Children of Ohm @ohmschildren - Tumblr Blog

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unbiddentongue

Vespers, choreographed by Ulysses Dove, performed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Company (1987)

nikoisme

Being obsessed with your own ocs is so so good for you i seriously can't recommend it enough

jdotsodomite

i hope you write (i hope we both write)

aritany

Ive been trying to write a contemporary novel and outlining/plotting is.. an issue to say the least. do you have any tips for it?

absolutely!

Plotting A Contemporary Novel

to define the contemporary genre:

Contemporary (or realistic) fiction creates imaginary characters and situations that depict our world and society. It focuses on themes of growing up and confronting personal and social problems. This genre portrays characters coming to understand themselves and others. (source.)

without external plot devices (such as magic or the natural framework of a dystopian/mystery/hyper-specific genres) to to drive story structure, the contemporary genre relies heavily on character arcs.

don’t be afraid to utilize a very basic outline - they are tried and true for a reason.

my plots always include: exposition, an inciting incident, rising action, climax, and resolution. they also generally fit into a three act structure, but those lines are blurry and not as important as those initial elements. here’s a breakdown of what that could look like.

exposition: this is what the world looks like! this is where we are! this is what’s going on! this is who the MC is! essentially - this is the status quo.

inciting incident: take that status quo and toss it in the trash. something just happened that change the flow of where this story is going.

rising action: the longest and broadest category. essentially, build tension. create secrets, hint at stuff your MC doesn’t understand yet. make them (and your readers) squirm.

climax: oh no!! everything Has Gone Wrong!! in fantasy/sci-fi /plots, this is The Big Battle. in contemporary fiction, this could look like: a major confrontation, a loss, a big secret uncovered, or something along those lines.

resolution: ah, okay. we’ve sorted it out. now the tensions have dissolved, and we’ve either returned to the status quo, or we’re in a better place now.

here’s how this could break down, hypothetically:

exposition: person A is trapped in an unhealthy friendship with person B.

inciting incident: an old friend, person C, walks back in to A & B’s life, bringing with them a flood of memories.

rising action: through the influence of person C, person A realizes that person B is making them miserable, but they don’t quite know how to escape, because they have so much history with person B.

climax: it is revealed that person B did something really terrible, which gives person A the courage to stand up to them.

resolution: person A is free of person B, and is able to consider a future with friends that treat them right.

that’s just one way that this could work, and this structure works for almost any concept.

the place most people have difficulty is with the rising action, as this takes up about 2/3 of the story. that’s a lot of book. this is where my personal tactic comes into play: two steps forward, one step back.

throughout the rising action you want to build tension, but you also want to move plot forward. ideally, this means you’ll be working with an ebb and flow. give your characters forward momentum, but juxtapose that with moments that make them doubt, or give them reasons to be distressed.

in the above plot, two steps forward, one step back could look like a moment where A is badly mistreated by B, which is hurtful, followed by a moment of reassurance from C, which encourages them in their decision (two steps forward). then maybe B does something lovely, which causes doubt, or maybe C makes a mistake and hurts A somehow, which also causes doubt.

working toward the climax, reverse this. try one step forward two steps back for tension’s sake. maybe B shows up when A needs them while C doesn’t, and then B tells A something bad C said about them, and maybe it’s a lie (two steps back), but then A realizes that B wasn’t telling the truth (one step forward).

then you’re set up for a climax, since A is ready to confront B about the lie and their friendship!

here are some general tips for plotting:

know your characters well.

ask questions like: what’s the worst thing that could happen? what would hurt them the worst? how do i make that happen?

don’t be afraid to be extreme.

use your own life experiences, if you think that might help. i put a little of my own story into every story i write.

follow up sweet moments with moments that hurt

give your characters unique voices (this is harder than it sounds)

don’t always use your first idea. sometimes your second one will make for a better story.

refer to this post for more ideas about the contemporary genre!

hope this helped, anon! good luck!

2soulscollide

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

NotionByRach - FREEBIES (workbook, notion template, games, challenges, etc.);

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

☕️ buy me a coffee! ☕️

writing-prompt-s

After death, you find out that you can choose how and when to be reincarnated. Initially eager to be a futuristic human, you soon realize that every (more experienced) soul ahead of you in line is choosing to be a “worm” in the year 121 million BCE.

mysharona1987

scholarlyapproach

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO CEREAL!!!

Listen in the past the poor have had to improvise cheap food the rich never wanted as a means to survive. And over the many years of innovation made the food taste good until eventually the rich where like: “Oh hay you actually like that garbage? Why on earth would you like it?” Then they try it, love it, start buying it, and then drive the price up so much it becomes a luxury good.

