This guide covers basic writing concepts that will likely be helpful to novice writers.
“I’ve never written a story before in my life! Where do I even begin?” Don’t worry, this section has you covered!
Making a Blueprint, Option 1: Point-A to Point-B Structure
The most foundational format for a fantasy/adventure story is what I call the “Point-A to Point-B Story.” Or, alternatively, the “Dora the Explorer story.” It proceeds as follows:
How do we apply this structure to a Tree reffing?
Well, our first priorities should be:
Now that we’ve established vague obstacles, in future RP Segments, the challenger can visit these troublesome places and encounter specific obstacles. Perhaps the lake turns out to be swarming with hungry Carvanha. Perhaps when the challenger is climbing up the mountain, a large boulder falls down the side of the cliff towards the challenger. And besides that, maybe something completely unforeseen happens: what if the challenger reaches the peak of the mountain, only to be attacked by a ferocious Haxorus that lives there? Your only concern past the introduction phase is coming up with obstacles that are exciting and interesting, since all the setup was taken care of early.
When we get to the end of the story after Battle 3, and the challenger inserts the rare mineral into the shuttle to return to the present day, you the ref decide what happens afterwards. The points you need to hit in your conclusion are:
Making a Blueprint, Option 2: The Rabbit Hole
Sometimes given the Scenario and setup, it’s hard to come up with a plausible Point A and Point B for the challenger to journey between. For example, maybe your setting is confined to a small area like a beach or an amusement park. In that case, we can write what I call a “Rabbit Hole” story.
How do we apply this structure to a Tree reffing?
When they overcome that obstacle, we escalate. The challenger discovers that the wild Pokemon was working in a team with many other Pokemon, and the challenger follows the Pokemon to a hidden underground network of tunnels full of beach paraphernalia they have stolen over the years. Perhaps the Pokemon are being led by a human Trainer who you now have to battle against. In this way, the stakes have been raised, even though we're still in the same place—the beach.
When the challenger beats the Trainer, we escalate yet again. The Trainer was stealing beach paraphernalia to feed the scrap metal to a gigantic Steelix who threatens to destroy the entire beach if its demands are not met. Now the entire beach is on the line, and the Trainer has to overcome this new threat to achieve their goal of relaxing at the beach.
The challenger beats the Steelix and now we have to write a conclusion. You have two topics to cover with your conclusion:
Got all that?
With these two strategies at your disposal, you should be well-equipped to ref Tree. Write as creatively and boldly as you can, and have fun!
“I’ve never written a story before in my life! Where do I even begin?” Don’t worry, this section has you covered!
Making a Blueprint, Option 1: Point-A to Point-B Structure
The most foundational format for a fantasy/adventure story is what I call the “Point-A to Point-B Story.” Or, alternatively, the “Dora the Explorer story.” It proceeds as follows:
- Protagonist wants to get from Point A to Point B.
- The protagonist is suggested that they may encounter obstacles, and given a vague indication of what some of those obstacles may entail.
- As the protagonist travels, specific obstacles get in their way. The protagonist overcomes the problems as they happen.
- The protagonist reaches their goal, celebrates, and reflects upon stuff that happened on the journey.
A story does not need anything more complicated than this. The Odyssey, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Elden Ring, Dora the Explorer, Pokemon, and The Hobbit are examples of stories that follow this structure.
How do we apply this structure to a Tree reffing?
Well, our first priorities should be:
- Establishing what Point A and Point B are.
- Foreshadowing some of the obstacles that may happen later in the story.
- A professor invites the challenger onto a time-traveling shuttle.
- The shuttle malfunctions and crashes somewhere on prehistoric earth.
- The professor assesses the damage and determines that he can fix it by using a rare naturally-occuring mineral.
- To obtain it, the challenger will need to travel to the nearest mountaintop, which is at the top of a steep climb and beyond a lake.
Now that we’ve established vague obstacles, in future RP Segments, the challenger can visit these troublesome places and encounter specific obstacles. Perhaps the lake turns out to be swarming with hungry Carvanha. Perhaps when the challenger is climbing up the mountain, a large boulder falls down the side of the cliff towards the challenger. And besides that, maybe something completely unforeseen happens: what if the challenger reaches the peak of the mountain, only to be attacked by a ferocious Haxorus that lives there? Your only concern past the introduction phase is coming up with obstacles that are exciting and interesting, since all the setup was taken care of early.
When we get to the end of the story after Battle 3, and the challenger inserts the rare mineral into the shuttle to return to the present day, you the ref decide what happens afterwards. The points you need to hit in your conclusion are:
- How does the challenger celebrate?
- How does the challenger reflect upon the obstacles they overcame?
Making a Blueprint, Option 2: The Rabbit Hole
Sometimes given the Scenario and setup, it’s hard to come up with a plausible Point A and Point B for the challenger to journey between. For example, maybe your setting is confined to a small area like a beach or an amusement park. In that case, we can write what I call a “Rabbit Hole” story.
- Establish something the protagonist wants.
- Put a small obstacle in their way.
- Overcoming that obstacle reveals the existence of a bigger obstacle.
- Keep escalating until the end of the story.
- After overcoming all the obstacles, the protagonist enjoys what they want, but in a way that is a little bit different than what they originally intended.
For example, let’s suppose we’re reffing a Beach Visit scenario. We’ll say that the challenger wants to rest at the beach, but a small wild Pokemon swipes their umbrella and runs away. So now the challenger has to chase down the Pokemon in order to get what they want. Pretty simple stuff.
How do we apply this structure to a Tree reffing?
When they overcome that obstacle, we escalate. The challenger discovers that the wild Pokemon was working in a team with many other Pokemon, and the challenger follows the Pokemon to a hidden underground network of tunnels full of beach paraphernalia they have stolen over the years. Perhaps the Pokemon are being led by a human Trainer who you now have to battle against. In this way, the stakes have been raised, even though we're still in the same place—the beach.
When the challenger beats the Trainer, we escalate yet again. The Trainer was stealing beach paraphernalia to feed the scrap metal to a gigantic Steelix who threatens to destroy the entire beach if its demands are not met. Now the entire beach is on the line, and the Trainer has to overcome this new threat to achieve their goal of relaxing at the beach.
The challenger beats the Steelix and now we have to write a conclusion. You have two topics to cover with your conclusion:
- The challenger does what they initially wanted to do.
- They do so in a way that is different from how they would have before the start of the story.
Got all that?
With these two strategies at your disposal, you should be well-equipped to ref Tree. Write as creatively and boldly as you can, and have fun!
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