How do you know when to stop planning a book? I’ve seen people who have 20,000 + outlines and character sheets but I think that kind of planning will make me lose interest in the story. Makes the story feel too serious for a first draft. But not having enough to work with when drafting takes away my faith in the story, I start doubting it and just trash it. Do you have any techniques for planning (character, outlining, world) that doesn’t go overboard?
the prewriting method that works best for me and just about every writer i work with is what i call the narrative outline.
a narrative outline is just a summary, in paragraph form, of the story. outlining this way allows you to go into detail about character motivations, specific details, dialogue thoughts, etc. it's a very easy, very casual approach that can be updated or added to as you write. and if you don't know something, you can put [something happens here] and move on, then come back to that spot later. you can make the outline as long or as short as you want, as detailed or as spare.
generally, each paragraph is a chapter and each sentence (sans digressions) is a scene, although you don't have to do that intentionally; that's just how the pieces tend to fall.
don't feel obligated to follow the narrative outline while you're drafting, just update it when the plot moves in weird directions.
My first chapter may have been posted prematurely-- as I've found that despite everything, I'd completely forgotten to decide on a tone.
Spent so much time fleshing out the backstory that the forestory's inital concept/outline was still only bones. Now that I'm actually executing, I've realizeda lot of important decicions have yet to be made.
I'm so sorry but its back to the drawing board for now :'D
The Hungering Dark (Mass Effect AU) is the first story I’ll be tagging with Major Character Death. I’m listening to the playlist I built for the story, and I don’t think I’ll be able to make it through drafting with dry eyes. 😭
Joking aside, to live is to prewrite, as a writer anyways. We write with our lived experiences as a lens and guide; the adage "write what you know" comes to mind.
Prewriting is the act of preparing to write, clearly, but it can look different than what is the traditional definition (in my opinion).
I believe in outlines and their efficacy! Nothing I do is separate from that, rather added on top or concurrently in my process.
Other Media
I firmly believe writers of one medium should look at other media when doing their prewriting.
For my fantasy novel, I went with my (now) fiancee to museums! How did other parts of the world in centuries past fight, create, or spread beliefs?
The armor from medieval Europe and weaponry gave me an idea of time periods, seeing early firearms in a nearby exhibit with dates allowed me to see how one corner of humanity progressed.
Old world Asian art showed how different conditions set up for unique styles of art and decorations. The sheer number of Hindi and Muslim art in eastern cultures showed me how intertwined religion was to art.
I steered away from screen/teleplays but I love movies and shows for prewriting. Watch an old favorite whose characters you feel familiar with. What makes them so engaging? Are their arcs dynamic? How early does the showrunner introduce breadcrumbs for a twist? What does episodic television do that serialized television cannot, and vice versa?
Video games with lore or engaging stories provide other good examples to learn from!
Sometimes I will engage other media for fun, other times I sit with the intent of study.
Outroduction
Life, our own and others', are all ongoing stories. They might not all follow "The Hero's Journey" or "69 Point Plot Map" but we can take creative liberty when looking at inspiration both within and without
Writing Problem: The Novel Suffers From Arbitrary Complexity
Problem: The Novel Suffers From Arbitrary Complexity
Solution: More spectacle isn't always better. Larger and relentlessly diverse casts aren't necessarily more dynamic or more representative. More gore doesn't exactly make the violence more believable. More tears won't always pull readers into a deeper emotional connection.
Balance in everything, whether in drawing lots for which characters live or die, or assembling the combination of goals and threats the cast must surmount to reach the end.
Sometimes, it helps to weave from the simple toward the complex: If you understand what is essential to the story, and the role of each character in the story, then you can expand outward, deliberately, and unfold more detail from a central theme or narrative device. (If the author does it the other way around, and weaves from the complex toward the simple, then plot holes form, characters lose their purpose, and the story's conclusion feels less and less tethered to the inciting incident that supposedly pulled in readers at the outset.)
Writing Resources:
5 Ways to Make Mundane Scene More Interesting (Writing Questions Answered)
Feeling Overwhelmed by Plot Points (Writing Questions Answered)
What Is Prewriting? Preparing to Write With Purpose (Now Novel)
How to Write the Perfect Plot (in Two Easy Steps) (Helping Writers Become Authors)
Writing Description: Encourage Readers to Infer More Than They Realize (ahbwrites)
Reasons to Kill Your Characters (Coffee Bean Writing)
How to Absolutely Wreck Your Audience With a Character Death (lunewell)
Coming Up With a Plot (From Scratch) (September C. Fawkes)
❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)
When it comes to developing characters for a story, a lot of the questionaires and other prompts have a lot to do with what characters look like: what's their weight? what's their hight? eye color? Favorite color? The thing is, none of these things are usually going to help when it comes to making fleshed out and rounded characters - the ones readers will root for. The reason why is looks don't compare against who a character is on the inside. What are their motivations? Why? Where do their little quirks come from? These are the things that make a character memorable.
When it comes to creating dynamic characters, this is the process I usually default to, adapted from indie author Jenna Moreci. All of the catagories belore are intertwined, which will be broken down as well. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to have everything fleshed out from the get-go. Even if you only have one or two details, you can use this to build that into a whole dynamic character.
