy. Do not panic. This is normal, the dice are not going mad. Rather, you've stumbled upon...

An opportunity.

This is where interpretation comes into play. It is a very thought-heavy process and requires some creativity, but it is where the dice method gets to shine.

A knot in the dialogue between you and the dice means a plot twist, an exposition-related plot point, or a major incident. Think of it like a big gulp of information that hurt your throat to swallow. (Ignore dick joke.) The best thing to do at this stage is to ask more questions.

Don't be afraid of getting confused or being too stupid in the face of cosmic forces. You will need the 20 sided dice here— yes or no questions will help you determine what is certain and what is not. My standard for the results are:

1-9 || No.

10 || Not no, but not yes.

11-14 || Not quite.

15-18 || Yes.

19-20 || EXACTLY that, yes.

If it's a "no", there's no point following this line of thought. Discard it.

If it's "10", you're not on the right track, but the answer is related to what you're thinking.

If it's "not quite", try a different angle, but know that you're on the right track.

If it's "yes", well, it's a yes. But there might be more to it, or you're missing some minor details.

If it's an unequivocal "YES", congratulations, it's exactly what you think. Write it down, you've solved the mystery.

You might need to use the "doing" and "thing" dice here in harmony with the d20. Usually it will be used to ask questions that aren't yes/no, or when you're too stuck to come up with a question. Think of it as a clue to help you get on the right track.

Extra Q&A

What if the dice results don't make sense?

It might be that you're focusing on the wrong thing. Ask the dice, "Is this what you want me to ask?" and the result will usually be a "no". Try changing your angle, or switch to a different part of your WIP. If it answers "yes", it just means you're on the wrong track. Try asking with a fresh, blank perspective.

My dice is telling me one thing, then when I ask it again paraphrased, it tells me I'm wrong.

It might be that your dice is trying to draw you to a particularly specific answer, and the word choice might affect your understanding of that answer greatly, or steer you down the wrong path. Write down what it has given an extremely positive 'yes' on and try asking something derived from that.

The "thing"/"doing" dice doesn't make sense.

As I said, they are adaptable dice, and can mean something different than the word's exact definition. It's always good to ask the d20, "Is this word literal?" For "Monster", it can also mean a beast, an animal, an antagonist, or a sentient being that isn't human yet behaves in a humanoid way. For the adjective "Old", it can also (and usually does) mean "from the past". "Dead" can mean "disappearing" or "removal" or "diminishing". Words have associations, and as dice have limited vocabulary, they're going to force the limits of creativity to tell you what you need to know. You can also switch the roles of the dice (making the "doing" dice the "thing" dice, though this is kinda weird for me) or ask the d20 whether something means a verb, adjective, or adverb. There are no hard rules here.

My dice is deliberately provoking me (by telling lies/giving contradictory answers/taunting me for being stupid)

First of all, stop asking your dice what it thinks about you. This is dice. It is an inanimate object that doesn't have sentience. THE DICE IS YOU. You're the one doing the interpreting by choosing to find meaning in something ultimately random. It's not that deep.

Secondly, if the answers are contradictory, ask "Is this what you want me to ask?" Because most of the time, it is not. Stop being stubborn about a plot point. THE DICE ISN'T AGAINST YOU, THE DICE IS YOU.

Finally, stop asking your dice whether it is lying. Would YOU appreciate someone asking if you're lying when they previously asked for your advice? No? So don't. Trust your dice. For the last fucking time, THE DICE IS YOU.

I've asked the same question twice, and it's given me contradictory results.

Well, since the results are random, of course the chance of you getting the same result twice will be random. And as a rule of the thumb, it's better to note and keep going than to get stuck repeating the same question over and over. If something is dubious about the roll, asking "Should I roll again?" is enough. If the dice says "no", there's no point getting stuck for no reason.

Isn't this basically dice divination?

I don't know, I don't particularly care. It is what it is. If it fits I sits. So long as it works, the label isn't important.

(And since we're on the topic, I don't think it's divination. You're not "divining" anything. Anything that came out, came out of you, and additionally it all came out because you were trying to make a bunch of randomised results make sense. I don't think that's divination. But I do think that it's your genius at work.)

