Being a Better Writer: Plot Armor · 6:08pm Oct 2nd, 2023
Welcome back, writers! It’s Monday and you know what that means! It’s time for Being a Better Writer! And we’ve got a pretty fun topic to go over today.
Though if I’m honest, this was a last-minute addition to the topic list. It was only in the last week or two that I penciled it in at the bottom of list #23 (I do them all out of order) after seeing a discussion about it online and in a pique of curiosity searching Unusual Things to realize that in over ten years of posts, I’d never done a BaBW post on the subject!
Upon realizing that, the topic became slightly more urgent inside my head, and well, here we are.
Now I know I said most of the time these posts on the new schedule (Hello, Friday Patreon Supporters!) wouldn’t have any news tied to them, but if you missed the post last Thursday, Axtara – Magic and Mayhem‘s draft is in the finale, and I’m understandably keen to get back to it and wrap up her newest adventure. But this is news worth putting in the heading here: Axtara 2‘s time has almost come. The goal is to get this new adventure out in time for Christmas.
Yes, this does mean I’ll likely start dropping more tidbits on the site in the future. And I’ll be looking for a cover artist in the coming weeks. This adventure is going to be … Well, it’s in the title: Magic and Mayhem does inspire a bit of both, doesn’t it? Place your bets now on exactly what’s going to go down with a title like that!
All right, moving on and toward the crux of today’s BaBW post, let’s talk about Plot Armor. Hit that jump!
When I first saw this topic, my immediate thought was "Plot armor is only truly effective if the protagonist has to sacrifice for it." But I think you handled that well enough with your emphasis on "earning it".
Also:
Tell that to Kirk in the first two entries of the new Star Trek movie series. Am I the only one to notice that Kirk doesn't win a single fistfight he gets into until the third movie?