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Welcome to Mystic’s Writing Advice thread. Here, I will share my top tips on crafting stronger characters and creating fascinating dynamics between them.

This masterclass will take place over the next 3 days. As this occurs, I challenge you to follow along with these posts and try out the writing tips for yourself.

But first, instead of the usual disclaimer, here are some relevant testimonials from readers:
 

“I was laughing and crying at the same time. It was so very fitting for Aubrynne and Corlix to constantly try to one up each other and sacrifice themselves so that the other may live, it reminds me so much of their previous banter.” 

(Thank you, it took me 3 drafts before I was satisfied with that scene). 
 

“The characterization of the characters is pretty great. In particular, I think Aubrynne’s relationship with her mother was realistic and helped to drive the story forward. Personally, I felt the most emotion at the scene just before the final battle when Aubrynne had the option of either accepting or rejecting her mother’s attempt to make amends.” 

(Ngl, I actually cried when writing this part). 
 

“The other characters were compelling in their own rights as well with the standouts being Madame Spelwinter and Evelithe. Evelithe was a particularly nasty villain and I wanted to see more of her and of Madame Spelwinter and the history of their family line.”

(I wrote several pages characterizing these side-characters, so I’m glad it paid off).

Without further ado, let’s begin!

Table of Contents

Step 1: Creating Memorable Characters (link)
 

• The Protagonist
• The Deuteragonist
• Side Characters

Step 2: Characterizing Character Dynamics (link)
 

• Consistency 
• Character Interactions

Step 3: Connecting Character Dynamics to Plot (link)
 

• Static Dynamics
• Dynamic Dynamics
• Relevance to Theme

Step 1: Creating Memorable Characters

Let’s start with the basics. It’s impossible to create good character dynamics without strong characters. After all, if a reader isn’t rooting for a character to succeed, they have no reason to care about their relationships with other characters.

I know, this sounds obvious. But trust me: it’s crucial to understand who your characters are and what role they play in your story before you establish the dynamics between them. 

For simplicity, I’ve narrowed this down to 3 types of characters:


The Protagonist

Creating a memorable protagonist is a whole topic in and of itself, but that isn’t the focus of today’s advice. Maybe another day. For now, we’ll tackle the top trick to relatable characters: internal conflict.

I’ve stolen this from countless pieces of writing advice. Every main character (unless you’re writing a plot-driven story/ it goes against your genre) should have 3 things:
 

1. Fear
2. Desire
3. Misbelief

The ‘fear’ isn’t as simple as being afraid of mind goblins (sorry to use this example, Sent). It has to be something deeper, often rooted in the protagonist’s backstory. For instance, a spamming noob on CYS may have the fear of being ignored, thus manifesting in desperate displays of attention-seeking behavior. Or y'know, it’s more likely they’re just retarded. 

As you probably can guess, this fear is what the character must eventually overcome at the climax of their story.

Next, the desire will dictate the protagonist’s goals for the story. Common themes include: proving themselves worthy of something, attempting to rescue a loved one, getting revenge for a past wrong, etc. The key thing to remember is: every protagonist has to have a desire. If they don’t want anything or actively strive towards it, they remain a punching bag for the plot.

Think of it like the people we make fun of on CYS. If they don’t retaliate due to their desires—whether this is proving themselves right or getting back at the ones who mocked them—they’re not as fun to insult. Similarly, stories where characters do nothing to achieve their goals are often boring.

Lastly, misbelief. It’s a flawed way of thinking that influences a character’s actions. We recently had a discussion about themes and the best way to implement a theme is reversing a misbelief. 

E.g. If your theme is “Don’t make promises you can’t keep”, your character’s misbelief may be that it’s alright to make promises without any intention of fulfilling them. This would be reflected in their actions—for instance, challenging people to duels and flaking out—until the inevitable conclusion: they get banned. 