They do this and its devastating, the food typically never becomes affordable again. It don’t matter how cheap the foo dis to produce, it doesn’t matter if there is almost no meat on the bone or its super difficult to eat and messy. Once the poor discover how to make some bit of cheap food taste good, the rich take it away via driving the price of it up.

THEY DID THIS TO RIBS.

Ribs were garage meat. Just look at them, there is hardly any meat on the bone, you have to eat them by hand usually, and they are messy. They where an undesirable cheap source of junk meat. But the poor being the poor made them taste good. (Because they don’t have much to choose from.) The rich discovered the meals the poor made with them and decided they liked ribs too. People discovered they could sell a few ribs to rich people and make way more money then selling lots of ribs to poor people and the price was driven up.

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO CEREAL!!!

askmace

They did the same to brisket. You used to be able to get brisket for less than a dollar a pound, which meant you could get a twenty pound brisket fairly cheaply. And then you smoked it, sliced it, and had meat for weeks if not a full month. And it was tasty. I grew up eating brisket at least once a month because my family could afford it.

It was a cheap meat because no rich person looks at the dangly part of the neck of a cow and goes ‘ooh, that looks tasty!’.

But then Food Network started showcasing things like barbecued brisket. Rich people started showing up at places that weren’t just Rib Crib to get their barbeque. And the price of brisket went up. A lot.

I regularly see it for over five dollars a pound in stores now. And while yeah, that might not seem like a lot when you’re talking only a pound or two of meat, brisket is normally sold in ten to twenty pound sizes. It’s become completely unaffordable to the people that made it delicious.

Sushi used to be really cheap, too, until it became ‘trendy’. Guess why you’re now paying twelve dollars for your order of California rolls? Because rich people discovered something that poor people had been eating for ages.

Noticed the prices of fajita meat, chicken thighs, or ham hocks has gone up recently? You guessed it. Rich people are taking our food and now we’re scrambling to afford the things that we grew up eating.

auroraluciferi

Lobster is a perfect example of this phenomenon. For hundreds of years, lobster was regarded as a sort of insect larvae from the depth of the sea. It had zero appeal as a “luxury food” until people living in NY and Boston developed a taste for it. Before the 19th century, it was considered a “poverty food” or used as fertilizer and bait - some household servants specified in employment agreements that they would not eat lobster more than twice a week. It was also commonly served at prisons, which tells you something about prison food.

Only by cleverly marketing lobster as an indulgence for the privileged made it cost so much. It became a vehicle for enormous profit spawning a multi-billion dollar global industry in the process. This mythical affection for lobster flesh - not its practical value in terms of taste, nutrition, or any other reasonable consideration - drives its value.

blackwitchmagicwoman-deactivate

LMAO. Wait.

thegrimmlovely

Anyone else’s eye twitchin?

strongorcbutch-deactivated20220

Food gentrification is a long standing practice and it’s some of the most evil shit I can think of. It’s why I refuse for example as someone living in the US to buy things with Quinoa in them. It is specifically pricing an indigenous population out of their prime staple food. It’s a horrific invasion of one of the final requirements of staying alive.

shitonthesewallsray

notourz

fatimafares123

Now YouTube has a habit of recommending me the weirdest stuff recently, but today i got this on my recommendations

And about halfway through listening to this, I went and read the comments, literally I could not stop reading I was there for hours, here are some of my favorites

moonlit-grimoire

First off, Oliviaalee's channel is a godsend for writing. My favorites right now are:

Give them a try here

Also...honorable mention

safetytank

morriganwrites-0124-deactivated

I use this channel for my DnD campaigns. Works perfectly every time.

dropkickwritersblock

Write a piece about something living in the walls

borislegasovv

Boris could swear he heard a “meow” coming from behind the wooden panel next to the fireplace. He was certain that, beneath the heavily patterned wallpaper, there was a rickety wooden panel which may be a good entryway for a kitten... he recalled with some scepticism that he had been meaning to repair the broken panel and respectively defunct fireplace. It fed to the low ceiling of his home, which made it entirely probable in his mind that a cat could well be behind the fireplace, perhaps behind the wooden board. He stood, hunched over, for some minutes waiting to hear the sound again.

He soon heard another distinctive mew and knew immediately that he needed to remove the panel to rescue the cat. First, he learnt into the open fireplace (getting covered in coal ash in the process) and saw a pair of beady eyes staring back at him. The cat hissed, presumably in fear. He hushed it gently.

