Stephanie O'Brien
  • Home
    • About Stephanie
    • Privacy Policy
  • Stories
    • Novels >
      • The Silent Fugitive Series >
        • My Fugitive
        • Voice of a Silent Fugitive
        • Silent Fugitive: The Complete Series
      • Heroic Lies
      • Catgirl Roommate
    • Short Stories >
      • The Aristocrats and the Beasts
      • Upholding the Covenant
      • The Echoes In Our Heart
      • Living Through You
    • Fanfiction >
      • Undertale - Just Cause >
        • Just Cause, Chapter 2
        • Just Cause, Chapter 3
        • Just Cause, Chapter 4
        • Just Cause, Chapter 5
        • Just Cause, Chapter 6
        • Just Cause, Chapter 7
        • Just Cause, Chapter 8
        • Just Cause, Chapter 9
        • Just Cause, Chapter 10
        • Just Cause, Chapter 11
        • Just Cause, Chapter 12
        • Just Cause, Chapter 13
        • Just Cause, Chapter 14
        • Just Cause, Chapter 15
        • Just Cause, Chapter 16
        • Just Cause, Chapter 17
        • Just Cause, Chapter 18
      • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand >
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 2
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 3
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 4
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 5
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 6
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 7
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 8
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 8
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 9
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 10
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 11
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 12
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 13
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 14
      • Farscape - Means to an End
      • Don't Starve - Four Times I Begged Them
      • Avengers Endgame - Baby Pictures: How Endgame Should Have Ended
      • Subnautica Below Zero - It Will Be Okay
      • Subnautica Below Zero - Regrets of Sellswords and Scientists
      • Subnautica Below Zero - Naked Secrecy
      • Subnautica Below Zero - I Wish You Were​
      • Wakfu - Echoes of Bitter Comfort
    • Undertale Webcomic - Just Cause
  • Art & Commissions
    • Commissions
    • NFTs
    • Undertale Fan Art
    • Farscape pictures
  • Merch
    • Pride flag art
    • Abstract art
    • Symmetrical art
    • Floral art
    • Animal and People Art
    • Text Art
  • Videos
    • Art Videos
    • All Farscape Videos
    • Funny Farscape Videos
    • Peaceful Farscape Videos
    • Energetic Farscape Videos
    • Farscape Songs
    • Undertale Videos
    • Extended Songs
  • Patreon & Ko-Fi
    • Patreon
    • Ko-Fi
  • Contact
  • Blog

Should There be a Prophecy About Your Protagonist or Plot?

17/5/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
In some stories, the plot's resolution takes everyone by surprise. Nobody knew how the story would end, or how the outcome would be achieved.

In others, the ending was a surprise to absolutely no one, because a prophecy had already spoiled the ending long before it could happen.

The downside to having a prophecy:

Having a prophecy about your plot or protagonist has one obvious drawback: it spoils the ending of the story, and removes much of the dramatic tension that you otherwise could have built.

When the audience knows how the story will end, it takes a lot of skill to avoid making them feel like you're simply going through the motions. Some storytellers don't have that skill, so the prophecy ruins what could have been a good story.

Can you include a prophecy without spoiling your whole story?

Sure you can - if you do it right.
​
Here are a few ways you can include a prophecy in your tale, without it being a massive drama-killing spoiler:

1. Make the prophecy ambiguous.

Maybe the prophecy says a kingdom will fall - but it doesn't say WHICH kingdom.

Perhaps it warns of a sacrifice, but you don't know who will be lost in order to resolve the conflict.

Or maybe it was foretold that an angel will bring freedom, but there's debate about whether that means a good angel will bring freedom from imprisonment, or an angel of death will force people to accept "freedom" from this mortal coil.

A good fictional prophecy will have enough specifics to raise questions and make it clear when the prophecy is fulfilled, but enough ambiguity that it doesn't explicitly lay out how the story will end.

2. Make it unclear who the prophecy's about.

Picture
​"Is this prophecy really about me? Or am I trying to force myself into a pair of shoes that was never made for me?"

This kind of uncertainty can make the protagonist question their actions, their motives, and their role in the adventure as a whole.

A jealous or egotistical character might become suspicious of anyone who might "steal" their role, while a more passive or weary person might hope that they can find the "real" subject of the prophecy and thus relieve themselves of a harsh obligation.

By making the prophecy unclear, you can turn it into a plot-and-character-development-driving question, instead of a plot-spoiling fact.

3. Have the characters question whether the prophecy is true.

Is the prophecy actually accurate, or are the characters making a fatal mistake by basing their strategy on something that isn't actually going to happen?

Is the character doing what they're doing because it's right, or because they think they're "supposed to" because of a prophecy that might not even be true?

Raising this question can bring a lot of fear and uncertainty into the story, and can also cause conflicts between characters who believe the prophecy and those who don't.

It can also serve to highlight the cooler heads in the cast - those who are able to incorporate the prophecy in their plans, while creating a backup plan just in case the foretelling turns out to be a load of bull.

4. Fulfill the prophecy in an unexpected way.

​If you can fulfill the prophecy to the letter, but do so in a way that the audience doesn't expect, you can have the cake of solid foreshadowing and have your readers enjoy eating it, too.

Picture
The cake doesn't have to be a lie, but it shouldn't be the whole truth.
Perhaps the prophecy gets fulfilled one piece at a time instead of all at once. Maybe the characters' assumptions misled the reader about how said fulfillment would look, or maybe it was already fulfilled off-screen, but the cast wasn't aware of that.

But whatever you do, do not...

1. Use the prophecy as the sole reason why the protagonist has to do something, with no plausible reason why that should be the case.

2. Make the prophecy the only reason why it HAS to be the protagonist, when other characters are much more plausibly suited for the task.

3. Spell out the end of the story through the prophecy, and then do exactly what was foretold, with no twists or additional requirements to create a happy ending.

If you avoid these three traps, and use one or more of the plot-twisting or question-raising techniques that I outlined above, you should be able to include a prophecy about your plot, without making that plot predictable.

​Do you use prophecies in your stories?

Did any of these tips help you to make your prophecy plots more interesting?


I look forward to reading your comments.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Stephanie is the author of My Fugitive, Voice of a Silent Fugitive, Heroic Lies, and Catgirl Roommate, as well as the artist behind the Undertale webcomic Just Cause.

    This blog often updates with new stories and artwork, so please keep checking in!

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Art Tips
    Behind The Scenes
    Comic Dubs
    Don't Starve
    Excerpt
    Fan Art
    Fanfiction
    Farscape
    Flash Fiction
    Humor
    Interactive
    Just Cause
    Madoka Magica
    MCU
    Music
    Music Videos
    Observations And Opinions
    Other People's Blog Posts
    Personal Stories
    Poetry
    Print On Demand
    Reviews
    Romance Writing Tips
    Special Opportunities
    Subnautica
    The Elder Scrolls
    Underfell
    Undertale Fan Art
    Updates About My Novels
    Videos
    Wakfu
    Works In Progress
    Writing Tips

    Archive

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly