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How do you escalate a story's plot after killing the Big Bad? A Series? It sounds like you plot a series. For those, from the beginning your intent should be to defeat a new villain in each s...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-19T22:13:34Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39016 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T09:50:48Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39016 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
> How do you escalate a story's plot after killing the Big Bad? ### A Series? It sounds like you plot a series. For those, from the beginning your intent should be to defeat a new villain in each story, and they should be (as Erin Thursby said before me) of similar power but in different colors, with different personalities, etc. That happened in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, every season Buffy gets one new villain to conquer. The arc concerning the villain is very much the same; but the arcs for her and her team are different and advanced each season. Romances emerge, friends are taken, etc. Although the villain provides the adrenalin for each season, the whole series is about these heroes (and their acquaintances) living their lives, falling in or out of love, suffering losses and moving on. i.e. some new MC can be introduced, another can die or leave to pursue a more peaceful life, or different life. Or start a spin-off, Angel! So the series could be character-driven, but each season is plotted around the villain du jour. An alternative of course is just clever new villains. 007 is pretty much a static character that doesn't grow or evolve; but every new movie has another villain with another plot to take over or destroy the world. They are all equally powerful, the plot skeleton of each movie is nearly identical, but the writers invent new gadgets, locales, femme fatals, talents, fight scenes, etc to keep us watching. # If Not a Series: Consequences. Within a single story (a single book, a single movie), if you wish to escalate after disposing of the villain, the next phase is to design dire consequences for having disposed of the villain. A woman fighting a wealthy and abusive husband could finally kill him, but then face trial for his murder against a smart and ruthless prosecutor, that truly thinks she did it for the fortune she will inherit, and you make it look like she could end up in prison for life (echoing the "prison" and abuse she was already suffering). You need an "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire" development.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2018-09-19T10:46:05Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 7