“Shhh, little kitten, I’m here to save you... how long have you been stuck in there, tiny?” The cat mewed in response and he felt a distinct tug at his heart. He withdrew from the fireplace and then went back in, arm first. Before he could think twice about it he wedged his arm through the minute hole, ignoring the twinge of pain as the wood grazed his arm where it had split. He wrapped his fingers around the wriggling, furry, coal covered kitten and pulled it out i a sharp tug - sharp enough that the cat couldn’t escape but not harsh enough to hurt it.

He fell back from his knees and landed on his butt as he withdrew his arm, the force of suddenly freeing himself sending him flying. The kitten, completely nonplussed, found comfort in his warm hand and snuggled up. He looked down at the small kitten, and stared into the sweet eyes which had softened post-trauma.

“Are you okay, tiny?” He asked it softly, raising his other hand to pet its head over so gently. “You’re a young one, aren’t you? How did you get in here, hm? You must be patched and starving. Let’s get you some food...”

He went off to feed the kitten. As the hours passed the kitten perked up and began to become more lively and infinitely cheekier. It pawed at his bare ankles, played with his shoes, jumped onto the table, laid on his lap, purred whilst sat on his shoulder, accepted love and kisses from him... it was truly an immediate connection between them. It made him think of another being who he had an immediate connection with, which made his heart swell with pain and love. He looked back to the kitten and felt his heart ease. As stupid as the thought felt to him, he thought perhaps the cat had been sent by someone, something, somewhere... he felt a spirit in the cat.

As they sat together, the cat made itself truly comfortable on his lap. He watched as it wriggled, snuggled, and found peace in its gentle purrs.

“I need to name you, don’t I, little one?” He asked softly and the cat mewed in response. He pondered for a beat or two, before being struck by inspiration.

“Valera. I’ll name you Valera,” he said decisively. His day had been thoroughly changed by a cat behind his fireplace, hidden in his walls... he had found the comfort he didn’t know he even needed.

thestuffedalligator

There’s got to be a term to describe that like. Extremely specific era of children’s literature where all the books were novellas printed on low quality paper, pumped out on a near monthly basis, and made for series that sometimes stretched into hundreds of books

Animorphs. Goosebumps. Bailey School Kids. Babysitter’s Club. Magic Treehouse. Series that plague public libraries and second hand book stores to this day. A genre that was nearly wiped out overnight by the success of Harry Potter, and the newfound desire for kids to read long form literature

It was like pulp fiction for kids

onion-souls

The Scholastic Age

victoriathevampireslayer

i wrote my MS in book publishing thesis on this, so like for anyone actually interested i have the real answer. it actually wasnt wiped out by harry potter. this era is referred to in the publishing world as the near death of ya/childrens lit. that’s WHY it was on such low quality paper and why they had series with so many freaking books every single month. it was the final stage of cash grabbing before publishers p much accepted the genre was dead. that also contributed to why hp was rejected so many times, not bc jk is some underdog, but because literally no houses were picking up ya books. and it wasnt a newfound desire for long form. kids/teens had been yelling for years for more long form literature that actually reflected their struggles but the old assholes didnt wanna listen as always. arthur lavine, that old fuck who edited hp, wasnt gonna pick hp up either but his daughter or granddaughter literally begged him.

ps. it also was literally pulp fiction bc pulp fiction it gets its name FROM that low quality paper you were talking about. its got more wood bits and other less desirable stuff in it so its processed less which saves money and less desirable which also saves money. thats also why it has the best smell bc its the most tree and the least bleach

square-enix

i hope this email finds you a broken husk of a man

viole-n-t

theshallowest

itskarmalone

So that explains why I found this...

nanowrimo

“Dialogue can make or break a novel. If your dialogue isn’t convincing, it can affect everything from the strength of your characters’ relationships to the suspension of disbelief needed for your plot or world to work. Best way to write realistic dialogue? Listen to people talk. Go to cafes and eavesdrop on the people around you. Listen to talk radio or podcasts where the hosts do more conversational interviews. Read movie scripts and plays where almost all the heavy lifting plot-wise is done through speaking. Take note of word choice, speed, if they pause to think and where. Incorporate it all.”

—

Ashley Woodfolk has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and worked in children’s book publishing for ten years. She wrote her first novel, The Beauty That Remains, from a sunny Brooklyn apartment where she lives with her cute husband, her cuter dog, and the cutest baby in the world: her son Niko. When You Were Everything is her second novel.

Do you usually like writing dialogue or description more? Let Ashley know, and/or thank her for her #CampCarePackage!