Usually, the best stories tie the misbelief to fear and desire. This means the protagonist believes in the misbelief because it enables them to move closer to their desire without facing their fear. Let’s revisit the previous example. A noob is afraid of being ignored because it reinforces their belief that they are insignificant and will never amount to anything. Their desire is to find a community where they belong. Now, because of their misbelief, they think the best way to do this is challenging others to duels and spamming an obscure website because it means they practically can’t be ignored and therefore achieve their goal… right? Wrong. That’s why it’s a misbelief: close to the climax, there comes a moment where they realize how everything they’ve done has only led to negative outcomes, and must either overcome their misbelief (redemption arc) or succumb to it and end up a banned faggot (corruption arc).

Side-note: A lot of stories infer the internal conflict as opposed to mentioning it explicitly. That’s completely fine; in fact, most writers often subconsciously use this technique anyway. But if you’re receiving feedback that your protagonist isn’t interesting/ relatable/ unique enough, this is probably why.


The Deuteragonist

This refers to the second most important character in your story. For an adventure story, this could be the villain; for a romance, this is likely the love interest; for a modern story, this might be the Asian parent who puts the protagonist under immense pressure to achieve impossible goals (no, the last one is definitely not based on a true story).

I cannot understate the importance of fleshing out your deuteragonist. Depending on their involvement in the story, you might not need to plan all 3 parts of the internal conflict. But if their relationship with the protagonist plays a pivotal part in your story, at least give them a desire (and possibly a fear to overcome as a subplot). 

Characterizing your deuteragonist can be difficult at first. Hence, here are 2 tricks I’ve learnt about them:

1. Character foils

When first starting out, a good way to practice writing distinct characters is using foils. This refers to characters that are complete opposites of each other. Think of CYS and CoG. They value completely different things, are two opposite ends of the spectrum (free speech vs extreme censorship), and one is full of based chads while the other is a breeding ground of degeneracy. 

Now, apply this to your storygame. Put two opposite characters in the same room. When they’re forced to interact, they will disagree on everything, creating natural conflict and interesting character dynamics. But more on this later.

2. Parallels

My favorite way to apply this is when a villain has similar values and beliefs to the protagonist, but because of one singular difference, they clash. It provides insight into what the protagonist would have been, if it were not for a specific event/ character trait.

I utilized this in my previous storygame, where both the protagonist and antagonist wanted to prove themselves to the people who looked down on them. But where the antagonist was willing to do anything to ‘win’, the protagonist eventually realized it wasn’t worth sacrificing the person she cared about. 

Often, this is a scary hack to make the antagonist relatable. It also sets up the foundation for a ‘moment of temptation’, if you enjoy using that plot point. 


Side Characters

Oh, you’re still reading? That’s good. Reply to this post with “Lol, [insert CYS member you hate] is an awful side character” to confuse those who are too lazy to read.

Back to the topic. Side characters don’t require extensive planning, but they need a motive. It could be as simple as ‘help protagonist succeed’ or as complex as ‘act as a quintuple spy between two opposing interactive fiction sites until you forget where your loyalties lie’. Either way, they need to want something and move towards this goal in your story.

This is what creates the best dynamic between characters. Having individualized own goals means some side characters get in the protagonist’s way, while others help them move forward. Remember: every character thinks they’re the main character. 

Pro tip: play around with the release of information, especially if you’re writing from a deep point of view. This is how betrayals or plot twists happen. When the protagonist assumes a side-character has a specific goal but this differs from their true goal, these characters appear more multi-dimensional. But make sure you foreshadow this (using out-of-character moments) otherwise it would seem like an afterthought.


That's all I have for today! If you want to view the next installment ahead of time, subscribe to MysticAdvice+ with only ten payments of $100,000.  

Lol, Abge is an awful side character. 

Lol, Mystic is an awful sidecharacter.  Work on all three drivers, why don'tcha.

My initial plan was to post all 3 today, but we realized there is a negative correlation between words in a forum post and number of readers. 

