Writing Should i make a new faction or a new character to propel the plot?

LostLibrarian

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You should do what propels your story toward its destination.
New characters or factions can help for a short time once or twice, but in the long run, it'll always come back to the overall story you tell.

New characters can be great because they mark a clear development. Like a "Let's go!" sign for the readers. Here is the new character and everything is different. Problem is if you introduce the new character with a bang and in 10 chapters you are back to the same old routine...
 

Zavha0mnic

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I’m still bad at writing so take my opinion as worthless here,

A new faction would be good if you’re stuck on a training arc/filler arc or need something as a step up to the current threat/antagonist/problem.

A new character would be good if your MC or side characters need development.

A lot still depends on context.
 

CheertheDead

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Feel free to elaborate. When i ask this question i didn't know how to specify it further so it would be great for me if you give me more explanation on what situation new character be good to propel plot and what situation it's ill-advised + any problem that may come out later on if i just produce character to advance plot.
 

K5Rakitan

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As long as you also put your heart into it, it can't go wrong. If you do it just because you're bored, it might come off as forced.
 

TLCsDestiny

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Let your story tell you instead. Play out the characters and what they might do and you might find what you need.
 
D

Deleted member 29316

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Feel free to elaborate. When i ask this question i didn't know how to specify it further so it would be great for me if you give me more explanation on what situation new character be good to propel plot and what situation it's ill-advised + any problem that may come out later on if i just produce character to advance plot.
Err...instead of creating a new character or faction, why don't you create a new conflict? Usually, what propels a story's plot to an interesting turn is the conflict that arises either from the self-interests of each character, or the self-interest of the new character/faction (should you decide to introduce one).

Here's what I found based on my experience. Creating a new element (be it a character or faction) for the purpose of propelling the plot might be counterproductive in the long run because there's the risk of you might not be able to flesh out their 'characteristics'. For short, they might turn shallow elements for your story. On the other hands, introducing new conflicts based on the interests of your 'old' characters can be beneficial in a sense that you can create 'more depth' to them as the story progresses.

However, just like what the others say, the final call is up to you. I just laid down some points based on my experience.
 

Ai-chan

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As the title said.

Be careful of adding new elements to your story. Don't be like shianshia where instead of resolving plot holes, the author put even more plot holes by introducing new people only to be completely forgotten 5 chapters later.

Be careful of adding new characters that only carries the protagonist forward but is otherwise useless. For this matter, the criticism on movies have the same weight on novels. Too many characters can be hard for the reader to keep track of, after all, your story is not the only story they're reading. Having too many characters also mean there are less time to deepen each character, thus making a shallow story.
 
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