hi, I'm trying to get into writing long fics but outlining is hard, pls help how do u outline yours? Thank you!
So, you might develop your own strategy and everyone is different (which is good!), but here’s what I do:
1. First thing I ALWAYS do, regardless of plot, is list the scenes I REALLY want to write. For example, this could be Supercorp road tripping, sharing the same bed, Supercorp drunk, some sort of lie/fight scene. The reason I do this is because it shows me what’s really motivating me to write the story at all. I think a lot of us get stuck/lose motivation when we finish the scene we wanted to write, but the story isn’t over. It’s important to identify what’s driving you.
2. After I do this, I try to define the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
3. Define the primary goals and obstacles for the main characters.
Example for Fidelity. Beginning: Kara’s family is murdered, Cal places the Fidelius Charm on her. She meets Lena. Middle: Her time at Hogwarts. Alex. Chaser team. Developing Relationship with Lena. Lena discovering the lie. Dating. End: Graduating. Older, outside of Hogwarts, Kara finally able to tell Lena the truth. Kara’s primary goal: to remove the Fidelius Charm, to get close to Lena, to find her own strength/place in the world. Primary obstacle: The Fidelius Charm, Cal, her family’s history with Lena’s, Lex, herself.
Ask, how is my character different from the beginning to the end of the story?
4. Create scenes that match the beg/mid/end. I develop scenes from the general idea of what I want to do already (see #1.) This is also a good point to brainstorm and get creative with NEW scenes. For Fidelity, I came up with a LOT of new scenes to satisfy the middle concept of ‘her time at Hogwarts.’
5. Separate scenes and start fleshing them out. For me, this means breaking up scenes with a --- and adding my ‘notes’ which is generally a bunch of REALLY loose dialogue and description. The most basic skeleton of the scene. Some of these may simply read, Lena, Alex, and Kara meet with J’onn at the DEO. That’s it. Then, I break to the next scene.
6. For a long story, look at how many scenes you have and break those out into chapters. I don’t always stick exactly to this. Sometimes I end up adding scenes and chapters (rarely do I end up deleting.) But usually I have about 3-4 scenes to every chapter. My scenes tend to be about 1500-2k words each, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. I HATE having a 9k+ chapter, but it happens. When I’m trying to decide where to end a chapter, I go with a natural ending or I’m a dick and choose a cliffhanger spot.
This should give you a strong outline for a short OR long fic. Also, copying an existing story (like a movie AU) REALLY helps. For Mrs. & Mrs. Danvers and Eternal AU, I watched the movie (LIKE FIVE TIMES) and wrote down the beats/scenes I liked and cut the ones I didn’t. Even for Fidelity, I took themes/moods from the books for certain years at school. It’s great practice to copy what the pros have done already and get creative in your own execution.
As far as finishing a long fic? Set a daily writing goal. Mine is 500 a day. You’ll finish anything (eventually) writing 500 words a day.