Shut the fuck up fatty, you are unfit to even drink of his istinja vessel. 

That's strange.

I remember hating all of the characters in your mystery story, though.

There wasn’t a single one I rooted for. Especially the ghost cunt that acted super smarter and superior to you and got no comeuppance. 

Lol, past Mystic was an awful side character.

Joke aside, this shows everyone it's possible to improve at writing character dynamics!

Lol, [insert CYS member you hate] is an awful side character

People actually read this post! The combination of curiosity and spite in the messages worked better than expected :)

This sounds like great advice to have a bunch of characters who read as fundamentally samey 

Lol, Ant is an awful side character. Preparing my first installation of $100,000 now.

Lol, I am an awful side character.

Lol, Corgi is an AWFUL side character.

Step 2: Characterizing Character Dynamics

Today, you will learn to get characters to interact with one another. I know most of you struggle with this in real life, so this step will probably be challenging for you. Luckily, I’m here to solve your problems with fictional conversations! Disclaimer: not to be confused with actual conversations—you’re better off seeking professional help for that.

Consistency

Just to clarify, the ‘consistency’ I’m referring to here isn’t one of many qualities Dutch food lacks. I’m talking about ensuring your characters don’t act… well, out-of-character. For this, I’ll share 2 tips:

1. Backstory

Always keep in mind a character’s backstory. A person’s worldview is influenced by their environment, profession, and the company they keep. For instance, a character with a military background will likely use war-related metaphors, while a character who is a therapist might find themselves ‘fixing’ people in everyday conversations. 

Our intrinsic values play a large role, too. For instance, when writing villain protagonists, there is usually an extent to how far they’re willing to go—some villains might draw the line at murder; others may assassinate anyone who stands in their way except if they’re a child—and these skewed metrics by which one views morality ought to remain consistent (with the exception of the character trait(s) that are meant to develop). 

It’s easy to identify when someone acts out-of-character. Here’s the quick audience activity for today—reply to this post with: “I dare [CYS member] to [do something that’s out-of-character for them]”. Chances are, they won’t complete this dare because it goes against their motives and values. The only exception is if they value the quality of fulfilling dares more than the negative consequences of the dare itself.

2. Goals

This is why I’ve emphasized the importance of internal conflict. It’s the map that your characters’ actions will follow. In order for characters to have satisfying dynamics, they must always be trying to achieve their desired goal unless: 1) something significant prevents them from doing so, or 2) they have developed as a character. 

Because I’m generous, I’ll apply this to real life scenarios too. If you’re struggling to make acquaintances, a good way is to find out someone’s desires and fulfill them. Let’s say Person A is looking for someone to share fun experiences with (e.g. traveling, trying new things, etc). If you want to befriend them, use this same logic of helping them achieve their goal! This could mean inviting them to events or teaching them something new. We do this subconsciously in our lives—our best friends fulfill purposes that are dependent on our values (e.g. emotional support, accountability partner, mutual understanding, person to pick on noobs with, etc).

You could also use this to discover why you don’t like certain people: Their actions impede you from achieving your goal. An example could be Person B, who constantly complains about how much they need a break when they’ve been on ten consecutive holidays. Your goal is to live a happy life, but their whining prevents you from doing so. That’s why you can’t change your interactions with people unless you change their goals (and the misbeliefs that perpetuate these goals). 

I didn’t expect this post to include life advice too, but I suspect that for some, it’s as greatly needed as the writing advice. 

When in doubt, follow Mizal’s advice: “Think of yourself and someone else interacting, then make them 50% less awkward and autistic.”

Character Interactions

There are common archetypes most side-characters follow, such as the mentor (goal: to help the protagonist improve, along with a possible secondary motive), the lover (to win the protagonist’s affections) and the innocent/ victim (to survive, thus forcing the protagonist to rescue them). With these, you have straightforward character interactions. 

I challenge you to take it a step further! Even if you use these as a starting point, each character should come with unique interactions. Here are a few ways to achieve this:

1. Disagreements

Imagine a conversation involving your favorite group of characters (apologies to that one person without an imagination). I suppose they aren’t sitting around and agreeing about everything, are they? The best interactions occur when characters disagree. 

A conversation of yes-men is typically a chore to read. It isn’t much of a conversation either. But when the characters have different beliefs (again, this ties back to the first part of this advice), it sets the stage for some well-executed dynamics. Bonus points if two characters are always getting on each other’s nerves, leading up to a breaking point (usually a messy fight or emotional argument).

Think of the enemies-to-lovers trope. It’s fun to read about characters who absolutely hate each other, bantering and bickering, gradually developing feelings for their ‘enemy’. Or think of the found family one, where characters are forced to work together, constantly getting in one another's way. Their clashes in values and goals create a dichotomy that you cannot craft if your characters are always in agreement.

Note: I'm not saying characters have to argue about everything. That would get old quickly. But they should challenge one another's beliefs, contribute somewhat equally to a conversation, or even try to prevent/ perpetuate certain plot points. Every conversation ought to: 1) advance plot, 2) develop a character, and/ or 3) change the emotional state of a character. 

2. Avoid ‘boring’ conversations

I urge you to remember those awful “storygames” of the past—badly written, barely readable, boring plots. They always start the same way: waking up in the morning. Then you get to choose whether to get up or remain in bed (the latter ends your suffering and gives you a free point). Unless there’s a specific effect the author is after, this type of beginning doesn’t hold the readers’ interest.

Similarly, try to avoid everyday conversations. Skip the “how are you”s and “the weather is pleasant, is it not?”. There will, of course, be exceptions, but don't bore your reader. If your characters are meeting someone for the first time, aim for an introduction where their personality shines through or just skip it with a one liner (e.g. we introduced ourselves). 

3. Subvert expectations

Most people are predictable. For instance, I can guess which—if any—members are likely to read this post, and which ones will reply with a dare. But sometimes, you need to keep your readers on their toes. No one will praise your character dynamics if it never transcends that of archetypal, basic bedtime stories. 

If the relationship between two friends has always been “I’d die for you”, maybe it’s time to give the deuteragonist a love interest. If the victim has always needed the protagonist to save them, perhaps give them an opportunity to save themself. If a certain member has always posted remarkable reviews and writing advice, maybe—just maybe—the mods could give her extra pointless points. (That last example is very important).

Now, this is not to be mistaken with acting out-of-character. Everything a character does must align with their internal conflict/ motive. Yet, people’s method of achieving their motive may change. Think of a CYS member whose goal is to be a part of the community. They may have started off rating every game and leaving reviews, but over time, they became lazier and stopped doing so. Is this change out-of-character? No, because their goal remains the same. They just found an easier way to achieve it! Similarly, characters may act in ways that seem strange to the protagonist, only for them to later discover the reasons behind this shift in dynamics.

While we’re here, I’ll recommend Mercenary by Ninjapitka. It’s really good at subverting readers’ expectations through plot twists while maintaining strong characterization. I implore you to read this as you wait for tomorrow’s text wall. 

Can’t wait? Sign up for MysticAdvice+ to get 10% off and view the next installment right now! 

I dare Celicni to give Ford genuine and sincere praise

I dare Thara to give anyone other than Ford genuine and sincere praise

No.

I normally wouldn't do this, but I've had two phone calls that lasted longer than expected, and I must finish an assignment today because I've got two more left to complete.

Post delayed until tomorrow.

It's for the best because most people only read 1-2 text walls at a time. While waiting, I'll direct everyone's attention to this thread and this thread.

Today's task: go vote on your favorite story if you haven't already and provide thoughtful feedback. Bonus points if you analyze the character dynamics.

