5 Tips on Writing: With Gustaf Wiktorén
Hello there, I’m Gustaf Wiktorén, a Swedish writer of creative fiction for fifteen years and I’ve been a Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master for twelve years, which includes countless hours on worldbuilding for my own homebrew setting for the enjoyment of my players and myself. I have also finished six years of game design media education in private and public institutions across Sweden, and I have been a rabid consumer of Fantasy and Sci-Fi fiction; books, video games, movies, etc, since I was a child.
Writing has been my passion since I was fourteen years old when my first ever written story, about a Death Knight in World of Warcraft, an embarrassing numbers-fest in hindsight, was well-received by my family. Whether or not that praise was genuine or simply a white lie didn’t matter and still doesn’t, because it set me on the creative journey I’m still walking along and I could not be happier.
For clarification hereafter from a D&D DM’s point of view, MC will mean both a solo Main Character and a group of Player Characters.
Hooking Your Audience
Quickly showcase some of the interesting complexities of your world and how the MC becomes, or are, involved in some of the behind-the-scenes tensions, dramas and advanced magic or super-tech that ordinary folk in the world are clueless of.
Early set up for later use is important, and Chekhov’s Gun is your best friend here; whether it is an object, a historical tale, an at-first harmless conversation, international news on a notice board, etc. Each “Gun” could or could not be something to be used later.
Interest the players, readers or watchers with early intrigue and the promise of a variety of later possibilities.
Mastering Plot Development
I have found the most effective aspect of developing a plot is to remember, above all else, that the MC is not the center of the world. It doesn’t stop or go just because they may wish it to, and other characters will be chasing their own ambitions and agendas that could influence the actions and thoughts of your MC as they seek their goal. That doesn’t mean that your MC could not be a center of change that will attract both the loyalties and scorn of others.
If your MC is meant to protect the status quo, those like-minded and the opportunists will likely want to involve themselves. If, instead, your MC is meant to upset the status quo; 1, most people likely enjoy or tolerate it and wish it kept intact, even at high cost, and 2, some people might seek to take advantage of these new changes, because change is chaos, and chaos is a ladder.
Keep in mind the changes your MC brings and the changes caused by other character on their own or in response.
Effective World-Building Strategies
Okay, first off: Write down every single idea you ever have quickly. I have lost many ideas that I know I could have refined and used due to distraction at the computer and out and about. A Note App or a Notepad. Everything. Down. Now!
But to the meat of the topic. Everything is connected and you must ask why. Definitely everything related to the MC and their journey from point A to point B, but if you think of the why behind something you find interesting, follow the thread and see where your creativity takes you. Could be a good inclusion immediately or a Chekhov’s Gun to be implemented now for the benefit of later stories.
A series of connections I have used to great effect is the following: House, Village, Region, Nation and Continent. Create one of each so you have them now. I find that it’s always easier to edit and add than to create something out of the void.
Write everything down and always ask why everything is connected.
Techniques for Character Development
Regardless of how realistic your characters may be, if they stay the same throughout the story then no drama can be said to have occurred. I believe that to see a character, wise from experience or adventurous from naivety, grow into another state of mind with logical and emotional reasons is the sauce of all storytelling. Have logical steps that explain why your MC started off as This and then lived to become That, and have themselves or someone else eventually reflect on how far they’ve come.
This growth could steer them to associating with a faction that they never would have a mere month earlier, or to commit acts that they have always considered barbaric or immoral to achieve a goal quicker, like eating a heart raw to become the queen of a horse-riding warrior horde. Season 8? What season 8?
Knowing who your characters are and why is important. Knowing who your characters become and why is more important.
Crafting Meaningful Decisions
Stakes, Stakes, Stakes. From something as small as the choice of equipment to something as big as which companion to rescue, there must always be potential for change for the better or risk for change for the worse.
I believe the consequences for choices must be straightforward and logical, so the MC understands exactly what they stand to gain and lose, and the bigger the stakes, the harder the choice. What I love to see are consequences like those in Dishonored, where the higher your body count gets, the colder and more critical NPCs become, the more guards are present, the drastically different endings, etc. Or a choice with a consequence that prompts another choice with another consequence, etc.
Do you stop a ritual from opening a demonic portal in the city of an enemy filled with innocents or do you rescue a friend who has stolen an artifact you can use to empower yourself before a boss battle? Is this choice public or an exclusive secret to you that may or may not be found out later? What drastic choices are you willing to make to keep it? Kill a witness? Assassinate a prophet who tried to blackmail you with the secret? Bribe your way into silencing allies?
Make every choice matter in risk or reward.
What are your strengths in writing and narrative design?
My greatest strengths lie in fantasy worldbuilding; creating the status quo and status quo ante, the current and the previous respectively, factions both public and hidden, underlying laws of magic, historical summaries and deep dives, legendary rulers, heroes and villains that have left legacies of objects and deeds, lands and the dangers within them, and much more.
As stated in the introduction, I have also been a Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master for twelve years. Being a Dungeon Master coalesces many different roles; storyteller, worldbuilder, writer, actor, improviser, narrator, weekly plot planner, gameplay balancer, rules referee/arbiter and schedule coordinator. This has helped my creativity tremendously.
Which games or stories have you worked on?
Beyond helping to create many university projects, I have completed a few game jams such as Global Game Jam, King Game Jam, Dreamhackathon, etc, have written short stories and are currently on a small team creating Dungeons and Dragons-related projects to be released on relevant digital marketplaces.
I have also volunteered as a creative writing and worldbuilding consultant and contributing writer to friends and fellow students.
Exploring Favorites
The Story of Samwise Gamgee the Brave. The greatest best friend in any universe.
A Wish for Interactive Audio Stories
Stay with me here; either the entire Dark Brotherhood questline in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, but with alternate endings based on new choices or the Dark Brotherhood quest “Whodunit?”.
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