Plot Beginnings: Scene
Review Chapter 1 from Video Game Storytelling that describes the “want/but” conflict pattern that drives a plot. Remember that plot flows from he “want/but” structure of conflict, and thus conflict may not lead to violence or fighting–it is just a condition that often leads there. Plot unfolds via scenes where action happens that triggers then feeds the tension.
The fuel of fiction is conflict. Conflict powers your story. Conflict is the burning energy that propels it forward. And if your tale runs out of conflict before it reaches its destination, you’ve got a problem. But what is conflict? In terms of story, we can use this simple definition: Someone wants or needs something, but someone or something stands in the way. In order for a story to be a story, it needs to have at least one main conflict.
—Skolnick, Evan. Video Game Storytelling (pp. 13-14).
Also review Chapter 5 from Video Game Storytelling that describes the exposition or “set-up” of your story. Exposition is the minimum and critical information the audience needs to know to make sense of a scene in your story as it unfolds. Exposition is best relayed via actions of the characters–something happened that shows us the conflict, or details of the scene that provide hints of setting, time, situation, culture etc.
Also remember the three kinds of information critical in a scene:
- Need to Know: As you’d expect, this is a fact that the audience needs to know right now, before they can be satisfyingly entertained by what they are about to experience.
- Could Wait: A fact that, while potentially very important, is not necessary for the audience to understand at the current time. It can (and in many cases should) wait, until it becomes a Need to Know.
- Incidental: A fact that is relatively unimportant and will remain so throughout the story. While it may add color or characterization, its removal would have little to no harmful effect on the audience’s enjoyment of the experience. Therefore it’s a candidate for being cut if necessary.
Create an Opening/Exposition which contains a core conflict:
Create an opening scene that propels us right into the main conflict of your story. This need not be the climax, but rather a hint of the opposing energies of your story and the role the protagonist/player has in addressing the issue. Then explain how this scene will begin a character arc that demands a larger change in the character/player.
Create an “Article” in WordlAnvil using the Plot template. Fill in Content, Article Cover (an image) and Secret sections of the article. Secrets may be part of the critical but “could wait” info for your main plot, and/or information that adds fuel to the conflict and thus increases pressure for your player/character to change/grow. Paste the URL to your article in your post.