‫Hello rotters and welcome to the first lesson of the course.
‫This lesson is a special one as we'll be tackling the common structures that dominate the fantasy literature
‫world now as it began Arata.
‫I'm sure you have read a fair amount of books of the fantasy genre in which case I'm sure you notice
‫a lot of the books seem to follow similar plotlines although names and appearances will change.
‫I'll be discussing the four most popular structures for a fantasy novel starting with the most use structure
‫the first structure or begin with is called the generic or military structure as it is often the most
‫successful and in fact simple structure to use generic structure is where the plot is centered around
‫a main character who is thrown into the world much like you the reader.
‫The main character simply learns how the world works.
‫Discovering new things along the way in this way the main character is the reader being shown what the
‫world is like and since the novel is centered around the main character it is often written from the
‫main character's perspective.
‫Although it is often written from the first person third person is just as common.
‫Great examples of generic fantasy plots that did well are Harry Potter Narnia although Narnia followed
‫several main characters.
‫The effect was much the same.
‫Generic plots are successful as most fantasy novels incorporate a sense of wonder giving the reader
‫the curiosity to learn more about the world and having the main character react the same way as the
‫reader.
‫This reinforces the wonder that the world provides the next structure for fantasy novel is similar to
‫generic structure.
‫So I gave it the name semi generic.
‫The main difference between generic and semi generic is that semi generic main characters grew up in
‫a world instead of being thrown into them and as such it often leaves the reader behind to piece together
‫how the world works.
‫Now this still means that the main characters will be surprised and scared but they are fully aware
‫of the existence of this fantasy world.
‫Examples for the structure being the Spook series and the most popular example of this type of fantasy
‫novel is Game of Thrones.
‫George R.R. Martin was able to incorporate many characters and subplots but overall everyone in the
‫series knows the world they live in despite their being fantastic beasts and monsters.
‫Every character has in fact heard of them.
‫As Game of Thrones proved this type of structure is still popular and does rather well.
‫While the writing may not be a bigger splash than generic structures they certainly are more memorable.
‫These novels are usually part of a larger series as the interest in the generic structure normally runs
‫out after five to six books at the max whereas these structures are famously written to be much larger.
‫The third structure is the fable structure.
‫The structure of these novels is centered around a moral lesson.
‫This name is inspired by Aesop's Fables as there's always a moral to the story in these novels the character
‫could have been thrown into the world or born into it.
‫But the plot and structure are centred on the main character coming to grips with an important moral
‫lesson.
‫I'm sure we can all recall the fables we read in school or heard from our parents that made us brush
‫our teeth more regularly or not lie about who really ate the last chocolate chip cookie.
‫Well these structures are usually deeper than ensuring basic manners.
‫The main character in these structures are truly rotten people thoroughly misguided or simply just rude.
‫Suddenly they are thrown into or convinced to go on an adventure and change who they are.
‫Most of the story will be following them from point A to Point B and watching as they learn lessons
‫from the events along the way.
‫While many different series seem to incorporate as if their main characters these stories often only
‫have one more or less and that stands out above the rest.
‫While the most common fantasy novels all appear to have just several lessons that develop the character
‫as a whole.
‫Once the character goes home or reaches the end of their journey depending on where you want to in the
‫novel they have changed for the better.
‫Others are becoming a good person or at least a better one no matter what the change to this character
‫is clear and they are better off.
‫A popular example of this structure is the hobbit by a j are talking the novel is centred around Bilbo
‫Baggins the character.
‫The title references and follows his adventure there and back again to be left with memories lessons
‫and a different self but the overall is to be more accepting of the world that is around him and less
‫cautious about going someplace that is foreign to him.
‫In short to spend less time in his home of the shire and to explore the world that has been set up to
‫him one small.
‫Finally there is the three act structure the three act structure applies to some examples I mentioned
‫earlier.
‫It is the structure that follows in three steps.
‫First the introduction to the world in this third of the novel the skeleton of the plot is established
‫for the readers along with some fundamental aspects of the world and how it works and who the characters
‫are.
‫From there comes the second act in which the plot becomes more prevalent and serious events transpire.
‫Main characters are pushed and by the end of this act they are ready for climatic ending with antagonist.
‫Now the third act is used to build suspense show power and both protagonist and antagonist good overcomes
‫evil and the last chapter or two are left to tale of loose ends.
‫These three acts can transpire in a single novel or be split over several books much like the Harry
‫Potter series.
‫The three act structure is dreadfully broad and thus it can apply to many novels who are fundamentally
‫different structures.
‫Personally from these three structures I would recommend the generic structure to start with.
‫The structure is a great way for a writer to tell their story to the reader.
‫Often fantasy writers have such a large and amazing world in their head but they need to reveal it professionally
‫and clearly for the reader to follow by telling his story to the main character they are telling it
‫to the reader.
‫Personally I am a fan of both generic and semi generic as it shows in my writing.
‫However when I feel I wish to be more focused on a main character our lean towards fable structure I
‫find this gives me ample opportunity to change and develop a single character and it really pays to
‫pay so much focus towards a single character as it is not only a great practice for character development
‫but it can often make a more powerful story.
‫Now our first lesson comes to an end.
‫I hope you find it helpful in deciding a plot structure for your novel.
‫Of course finer details of your plot are left to you to create and I wish you enjoyable writing and
‫adding to the structure of your choosing.
‫In the next lesson we'll be discussing a world building in a fantasy novel.
‫I'll see you in the next video for now.