Edit: delayed again because I'm getting worse at time management, but there's plenty of other threads at the moment so it's not like there's a dire need for the next one yet

I dare isentinelpenguini to stop guzzling massive amounts of furry cock.

I dare Mizal to commend Mystic's step 2 post.

Both you and Mystic are knocking it out of the park with these.

These are brilliant additions! The next time I write a story, I'll try to implement a few of these.

I also might need to change this thread's title soon.

I'm hoping that it is all consolidated to an article once it has run it's course.

Just write whatever is inside of you.

And then edit the crap out of whatever shit comes out of you.

Step 3: Connecting Character Dynamics to Plot

Now that you’ve learnt to create memorable characters and craft meaningful interactions between them, the last step is to weave character dynamics into your plot! 

This builds upon the first two parts. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be too difficult if you keep those in mind and implement them. I mean, come on now, it’s not like there has been a year-long delay between two steps of this advice, right? 

There are two main types of character dynamics which will be discussed: static and dynamic.


Static Dynamics

This is the simplest type of character dynamics. It refers to a character whose relationship with the protagonist remains the same throughout the story. Usually, they won’t have a character arc. But unlike those in the ninth level of SHAME, you can still make them important! 

     1. One-time appearances

Think of a noob that comes onto CYS, spews several posts of nonsense, gets criticized heavily, then disappears forever. Their dynamic remains static. From the moment they log onto the site, up until the inevitable ‘BANNED’ sign on their profile, their personality and character remains unchanged. They are there just to serve a specific purpose: to prove that CYS mods would not tolerate unproductive, non-learning noobs spamming all over the forums. 

You may use a similar technique in your story. Some characters are just there to fulfill a specific role, whether that’s the old man with a cane who’s knocked out of the way to show the protagonist’s impatience or the motorcycle gang of killer mutants that invade a prom just so the main couple can deepen their trauma bond.  

     2. Creating consistency

Sometimes, you’ll need to create a character that the protagonist can always rely on to be a certain way. They have a specific purpose in the story, and once that purpose is served, they remain as they are for the rest of the narrative. Examples include: a confidante to tell secrets to, an enemy who never fails to deliver an insult, or the random newbie in every contest who joins just to flake. 

Whilst it is possible (and fun) to make the confidante betray the protagonist, or the enemy hand out a rare compliment to the protagonist, some stories work better without such plot twists. It all depends on the narrative’s scope, focus and theme. In a storygame about a couple sending letters to each other during WWII, there’s no need to dwell too much on the characterization of a dog who dies if its only purpose is to illustrate the destructive nature of war. It remains the same throughout the story: a symbol of innocence and loyalty. 

     3. Archetypal characters

This one may be slightly controversial. Although some authors frown on using archetypes, I believe it could be helpful in specific circumstances. This is especially true for short stories or ones with too many characters. After all, they save words and allow the readers to focus on more important parts of the story. For example: a typical ‘mean girl’ character who uses her popularity to annoy the protagonist and gives the reader second-hand cringe will be hated by most readers almost instantly. However, this might lessen the impact of her death, especially when it occurs alongside that of many other characters. 

But just like false choices that do not alter a storygame, the less of this you use, the better. Some writers have the ability to create distinct voices in just a few words, so that’s definitely preferable. Of course, there’s the possibility of subverting archetypes to surprise the reader or execute plot twists, but that’s for a whole another category.

Everything sounds simple so far, right? So here are a few more tips and tricks for those of you who want to take this a step further. It’s especially helpful if you struggle to manage large casts of characters:
 

• I recommend keeping one-time characters unnamed. Having too many names to remember would only kill reader immersion. They’re there to read a storygame, not a telephone book. (Insert usual joke about how no one reads anyway). 
• A piece of advice I read is to combine characters that only appear once in a story. Rather than have a penguin that bullies the protagonist in one path, and a different one who teases him at the end, they can be the same character. Based on storygames I’ve read and comments I’ve received, it’s nice to see previous characters mentioned again in a story. 

