do you mind giving some advice on how you outline/plan fics and create plots? i love your writing and need some advice 😭
Hello!! Thank you so much anon, that's so kind. It means a lot to know people enjoy my work!
So for years I'd outlined everything the same way: with a numbered hierarchy, expanding with indents on each point I knew more info on. Sometimes it starts with a quote I know I wanna add, or an action I know needs to occur.
But I've found the more complex my stories get, the less this works. My dear friend @secret-third-thing has given me two pieces of outline advice.
One is to utilize "save the cat" story structure. If you're not familiar with it, it's a way to organize acts and beats of a story focusing on character growth and development. I'm currently using a version of it to outline the beats and acts of my Nesta reverse harem.
While writing my solstice exchange fic "Time Will Explain (If We Let It)" I found that I was getting lost in the story and losing critical beats writing between three perspectives and trying to weave them all together. So the beautiful STT suggested I try outlining each scene with three things:
exteriority: What is happening in the scene? Answer the who, what, when, where, how questions.
interiority: Why is it happening? What's going on in the character's head that's motivating them/influencing their actions? Are they doubtful? Are their thoughts in line with their actions?
because of that: How do the actions (exterior and interior) from this section cause what happens in the next section?
For "TWE" I also added a "flashbacks" section because the slow burn heavily relied on the history of the characters. If you've read the fic, I've included a few of my notes and POVs from that outline so you can see the process! Thank you for your ask, and I hope this helps!
