Storytelling Lessons: Brandon Sanderson’s “Payoff”
Payoffs determine pace.
In our final lesson from Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on plot, we’ll examine the the third element of Promises, Progress, and Payoff.
Amateur writers assume the Payoff refers to the end of a story.
Experts understand that Payoffs happen throughout.
There are two types of payoffs:
- Expansion - You close the loop on a promise you made by introducing new information.
- Resolution - Fulfilling your promise and closing the loop for good.
Understanding these is the key to mastering pace.
If you want to escalate a story, you can have a series of payoffs in quick succession. Each expanding on the other until you earn a resolution.
Maybe you want to add variety to your pacing. So, after expanding your story with a major plot twist, you make the reader wait longer for the next payoff.
Without payoffs stories are slow.