Dynamic Dynamics

As you can probably already tell, this refers to characters whose relationship with the protagonist changes over the course of the story. Again, it’s all self-explanatory stuff, I’m sure you’ve figured this out from the moment you started reading fairytales and realized the old lady with a poisoned apple is actually an evil queen. But here are a few potential ideas for implementing dynamic dynamics:

Note: use this for your deuteragonist, antagonist, and other major side characters. 

     1. Start of the story

At the beginning of most character-driven stories, the protagonist has a misbelief. Refer to the first post on this thread if you’ve fordgotten what this is (excuse the pun). Another character changing who they are in the eyes of the protagonist may form or reconfirm this misbelief. For instance, if the protagonist has always felt powerless in her own life and her beloved, newly-married husband turns out to be a vampire who drains her of blood on their wedding night, this may reinforce this belief that she is a victim of her circumstance. Whatever the case, using dynamic characters to catch the protagonist off guard may move the plot forward.

     2. Middle of the story

Ideally, you want to have at least one other character whose relationship with the protagonist changes. This may occur slowly over the course of the story, maybe as a reaction or catalyst to their redemption or corruption arc. Another example (since these give me the chance to reference storygames I’ve reviewed, so those who don’t read would get FOMO): the protagonist goes on a quest to avenge her daughter by purging an entire species of fish-men, but as she reflects on what her daughter would have wanted, she comes to the conclusion that her innocent daughter would not have wanted her to sacrifice her life in this attempt. 

By contrast, two characters may have parallel plotlines. This might mean one of them gets better while the other becomes worse, or perhaps they overcome their weaknesses together, having similar ‘aha moments’ where they realize their misbelief. E.g. when the protagonist starts to realize that her self-worth shouldn’t be based on external results, she tells the deuteragonist that effort is every bit as commendable as results, which leads to the deuteragonist overcoming his own misbelief that he doesn’t deserve self-love. 

Another technique is changing the characters’ relationship for the midpoint plot twist. In a storygame where the protagonist doesn’t trust bots and their simulated emotions, she may be forced to work with one as she investigates a crime, which may lead to her getting closer to him until the moment where—at the midpoint of the story—she realizes she has fallen for him. Usually in romance stories, the midpoint plot twist occurs when the protagonist realizes they’re in love. In action stories, it’s something that completely changes the protagonist’s quest (e.g. the villain actually being good/ the trusted person being the true villain/ someone important dying). 

Other ideas you could include: characters with different misbeliefs getting in each other’s way, building friendships or breaking them, characters growing apart, falling in love, or becoming enemies… well, basically anything that changes between characters, either to move the plot forward or as a result of the plot moving forward.

     3. End of the story

There are lots of fun ways you could implement this, such as twist villains, redemption or corruption arcs, or relationship changes as a result of the protagonist’s character development. This is often tied to the moment of realization as the protagonist finds out something they believed in was not true. Let’s use the case study of a group of friends who faced off against a beast at the start of the story, resulting in the loss of one of their friends. Each of them blames themself for what had happened; one self-isolates and uses dangerous means to undo his death, while another tasks herself with the role of ‘protector’ to ensure the same thing never happens again. Yet, after they face off against a monster, they realize that running away from reality by creating false, distorted versions of it is not the solution, hence their friendship becomes stronger than ever when they begin to heal.


Relevance to Theme

Before we tackle the final piece of this character dynamics puzzle, let’s have a quick audience activity. Time to practice being a dynamic character! Address a CYS member, pretend to compliment them, then turn whatever you’re saying into an insult (or you can do the opposite if you’re feeling nice).

Sample:
Everytime I see one of your posts, I get really excited, because I know it will be filled with so much wisdom and insight, teaching me important lessons like how some people really lack the most basic coherency and self-awareness. Gosh, would it kill you to think before you type? 

(If you’re bored, you may try to guess who I’m insulting here).