Your Camp Care Package is brought to you by Camp NaNoWriMo. Sign up to receive more Camp Care Packages at nanowrimo.org!

sulfurousdreamscapes

Somehow, I always knew that the man who’d commissioned all those wooden swords from me, would invite me to his grand mansion up the hill, outside of town. He was the most powerful man in this duchy, and they said he had an aviary with more birds than can be found in the country. Whatever did he need wooden swords for?

When I showed up at his doorstep, I carried a newly-fashioned sword with me, as a gift. I considered presenting him with something that wasn’t a sword, but well, I couldn’t think of much else. As they say, once a weaponsmith…

Instead of some stately butler looking me up and down, I was greeted by the man himself. Lord Karasane, in the flesh, wrapped in shining gold-leaf clothes and his matte black hair slicked back like he was fresh out of a swim. He smiled, and with a pair of fingers, he pressed on his moustache.

“I imagined a lot of things, Lord Karasane,” I said, while the Lord led me through his halls and allowed me to admire all of the paintings, busts, and taxidermy animals. “But I could never imagine what you needed with thirty-six wooden swords. Nevertheless, I have brought you a thirty-seventh.”

Lord Karasane took the sword off of me and examined it carefully, from every angle. He even rubbed his fingers against the diamond-textured hilt.

“I think it is my finest work yet,” I said.

“I only needed thirty-six,” the Lord said, and tossed the sword onto the floor. I watched it fall, heard it clatter, felt it rest against the marble flooring. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but Lord Karasane was several steps ahead of me already, so I quickly caught up with him.

“I’m terribly sorry, I must have offended you,” I said.

Lord Karasane ignored me. He seemed more interested in humming a tune I couldn’t recognise, probably something of a foreign persuasion. I watched him unlock a wooden door in a corridor and step into what I later thought was an interminable corridor.

The corridor terminated in a dead end, but with the depression of the right plank, Lord Karasane opened a hidden door and took us through.

There, lit by the light of afternoon sun filtering through enormously tall windows, a great hall. Within it, horned ogres sparred with wooden swords—wooden swords of my own creation. The staccato striking of wood against wood was intensely satisfying, even though it was quite discordant.

“You see now why I needed thirty-six, and why I could not place an order in bulk?” Lord Karasane smiled at me.

Some of the ogres had only one eye, while others had frail and torn wings. One particularly large ogre, who towered above the rest, had a tail that could be mistaken for a dragon’s.

“Who are they?” I asked, gulping, and doing my best not to push my luck.

“They’re better people, my friend,” Lord Karasane said, smiling at me and turning back to his ogre friends. “Better people than how I found them.”

Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but wish I’d carried the gift sword with me.

wordsnstuff

Resources For Writing Sketchy Topics

Medicine

A Study In Physical Injury

Comas

Medical Facts And Tips For Your Writing Needs

Broken Bones

Burns

Unconsciousness & Head Trauma

Blood Loss

Stab Wounds

Pain & Shock

All About Mechanical Injuries (Injuries Caused By Violence)

Writing Specific Characters

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a power driven character.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to write characters with PTSD.

Playing characters with memory loss.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

How to write a character with HPD.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

How to play the stalker.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Playing a character with ADHD.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Illegal Activity

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Domestic Abuse

Torture

Assault

Murder

Terrorism

Internet Fraud

Cyberwarfare

Computer Viruses

Corporate Crime

Political Corruption

Drug Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Illegal Immigration

Contemporary Slavery

Black Market Prices & Profits

AK-47 prices on the black market

Bribes

Computer Hackers and Online Fraud

Contract Killing

Exotic Animals

Fake Diplomas

Fake ID Cards, Passports and Other Identity Documents

Human Smuggling Fees

Human Traffickers Prices

Kidney and Organ Trafficking Prices

Prostitution Prices

Cocaine Prices

Ecstasy Pills Prices

Heroin Prices

Marijuana Prices

Meth Prices

Earnings From Illegal Jobs

Countries In Order Of Largest To Smallest Risk

Forensics

arson

Asphyxia

Blood Analysis

Book Review

Cause & Manner of Death

Chemistry/Physics

Computers/Cell Phones/Electronics

Cool & Odd-Mostly Odd

Corpse Identification

Corpse Location

Crime and Science Radio

crime lab

Crime Scene

Cults and Religions

DNA

Document Examination

Fingerprints/Patterned Evidence

Firearms Analysis

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Art

Forensic Dentistry

Forensic History

Forensic Psychiatry

General Forensics

Guest Blogger

High Tech Forensics

Interesting Cases

Interesting Places

Interviews

Medical History

Medical Issues

Misc

Multiple Murderers

On This Day

Poisons & Drugs

Police Procedure

Q&A

serial killers

Space Program

Stupid Criminals

Theft

Time of Death

Toxicology

Trauma

imagination-xx

so your search history is less likely to get you blacklisted by the fbi :) (i also have two more masterlists somewhere on my feed that i’ll probably reblog soon)

patientno7

the suffering never ends

sinksanksockie2

This is the real process

thewritingbeast-blog

Resources for you!

