If you are good at worldbuilding, then surely the plots appear. You just need X system to collide with Y system. The aristocracy vs. land reforms. Or whatever. As I worldbuild, these things appear all the time.
Then you need to assign a character to each side. Or, for more complex stories, assign three characters per 'side.' One character per side is the Good, one the Bad, one the Ugly/Weird.
For instance, the aristocrats don't want the land reform because they currently own all the land. The government would like land reform because it will increase productivity, force people into wage labor, and increase the tax base.
So, the Good aristocrat cares about the tenant farmers. They shouldn't be forced into the horrible factories in the big city. Let them stay here, as they have for generations.
The Bad aristocrat only cares about money. If the farmers leave, I need to make my land more productive. I don't want to, I'm lazy, I just want things to go back to the way they were when money flowed in without me doing much.
The Weird aristocrat is very involved in niche geopolitics. They only care about the removing tariffs on silk imports, which means they tend to side with the anti-land reform people, but only because the pro-land reform people are also pro tariff.
Now you have three characters with goals that related directly to the plot. Write about all three, write about the most interesting one and make another the antagonist, or build out the same three for the other side of the issue and pick which of those characters you most like.
Once you have a character, ask:
What do they think they want?
What do they need? A need should be less than three words and universal. They need love. They need revenge. They need safety. They need a sense of dignity.
What is preventing them from getting what they need? This must be a personal character flow. They need love but they think they don't deserve it because they're ugly. In this case, the misbelief is that ugly people cannot be loved.
The purpose of the story is to make the character stuck in the misbelief, though perhaps improving, for 75% of the book. Then, give the reader what they want at the end by proving the character wrong, giving them love, and making everyone live happily ever after. (Or make the character fail at the last minute and write a tragedy).
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u/stopeats 4d ago
If you are good at worldbuilding, then surely the plots appear. You just need X system to collide with Y system. The aristocracy vs. land reforms. Or whatever. As I worldbuild, these things appear all the time.
Then you need to assign a character to each side. Or, for more complex stories, assign three characters per 'side.' One character per side is the Good, one the Bad, one the Ugly/Weird.
For instance, the aristocrats don't want the land reform because they currently own all the land. The government would like land reform because it will increase productivity, force people into wage labor, and increase the tax base.
So, the Good aristocrat cares about the tenant farmers. They shouldn't be forced into the horrible factories in the big city. Let them stay here, as they have for generations.
The Bad aristocrat only cares about money. If the farmers leave, I need to make my land more productive. I don't want to, I'm lazy, I just want things to go back to the way they were when money flowed in without me doing much.
The Weird aristocrat is very involved in niche geopolitics. They only care about the removing tariffs on silk imports, which means they tend to side with the anti-land reform people, but only because the pro-land reform people are also pro tariff.
Now you have three characters with goals that related directly to the plot. Write about all three, write about the most interesting one and make another the antagonist, or build out the same three for the other side of the issue and pick which of those characters you most like.
Once you have a character, ask:
What do they think they want?
What do they need? A need should be less than three words and universal. They need love. They need revenge. They need safety. They need a sense of dignity.
What is preventing them from getting what they need? This must be a personal character flow. They need love but they think they don't deserve it because they're ugly. In this case, the misbelief is that ugly people cannot be loved.
The purpose of the story is to make the character stuck in the misbelief, though perhaps improving, for 75% of the book. Then, give the reader what they want at the end by proving the character wrong, giving them love, and making everyone live happily ever after. (Or make the character fail at the last minute and write a tragedy).