But back to the topic, it’s important to remember that characters drive a story forward. One of my pet peeves is when a random sequence of events occurs, with no rhyme or rhythm, and the protagonist merely reacts to them. It makes them a punching bag for the plot. There’s no real change or growth; it’s not really a story, either. 

As an author once wrote: “What’s the truth you want to shout from the rooftops?” That is your theme. To convey a message to readers without sounding preachy, you can make your protagonist(s) embody this theme by giving them a misbelief, which will either get corrected (redemption arc) or worsened until they are defeated by it/ embody this fatal flaw (corruption arc). 
 

From then on, all the character dynamics are there for a purpose, creating a brilliant plot around your theme. You may have:

• Characters that move the plot forward/ allow the protagonist to achieve their goal/ find out information about a mystery
• Characters that challenge the protagonist’s misbelief (bonus points if the deuteragonist and protagonist challenge each other and clash a lot)
• Characters that help the protagonist
• Characters that makes it harder for them to achieve their goal
• Characters that make a protagonist’s misbelief worse by reinforcing what they believe in
• Characters that the protagonist see as a bad example and realize they don’t want to end up like them (or vice versa)

Bonus Content

Now, let’s explore static and dynamic character arcs using a very relevant example. Some of you may recognize yourself and the role you play here.

Theme: Procrastinating your contest storygames leads to unsatisfactory results!

Protagonist’s internal conflict
 

• Desire: to gain recognition by winning a contest
• Fear: the uncomfortable feeling of actually writing
• Misbelief: procrastinating a contest entry is not harmful as you will get it done before the deadline…somehow

Static characters:
 

• Seasoned member who claims that “true CYStians wait until the last week” (reinforces misbelief)
• Contestant who often puts off writing until ‘tomorrow’ but manages to finish good storygames on time (reinforces misbelief)
• Contestant who finishes a storygame a month into the contest and now has a lot of time to work on a more ambitious second entry (challenges misbelief)
• Shamed contestant who regrets putting their entry off until it was too late (challenges misbelief)
• Judge who reminds the participants of how much time they have left (raises the stakes & forces the protagonist to either rely on their misbelief or face their fear)

Dynamic characters:
 

• A mentor who advises the protagonist but secretly gives bad advice to ensure their own victory (obstacle to the protag’s goal)
• A site rival who would either gloat about their victory or be forced to concede that the protagonist is a better writer (emphasizes the result of the protag’s positive or negative character arc)
• A newer member who looks up to the protagonist and would follow their example (creates an added stake through this sense of responsibility & parallel narrative)

Plot
 

• Protagonist’s choices mainly revolve around choosing to pursue their desire (working on their storygame) or avoiding their fear (procrastinating through video games, movies or other means)
• A combination of cave-of-time branching and delayed consequences could be used to determine the ending:
  • Contest winner - overcame misbelief and fear early on
  • Placed highly in the contest - overcame misbelief and fear late in the story/ trusted the mentor’s advice too much
  • Last minute submission - overcame fear at the end, but not misbelief
  • Not a valid entry - not paying attention to the contest’s theme/ creating a storygame less than 24 hours before the deadline
  • SHAMED - could not overcome fear or misbelief 
  • BANNED - picking a fight with the judge

I accidentally got carried away and outlined a potential storygame idea, but you get the gist. Don't procrastinate! And to win review contests, you must— sorry, wrong advice column, that one’s not going to be released yet. 

Remember: create compelling characters, give them interesting interactions, and purposefully integrate them into your storygame.

This marks the conclusion of Mystic’s Writing Advice: Character Dynamics! And it only took slightly over a year. Feel free to add your own advice to this thread and I’ll compile it into an article with several co-authors at the end.

Extra challenge for those of you who read: try to identify the 8 storygames I’ve referenced in this post. I’ll give 20 points to the first person who gets them all.

(Hint: most of them are stories I’ve read recently)

Thank you