Each plot in WriTribe has been studied and elaborated so that starting from it you can create dozens of original alternatives. Knowing how to handle alternatives is most important to make the most of WriTribe's potential, which is why we have prepared this small practical example that will help you become familiar with making alternatives.
Example.
Imagine a simple narrative device, a classic love story opposed by a parent who eventually revises his positions for the sake of his offspring:
In New York in 2022, penniless young painter John meets Anne, a college student who is the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer. The two fall in love, but Anne's father is a widower and has promised on his wife's deathbed to ensure a peaceful future for his daughter. Therefore, he opposes the two's relationship. Despite Anne's love for her father, the girl decides to move with John to another town. Left alone, Anne's father realizes that he himself can be an integral part of his daughter's happiness, and after finding her he helps her and John build a happy future.
There are four basic variations you can make: place, time, character names, character gender.
These are the four basic variations we suggest you always make when using a WriTribe plot. You could then achieve:
In Paris in 1960, penniless young painter Amelie meets Paul, a college student who is the son of a wealthy real estate developer. The two fall in love, but Paul's father is a widower and has promised on his wife's deathbed to ensure a peaceful future for his daughter. Therefore, he opposes the relationship of the two. Despite Paul's love for his father, the boy decides to move with Amelie to another city. Left alone, Paul's father realizes that he himself can be an integral part of his son's happiness, and after finding her he helps him build a happy future together with Amelie.
For the setting, place and date are crucial as they have the potential to twist the plot development and plot. A few examples for better understanding:
In Berlin in 1939, penniless young painter Emma meets Franz.... We are in the heart of Nazi Germany, with all that it entails: military parades, rallies, but also suppression of freedom, rights, and anti-Semitism.
In London, in 1665, the young squattish painter Henry meets Anne... Three hundred years further back we find ourselves in Stuart England, in one of its darkest moments: the great plague of London that wiped out one-fifth of the population. And in '66 also occurred the great fire that destroyed 60 percent of the city. How much material to place in an original way the novel you are about to write.
In Florence, in 1460, the young squattish painter Giacomo meets Maria... And here we are in the effervescent Florence of the Medicis, at the height of the Renaissance, among artists' workshops, merchants and scheming. Perhaps Maria's father might just be a member of the Medici family, an advisor to Lorenzo the Magnificent himself.
As you could observe, the initial narrative device does not look like one of the three elaborate ones at all, but it is not over because you can design variations on other points of the device as well. For example, the ending.
The idea is that Anne's father, at the conclusion of the story, comes to his senses and helps the boys to be happy. But what if he doesn't?
Left alone, Paul's father wears himself out in the thought of failure and blames young Paul for this. After tracking down the couple, the man kills the boy and in the madness of the moment takes his own life. Anne will be left with the memory of both of them.
or
Left alone, Paul's father closes himself off from his business. Instead, Anne discovers that the life offered to her by Paul of suburbia, alcohol and daily expedients does not belong to her. She leaves Paul and returns home where her father welcomes her.
or
Left alone, Paul's father wears down the idea that he has been betrayed by his daughter. When Anne comes back to him admitting that Paul was not the man she imagined, the man hunts her down. Anne ends up committing suicide.
As you see, the device is constantly changing even with small interventions. By refining the reasoning, you could intervene in other details of the device, primarily the characters: it is the mother and not the father who follows the daughter's fate; Paul is a policeman and Anne's father is a gangster; Anne is sick and Paul does not have the money for treatment; Paul is a lowlife who masks his identity; there is a 30-year difference between Anne and Paul...
And by creating the characters you can add conflicts. If you take the previous examples they could become:
following Anne's fate is the mother who believes her daughter is guilty of her father's death;
Paul is a policeman investigating Anne's father;
Anne is sick and Paul does not have the money to treat her triggering the mother's anger,
But there is more: many WriTribe plots lend themselves to genre variations. Two examples of the many possible.
Fantasy: In a time long ago, in the realm of the Golden Peaks, the young elf Rafì meets Libeth, an elf who attends the school of Royal Magic. Libeth is the daughter of Tikrot one of the king's advisers. The two fall in love, but Libeth's father is a widower and has promised on his wife's deathbed to ensure a peaceful future for his daughter. Because young Rafì is an apprentice painter, with little money and confused ideas, Libeth's father opposes the two's relationship. Despite Libeth's love for her father, the girl decides to flee with Rafì to the neighboring kingdom of the Black Alps, a dark and cursed place. Left alone, Libeth's father realizes that he himself can be an integral part of his daughter's happiness, and after finding her he helps her and Rafì build a happy future for themselves.
Sci-Fi: On Beta229, a mining planet on the edge of the Cassiopeia galaxy, young android John-T111 meets Clark, a human, student and son of a wealthy banker. The two fall in love, but Clark's father is a widower and has promised on his wife's deathbed to ensure a peaceful future for his son. Therefore, he opposes the two's relationship. Despite Clark's love for his father, the boy decides to flee with his partner to another planet in the system. Left alone, Clark's father realizes that he himself can be an integral part of his son's happiness, and after finding him, he helps him and John build a happy future for themselves.
I guess you're wondering how we at WriTribe would have modified it? Well, here's our version:
In 2027, in Lisbon, one of the few cities on the planet left untouched after the 2023 nuclear conflict, masses of survivors from all over Europe gather. In the Portuguese Babel, young Paul meets Maria, an Italian girl who is the daughter of Teresa, a ruthless arms dealer. The two fall in love, but Teresa's mother is a widow and has promised on her husband's deathbed to ensure a peaceful future for her daughter. Therefore, she opposes the relationship of the two. Despite Maria's love for her mother, when she discovers that the woman is intent on killing her fiancé, she decides to flee. The couple hides among the oceanic crowds that populate the capital, but seeing themselves hunted, they cross the city limits, heading for the contaminated lands. Left alone, Teresa realizes the greatness of the feeling that unites the two, tracks them down and offers her blessing.
A romance novel in dystopian sauce.
Have fun testing: get a notebook and write multiple versions, edit, correct, change. WriTribe's plots are at a more advanced stage than the narrative device presented; therefore, you will have plenty of opportunities to go into detail, to exploit the small mechanisms of conflicts, to vary characters or certain features.
Do not be afraid to stress the plot, and if you are looking for more ideas, explore the sections of WriTribe, you have a thousand opportunities to create a beautiful novel.
