Warriors Fanfics: Specialized Writing Guide

Plot Devices & Warriors

June 27, 2019

This section goes over the use of plot devices in Warriors. Much of the information about plot devices comes from tvtropes.org. Be warned, TvTropes is a time eater. Visit at your own procrastinating peril.

You come to a point in your story where you need to advance the plot, but have no idea how. This is writer's block. You may not have any idea how to move into the climax battle scene, or how to bring your prophecy back into the story now that your main character is leader. This is why fanfiction in general gets abandoned so often. And, while this section is not specifically about writer's block, it is about a tool that all fiction writers have in their arsenal: plot devices.

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WHAT IS A PLOT DEVICE?

A plot device is anything that moves the plot forward. Anything. People who write fiction, from the multi-million dollar empires to the amateurs of the internet, use plot devices as ways to advance things forward when nothing else possibly could. Many believe plot devices to be bad; there are a plethora of writing blogs and how-to books out there that tell you to avoid them like greencough. But they are not bad. You will find it very hard to write genre fiction without referring to them. That being said, do not fall back on obvious crutches. You know it when you write them. You have seen them in all fiction you have read, seen, or played. Your readers know them when they see them, and they roll their eyes when they do.

Here are some quick examples of some of the most common plot devices in writing, just to give you an idea:

- chekhov's gun - A device or object is given to an important character early in the story and promptly stored away for later. Much later in the story, during an important event, the character uses this object and changes the course of the event or the entire plot. Commonly used as a deus ex machina.

- deus ex machina - A situation is hopeless and unsolvable for an important character until this device shows up. It is unannounced, not foreshadowed, and never before seen. It resolves the hopeless, unsolvable situation to allow the important character to continue the story. Usually used in sci-fi/fantasy.

- red herring - An event, character, or object is inserted into the story to direct the audience's attention away from something significant. Near the end, the very thing they had been distracted from was of the utmost importance, and the red herring was meaningless. Often used in crime fiction.

- MacGuffin - An object of great importance. It is so important that if this object did not exist, there would be no story. This object is the center of any character's actions and sometimes their motivations. It can be the plot itself. Often, money is this object in fiction.

Most plot devices are derived from commonalities in life itself. For many people in the industrialized world, money is their MacGuffin. They need it to survive or to advance their goals. Sudden bad weather is a deus ex machina for millions every year, getting people out of boring events, school, or stressful situations (of course causing many more problems than it solves). You have seen these things before. They are all around you. If you open up a history book, you will find many situations featured 'plot devices' that altered the course of events.

There are many, many plot devices out there. Hundreds to use in your story. Some offshoots of others, specifically tailored to a genre or theme. I recommend TvTropes to see a comprehensive list spoken in plain english; no 'instruction manual' entries there.