Plot development in fantasy is not a spontaneous idea, but a **sequence of decisions under fixed rules**. Imagination provides possibilities, logic organizes them, consequence holds them together. Openness ensures that the plot does not remain static, but can develop if characters act differently than planned.
1. Core Conflict, Stakes, and Trigger
I start with the **core conflict**. Not with world description, but with a dispute over something concrete: territory, succession, resources, control over magic, or the survival of a city. Then I define the stakes and risks. What does the main character lose if they fail? What does the world lose? Without clear stakes, there is no drive.
The next step is the **trigger**. This event must turn the situation around and force action: betrayal, attack, law, discovery, or defeat.
2. The Chain of Decisions
After that, I build a **chain of decisions**. Plot only arises because characters act. Every important scene demands a choice: attack or retreat, truth or lie, alliance or break, sacrifice or escape. Every decision must have consequences. If it changes nothing, it doesn't belong in the plot.
Next, **obstacles** arise from the world itself. Winter blocks paths. Borders prevent quick escape. Politics delay solutions. Magic costs strength or life. These obstacles are not coincidences, but logical reactions of the world to the actions of the characters.
3. Turning Points and Counterforces
Then follows the construction of **turning points**. A plot without turning points remains linear. I set clear incisions: loss of a city, death of a key character, exposure of a betrayal, failure of an alliance. Every turning point permanently changes the situation and narrows or shifts the possibilities for action.
Counterforces remain active. Antagonists act independently. Empires mobilize. Rivals exploit weaknesses. The plot arises not only from the path of the main character, but from the interplay of multiple forces with their own goals.
4. Rhythm, Flexibility, and Conclusion
Another step is **openness within the structure**. Planning must not become a forced guide. If a character logically has to fail, they fail. If a planned victory is unbelievable, it turns into a defeat. Consequences are not reversed just because they are inconvenient.
Also important is **rhythm**. A plot must not consist only of climaxes. Phases of pressure alternate with short periods of rest: preparation, healing, gathering information. Then action follows again. Without this alternation, the story loses tension.
Finally, every plotline needs a **result**: victory, defeat, division, or upheaval. After that, changes must be visible: new laws, new borders, new enmities, new tasks. If everything remains the same after the end, the plot was meaningless.
Plot development means shaping a conflict into a chain of decisions that is limited by world logic, accelerated by counterforces, and made irreversible by consequences. Imagination opens paths. Structure decides which of them become history.