I really want to write a multi chaptered fic with a plot that unravels well and my favorite fics like that are mostly yours. please drop some tips on how you plan your fics and my life is yourssss! I love your works so much, please don't go bald <3
Ahhh thank you so much that’s really kind of you. I like to use bullet point outlines to plan my longer fics, and instead of doing it for each chapter, I keep the list together so I don’t feel pressured to cram things into a chapter or write more than I’m feeling that day.
I also plan out my fics with goalpost events (how it starts, big climax of the event, another significant scene, etc) and allow myself more leeway in writing between them so it doesn’t feel too prescribed. So while I might say, okay Jason and Roy are going to meet next chapter and this is the scene they’ll meet, I won’t plan the events leading up to that scene and choose what feels best as I’m writing. How did Roy get up there? How did Jason? Etc. I know that won’t work for everyone, but it helps balance my attention and in the moment thinking as opposed to having every line pre-written in my outline.
Whenever I get an idea for something, I jot it down in the list as well. Interesting twists, a detail I forgot to mention, a snippet of dialogue that feels right, etc.
Here’s a recent example from my fic under the ivy:
While I do sometimes write out more, or more dialogue ahead of time, that’s typically what my outline looks like when I start writing a chapter.
But the outline isn’t a sacred text, and I often skip ideas or rework them when I realize in the moment that they’re not flowing right. The most important thing, in my mind, is to not beat yourself up when things don’t go to plan.
If you’ve been writing for a bit, trust your gut! If you’ve feel like the story is moving one way but the outline is headed the opposite way, don’t ignore that feeling. If you take out whole sections of dialogue, that’s okay. You didn’t waste your time, you needed that writing immersion to understand why it didn’t work.
My only other recommendation (as I don’t write super long fics often) is to give yourself a good word count range ahead of time, and not a strict number. I typically want my chapters to be somewhere between 4-8k. That gives me a lot of freedom to end the chapter where I feel it’s right instead of trying to get more words. Working up to those higher word counts takes time, and it took me a loooooong time.
Also, I had to become a much faster typist, so having a mechanical keyboard I love that’s responsive is a must for me. This is so when I get into the flow of dialogue or descriptions (which doesn’t always happen) I can keep up with the dialogue in my head as it’s happening, or at least try to.
