Outlining, Planning, Worldbuilding and so on (Help needed)

[Zathoth]

So, Improvising horror shorts has taught me to tell a decently interesting short story, what it hasnt taught me however is how to actually plan things. Usually when I write I get an idea, I start writing and then I figure out how it is going to end somewhere near the middle and that works, when I only have one thread to follow, but now when I feel like telling a story that will take more than 5 minutes to read I need to write down what will happen to keep track of everything.

 

Well, I cant figure out how to actually outline, my notes are a jumble of ideas, bad jokes, cool lines, some magic and ideas for monsters and is probably more of a mess than my desk.

 

So, how do I note, plan and so on in a way that is structured and makes sense?

[Kaymyth]

Sticky notes!

 

No, really.  Granted, the first draft of Swift as Steel was completely pantsed; I had a vague idea of what was going on, but a lot of things were developed on the fly.  When I sat down to do the rewrite, I went through and put every scene onto a Post-It, along with what chapter number it was in.  They were color-coded; I decided that if there were too many secondary colors in between Major Plot Point scenes, then something in there needed to be cut/condensed.

 

I rearranged post-its.  I renumbered chapters.  I deleted scenes, combined some together, and added a couple new ones.  And then I taped them down onto a piece of notebook paper in order, putting down my new chapter numbers as I wrote.  (My early chapters were way too short.  I dropped from 33 to 20, and that's with a second draft that's fewer than 10,000 words shorter than the first.)

 

So, first make a list of major plot points and/or scenes that you want to write.  Take a few days to do it, as you'll remember and/or think of new things as you putter around your daily life.  Then sit down and put them onto sticky notes and start to arrange them in some semblance of order.  Expect things to change as you go; that's why they're on sticky notes and not inked in blood on a stone tablet.

 

Use special post-its for your clever lines.  Figure out where kind of where you want them (but be prepared for your characters to have minds of their own).  Structure out your magic and figure out how to divvy up the exposition of how it works without loading too much into a single chapter.  Use an entire wall for sticky notes if you have to!

 

I <3 sticky notes.

[Zathoth]

... sticky notes... thats a fantastic idea! Why didnt I think of that...

 

Now I just need sticky notes and decide which of my walls deserve the sticky treatment...

 

So I have the major plot points as one color, the character development as another, exposition as another, comedy and loose ideas that may or may not fit as a fifth and so on?

 

I think I'll do that, thanks.

[Kaymyth]

Outside of sticky notes, I find that keeping a list of characters is handy, especially for those minor ones that unexpectedly pop back up from time to time (what was that guy's name again...?)  Heck, I even made use of an online genealogy tool in order to make Eva's family tree.  The Valdorn clan got a bit complicated on me.

[Young Bard]

What are you doing? If it's a big, convoluted story, then I'd suggest a desktop wiki like Zim. It has a few downfalls, but it's free and easy to use (most of the time). I sometimes use it whenever I have a hairbrained idea for a story.

 

Positives:

Easy to navigate

Great to jog your memory

 

Negative:

Very easy to get bogged down on the detail

It takes a long time to get the whole lot up to date.

I don't think it's mac compatible, unfortunately. But you should be able to find something similar if you have a mac.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Ookla the Incalculable

[Zathoth]

Outside of sticky notes, I find that keeping a list of characters is handy, especially for those minor ones that unexpectedly pop back up from time to time (what was that guy's name again...?)  Heck, I even made use of an online genealogy tool in order to make Eva's family tree.  The Valdorn clan got a bit complicated on me.

Oh yes, that would be useful, Im really trying to get to know the characters at the moment, Im definitely more the gardener kind of writer to use RR Martins terminology XD

 

 

What are you doing? If it's a big, convoluted story, then I'd suggest a desktop wiki like Zim. It has a few downfalls, but it's free and easy to use (most of the time). I sometimes use it whenever I have a hairbrained idea for a story.

 

Positives:

Easy to navigate

Great to jog your memory

 

Negative:

Very easy to get bogged down on the detail

It takes a long time to get the whole lot up to date.

I don't think it's mac compatible, unfortunately. But you should be able to find something similar if you have a mac.

I am doing a pretty simple fantasy story at the moment, probably wont pass The Alloy Of Law in length, it could possibly end up being two books, but you never know, I may start and it blows up on me, I'll try Zim if it does.

[Eagle of the Forest Path]

For longer stories, I think the snowflake method can be really useful.

 

Edit: I'm talking about the steps outlined in the article, not the software the guy tries to push on you at the end.

Edited December 8, 2015 by EagleOfTheForestPath