My WIP isn't in the fantasy genre, there's no magic. Can I use a different keyword in its place?

Whatever floats your boat, go for it. Though it doesn't matter what genre your WIP is, the keywords aren't just themselves, they are ASSOCIATIONS. "Magic" can mean magic or it can mean "deus ex machina", "free will", and so on and on. Depending on what you associate with magic, the associations might change. I chose these keywords after reading Lazy Dungeon Master and its categorization of worldbuilding, because they were simple and I could fit them in a 6 sided dice. THERE ARE NO RULES. Do whatever suits you.

I have another question/my question isn't covered in the post.

Ask!!! I insist! I'm always happy to clarify. My asks are open and the anonymous is on.

Asking Why

Plot is a messy conglomeration of worldbuilding, situations, and character reactions (among other things), so what's key for me is understanding why things are the way they are, and following that trail of questions. If you have a certain situation, prompt, feeling, etc, you want to convey, ask why it's there. Asking why and trying to answer those questions give your story more reason to them, which makes it feel more solid and believable. A healthy scattering of whats will also help.

I'll use a recent shorter work of mine, our corner of the world, a keefitz sick fic, as an example. I'd been given a prompt that someone was sick, and the other person didn't know how that had happened. So then that leads me down this trail: Well, why doesn't Keefe know Fitz's sick? They're not together when he falls ill. Well if they're not together, why does Keefe ask him about getting sick in the prompt? He must've had a reason to see him then, that way he can ask. Well, why does Keefe need to see Fitz? Maybe they had something planned. Okay, well the prompt is that he's sick, why is that important here? Oo, what if he's sick and that means he misses a date/hang-out spot. Okay, well what's Keefe's reaction to that? Thinking Fitz has had enough with him and self-doubt, so he goes to check on Fitz and after a little bit, they talk things out.

That process of asking questions of the very baseline situation I'd been given and the characters I was working with allowed me to think and explore in-depth various ideas. This was just one possibility, it could've led me a different direction.

Asking those questions to help create the plot instead of creating the plot and trying to fit it into the story I find allows it to feel more natural. I don't have to force things together because the two work in tandem. The baseline creates the plot, and then through the plot it enriches the characters and situation. It's more fluid this way, for me

The Skeleton

The other thing I like to do is write down the most bare bones outline of that plot I questioned into existence. It can be as simple as a single sentence explanation, but I make sure to know where I'm going. If I leave it open, I find my story wanders and loses sight of itself, and I never touch on what I want to. You may be different, but knowing (at least vaguely) my end goal is crucial.

For that keefitz fic, I wrote something like "Fitz sick. Keefe worried. Visits. Talk it out." Right there I've hit the most basic elements. There's the situation (sick, worried), what Keefe does about it (visits), and how it ends (talk). I know where I'm starting and I know where I'm ending, so I can get a better grasp of the space and story I have to work with.

For longer stories, like the wings au, the same thing applied. I was a little more sophisticated and decided an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, but each of those was just as simple. My notes legit say "big fight" for the climax.

From there, if you want to be more detailed, you can fill in the gaps between that and add muscle and fat and nerves to that skeleton, some organs to flesh it out (pun not intended but acknowledged). There's no rule about it, just however much you want to. I was fairly thorough for the beginning of the wings au, but way less so for the ending. For the keefitz fic I didn't go any further than what I said above and kept everything else in my head. Do what you like!

A final thing to keep in mind: plot can change! just because you've written things down doesn't mean you have to stick with them. Follow your story and don't be afraid to deviate. The original falling action and resolution I planned out in the wings au ended up not fitting with how the story developed as I wrote, so rather than force it into old plans I allowed it to grow outside of them.

Sometimes asking yourself more questions (why or otherwise) as you write will illuminate new opportunities you can incorporate, so if you're not certain of something now, it's possible you'll figure it out as you go. There were a few very important plot things in the wings ai I didn't know until after I'd started writing--like the little girl's role. She wasn't in my original plans at all, but ended up being very important!