Anyone who has a bit of free time to help me work out a story idea I've been pondering over. It involves bloody combat, heaven versus hell style universal war, a demon willing to wage war against god in order to stop him, and much much more.
Taking a page out of Sol Stein's 'Solutions For Writers', I'd offer you this; Great plots come from great characters. Great characters come from great desire. Let's say your demon waging war against God is your principle character. Ask them why. Give them a reason people can understand. Then, once you know the character you can figure out what that person would do in order to get what they want. Are they strategic, allying with mutual enemies and then betraying them after victory? Are they charismatic, promising a carnal paradise for humanity if they relinquish their faith in the so-called 'Good God'? Or are they brutish, amassing an army of demons to kick down the Pearly Gates, posing on the butchered body of Saint Peter as their army of imps flood the cloudy sanctuary, burning down Heaven and cutting the throats of the 'saved'? Once you've got your character, the trick then is to escalate the obstacles and make it harder and harder still until you reach climax.
I agree with what Elgin said about using the character to make the storyline more personal. Think about well-known fantasy stories like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones -- even with the large overarching plots (like Voldemort, or the ongoing war for the Iron Throne), the more personal storylines are the ones people actually care about, and then those smaller storylines are woven together as threads of the bigger picture. If you're just starting off and don't have a confident grip on your novel's plot structure yet, I'd highly recommend the blog "Story Fix" by author Larry Brook. (He's written a few very helpful books too). He breaks down the mechanics of storytelling structure and gives a lot of great advice on how to make your story personal. Remember that the big fantasy elements (like the heaven/hell war) are simply the backdrop of the more personal story. Kind of like how in "Titanic," the ship sinking is the main plot concept, but it's also just the backdrop. The real "personal" story, that people get emotionally immersed in, is the part about the family pressure and love and tragic personal loss. People can relate to those things.
Thank you both I will check that out. It's given me a new eyesight on my story making. I had not considered such a viewpoint before.
Is there anything more you can tell us about the story? I feel like you gave us some elements but as much of a premise or theme.
Sounds good to me. You can send me a PM. I love helping with stories. Though, I can be a bit slow. Warning in advance.
