Question Plot points or Arcs for Xianxia novels.

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by maggitt147, Jul 10, 2019.

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  1. maggitt147

    maggitt147 Well-Known Member

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    I'm currently thinking about making a story that's set in a xianxia world with the basic strong eats the weak kind of premise and a mc who gains a cheat device and gets stronger and stronger. But! From all of the xianxia novels i read, they all basically go the same route of fighting/killing people who are against the mc and then moving to a stronger place where they aren't as strong anymore and rinse and repeat basically.

    To finally get to my question.... I would like to know what kind of plot or story arcs i could make so that the story doesn't follow into that routine i mentioned above. Like how can i make the story's goal about becoming strong but at the same time have interesting arcs on the journey to that goal?
     
  2. Fluffy Jellyfish

    Fluffy Jellyfish 『Number 1 Lolicon under Heaven』

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    Stay focus with one heroine, you can make the heroine interesting or actually giving her a plot twist
     
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  3. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    To be honest, the only reason it goes in that direction is because the authors get paid per word, so they stretch the story to thousands of chapters. As long as you don't plan on doing that, you can just do a general power progression. The MC doesn't have to own the town before moving to the next one.

    You can also add more focus on fighting monsters than just young masters. And when young masters lose the strongest elder doesn't always have to get involved. If the young master loses, the elder would punish the young master for loosing face and not bother lowering himself to face children.
     
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  4. Maelstrom08

    Maelstrom08 Well-Known Member

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    It partly depends on if there is going to be a single lover, or a harem, or if it has romance at all.

    If is a single lover, stay away from the "kidnapped princess" cliche, its alright once, and maybe twice, but more than that is a no go. Don't make her/him a obsolete character. Give her some sort of starting potential that is vastly superior than others, or she/he awakens to some true potential over time. Sure its a cliche, but it's a very useful one, as it will keep the lover as a female lead, instead of just the lover that was eventually forgotten about.

    If it's a harem, do not, and I mean DO NOT, make some of the arcs end up as "MC gets transported/teleported, etc, ends up in new land, join sect, finds new girl/guy, falls in love, girl/guy has problems, MC saves them from problem by angering the sect, fights sect head or whatever, wins or runs away with her" and then rinse and repeat that every so often. Just because its a harem, does not men the harem is useless and will become obsolete. If you want a reference on what NOT to do, check ATG (Against the Gods).

    I'll let other explain other parts, cuz people would have already stated other points I would make.
     
  5. maggitt147

    maggitt147 Well-Known Member

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    This novel won't contain much romance via mc but she will get involved with the romance of other characters. By that i mean using their relationships to exploit for her advantage in some way. I may eventually find a character for her to pair up with but she's so out there it'd be hard for me to find the perfect match for her.
     
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  6. Maelstrom08

    Maelstrom08 Well-Known Member

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    So it's a female MC? hmmmm, okay yea that's rare but not saying it can't work. If your going down the path of no leading romance, then try for sect growth as a main focus. Essentially this refers to the MC sticking with one sect, either as a sect leader, or as a member, or a slow growth from bottom to the top. As the MC grows stronger, they help their sect grow stronger, thereby keeping early characters both relevant and still important. This method is also a very useful tool to make it so the MC doesn't get all the treasures, which is a very common trope that gets very stale. You'll be able to give treasures to other characters, as the main fear of the treasure not being shown becomes void, as it is with a supporting character who has strength levels that are close to the MC.

    Examples of these types are Douluo Dalu, Unrivaled Tang Sect (DD2), Spirit Realm, and Avalon of the Five Elements.

    Also remember that this doesn't have to be from the very beginning, it's alright to transition into this, midway through a story.

    The only cons I can really think of for this method, is balancing how much your MC is out of the sect, doing cool shit. With too much sect influence, it will get boring, as the MC won't go to very many special areas that CN cultivation novels are full of, and with too little sect interaction, the MC will just end up like usual MC's, which is what you are trying to avoid. Food for thought tho.

    Have fun!
     
  7. Karyehs

    Karyehs Well-Known Member

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    Under no circumstances make the MC stay with the first female he ever touched. The love life shouldn't play a big part. 'Your princess is in the next castle.'-scenarios suck, too.

    But no matter how a good story is written, you won't make everybody happy. Some like OP MCs, some like struggling MCs who always win, some like MCs who lose regularly and are always one step away from death, some like melodramatic stuff, some dislike it.... Some even like chained tournament arcs...

    Anyway... I feel like a good xianxia needs kingdom building elements, an OP MC (who doesn't get nerfed at least once per arc), testosterone/balls (the outdoor bathing beauty wants to kill you for seeing her? Kick her in the face and sell her to a brothel, ffs) and so much more...

    But if the potential author needs other people to tell him what to write, the story is set for failure from the beginning anyway.
     
  8. maggitt147

    maggitt147 Well-Known Member

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    How should i go about with a kingdom building element though? I do have her planned to take over the sect she will join but the thing is.. I don't know what the hell i'm going to do afterwards. I mean what more can she do besides build up her sect and cultivate endlessly?
     
  9. Karyehs

    Karyehs Well-Known Member

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    Well, if the MC has access to special long distance travel technology like flying ships, portals, an underground river, etc.. the sect could annex and conntect to a far away city and have access to two regional special resource points and trade in those regions... having positive relationships (active diplomacy) with other cities/secs/countries/kingdoms would help, too... Think about it, when your sect can import those 'rare' mushrooms, which grow like weeds at a far away place only you have fast access to and which can act like a vaccination against most known poisons, it can be a strategic resource that other sects would pay a lot of resources for....

    And two headquarters become three... and so on... at some point there would probably be a war, or peaceful unification of the continent... Everything is going well, until it doesn't... but better not for a stupid reason. Maybe some old monster wants protection money or your long distance travel technology....

    Maybe the others exile the MC, because his cut of the resources is too large for their taste, even though it wouldn't have been possible without him.... Or maybe the MC becomes a dictator and can reach whatever peak there is uncontested without a row of young masters and old idiots getting face slapped one after each other.

    Idk. it depends on the writing style I guess... too much politics is boring, too.
     
  10. Galooza

    Galooza The One True Walapalooza

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    Set goals for the mc at different stages other than just git strong or git gud at martial arts. Create problems in achieving those goals that require a certain cultivation level for something. As for fights, most often these authors write fights so that they have no real consequences, so the mc can slaughter all they want. Create consequences that may perhaps tie into the goal or a world event at that point, and spend some time away from constant fights.
     
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  11. firefox1234

    firefox1234 Well-Known Member

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    Avoid more than one tournament arc! If you really like tournament arcs do at most two as three is already too much but if you can avoid adding a tournament arc altogether, even better.
     
  12. Nimroth

    Nimroth Someone

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    One way would be to try and include arcs that simply don't focus on conflict in the first place, for example you could have an arc entirely dedicated to cleaning up/rebuilding from a natural disaster or from the conflict in an earlier arc even.

    Also, do you have an end goal for the story?, not every xianxia need to end with the mc becoming a god.
     
  13. Ram5

    Ram5 [Noodle Stealer]

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    decide who the final boss will be, this will set the route and scale of your story.
     
  14. maggitt147

    maggitt147 Well-Known Member

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    One end goal i can think of with the mc personality is ruling over the world once she gains enough strength.
     
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