Character Ideas:

Character creation masterpost

Character Alignment Chart

More character alignment descriptions

Muslim Character questions

Characters with magical powers

Building a new character advice

How to create a character for an online or tabletop RPG (also a good guide on creating characters in general)

Royalty/nobility TV Tropes page

Basic character profile

OC masterpost

Random character generators - (1), (2), (3), (4)

D&D Character Building Tool

Character Design Ideas:

How clothing affects a character’s personality

Character Design Inspiration blog

Concept art, fan art, cool art to be inspired by

Character design references and inspiration

Sources for POC character design ideas and models

Create your own character model using HeroForge

For horned characters

Body and hair types guide

Random outfit generator

Naming Help:

Amazing site with an endless amount of naming resources

General advice on avoiding naming appropriation

Hispanic Surnames

Gothic Victorian names

Huge master list for character things in general

Masterlist of names of all types - including but not limited to ancient/old world names, Celtic, African, Northern European, Southern and Central American Native names, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Polynesian, and more

Another name masterlist

How to pick a character name guide

Yet another names masterlist

Creating Background/backstory:

Character Sheet/Development Sheet

Another character development list

In-depth character personality, motivations and traits sheet

320 talents and passions for characters

On writing likes and dislikes that aren’t frivolous

Why you should write non-human characters non-conforming to the gender binary

Stereotypes, tropes, and archetypes

Random backstory generator

Assassin and thief character tropes to avoid

Character Interactions and putting your character into your world/story:

Comparing character height/height references

Characters who are scientists and writing about them doing science

Describing what different voices sound like

Describing skin tones

Writing friendship interactions that are platonic

Why having one character knock their friend unconscious to prevent them from doing something is a bad idea

Advice on shipping OCs with canon characters and what to avoid doing

Sweet Polly Oliver and Sweet on Polly Oliver situations (think of Disney’s Mulan for an example)

How to write multiple viewpoints/juggling a main cast of more than 4 to 6 characters

How to make readers care about your morally gray hero/anti-hero

On platonic OC and canon character relationships

How to avoid Godmodding in RPs

When it’s cheap to kill off a character

Writing dialogue

Things you shouldn’t do to canon characters

Avoiding purple prose in writing and RPs

Slang resources

Dialogue tips

Websites to chart your story/plot/character relationships

Bonus art masterlist!

brucewayneright

BLESS EVERYONE IN THIS POST.

isabellestone

Novel Outlining - Keeping Track of Those Pesky Subplots

If you like writing complicated novels with lots of subplots, this post is for you.

Don’t get me wrong, detailed planning is not for everyone. Some people prefer to make a first draft and get everyone on the page, but me? Well I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I like to know what I’m going to write in each chapter for a few reasons:

If I know exactly what’s going to happen in the chapter, I don’t tend to get writers block. The chapter easily flows onto the page.

Having a proper plan helps me keep track of my subplots, so that I can sprinkle in the details as I go.

I like lists.

I like ticking things off said lists.

What is the structure of a novel outline?

There are many ways to outline a novel, but I’m a big fan of excel and spreadsheets, even though it doesn’t have spellcheck (sigh).

In the columns I have:

Chapter number

Who’s perspective the chapters from (for all my multi POV pals)

Date/time of year

Location

Title

Main plot of the chapter (This is where I write down exactly what’s going to happen in brief words)

And then multiple columns for my subplots

[ID: an example table of the columns with an example plot]

I use the word ‘subplot’ loosely. These columns can include:

Character arcs

Backstories

Themes

Relationships

Trails for plot twists (See this post on foreshadowing for more about trails)

Literally anything you want to keep track of

I would recommending having a new column for each subplot so it’s easy to track it’s progression throughout.

The beautiful thing about this method is that it allows you to create a plan ensuring you include all the correct signposts and hints in the early chapters, so that they’re ready to become important in the later chapters, without a ton of rewriting.

It doesn’t work for everyone, but planning is my best bud.

And hey! You’ll never loose sight of a subplot again!