The main points you want to get by the time you’re done are:
their backstory/life experience
social role
motivation described in 1-2 words
three strengths/three weaknesses
what the perfect novel ending is for your character
why that’s the perfect end
what your character’s underlying need is
(This has been one of my longest posts in a while, so I’ve put all of the questions below the break)
1) What's their backstory/life experience?
Basically, this is where I bullet-point big life events. Brainstorming isn't always chronological, but for easy reference, when I put this information into my spreadsheet, I put it in the order it all happened. Basically, summarizing their life up until the events of the story in about ten to twenty short sentences.
What this influences:
(Basically EVERYTHING)
Social Role: What types of experience have they had that will influence where they fall in social circles?
Basic motivation: What aspects of their life experience have shaped the backbone of your character's goals?
Strengths/weaknesses: What life experiences have taught them well (strengths)? What life experiences have they not had, creating weaknesses?
Ideal ending: What is a hole in their life that has not been filled that they want filled?
Ending reason: What have they promised themselves they will get out of completing their goal?
Need: What aspect of your character's life has been neglected, at least for a long time?
How to come up with your backstory:
If you've already gotten other aspects of your character down, think about what types of life experience would be needed to justify their ideals, thoughts, and actions. Given that life experience pretty much affects everything, you can refer back to the questions listed above.
2) What's their social role?
This is not the same thing as plot role (mc, love interest, etc). Instead, this is a one to two word description of who they are in relationship to other characters. This can be fairly archetypical. For example, your character might be the leader or bully. Compared to other questions, this is in my mind, less important, but it can be helpful when picking which tropes you want or don't want to include.
What this influences:
Strengths/weaknesses: what aspects of this role allow your character to flourish and develop strengths? What aspects of this role bring your character down and create weaknesses?
How to come up with their social role:
Life experience: What roles have they filled thus far? Did they fit well in those roles? Are they trying to maintain them, or are they trying to escape them?
Strengths/weaknesses: What social roles would make sense for your character's strengths and weaknesses? (This one's going to have less influence, as there are plenty of roles someone can get forced into, such as leadership, even if they don't actually qualify for it.)
3) What is their motivation in one or two words?
This is pretty much the simplest, most boiled down view of their motivation. It also will help to give a basic insight into what their character is. For example, they might be motivated by vengeance, or sense of duty. Pretty much, look at what they want, and boil it down to its bare essentials. Like the social role, this won't offer a ton of insight, but it can be useful for coming up with tropes and themes you want to use and avoid.
What this influences:
Ideal ending: how can the basic motivation, which is more of a concept, translate into a tangeable goal?
How to come up with their basic motivation:
Life experience: What aspects of their life has shaped their ideals to the point that they are motivated by them?
Strengths/Weaknesses: how can one or more of the given strengths yield themselves toward motivating your character (for example, if they've got empathy, maybe they're motivated by a sense of duty)? What weaknesses, when taken too far, can create a hole that your character feels they must fill (for example, if they have a lot of insecurity, maybe they're motivated by perfectionism)?
Ideal ending: what is the most boiled down version of the ideal ending? What is the driving force behind it?
Ending reason: what aspects of their reasoning point toward an underlying motivation archetype?
Need: how can their underlying need transform into motivation?
4) What are three strengths, and three weaknesses?
The key to creating balanced characters in terms of strengths and weaknesses is to make sure that you list just enough to get the gist, but you don't go overboard on either. For each character, list exactly three strengths and three weaknesses, and make sure that none of them are too similar to each other. Some examples might be: intelligent, athletic, abrasive, entitled, etc.
What this influences:
Social Role: what role or roles is your character going to gravitate toward, based on their strengths and weaknesses?
Motivation: how do these strengths and weaknesses transform into basic forms of motivation?
Ideal ending: what are your character's weaknesses stopping your character from achieving? What do they think they're capable of getting?
Ending reason: how do your character's strengths and weaknesses affect their reasoning when coming up with a goal?
How to come up with strengths and weaknesses:
Life Experience: what aspects of their life experience would have taught your character strengths? What deficiencies would have created weaknesses?
Social role: what strengths and weaknesses might your character develop based on their social role? Which ones are going to be the most apparent?
Need: what strengths would someone who has this need probably pick up? What weakness perpetuate it?
5) If everything turned out perfectly for this character, how would the novel end?
This is basically what the character's goal is. What does your character want to happen by the end of the book? This does not yet go into what they'd do to get it, just their wish. Keep it simple. What is ONE THING? Any more than that and things start to get convoluted.
What this influences:
Motivation: how can this ending be condenced to its simplest form? What is the motivation behind wanting this thing?
Ending reason: why do your characters want this?
Need: what does this thing appear to be fulfilling (even if it doesn't actually)?
How to come up with ideal ending:
Life experience/backstory: what's something they've never had that they want? Or, what's something they used to have that they want back?
Motivation: what is a tangeable manifestation of their base motivation?
Need: how does your character think they can fulfill their needs?
6) Why do your characters want their chosen ending?
This is their rational explanation for their goal. What is it that caused your characters do decide this was the perfect ending?
What this influences:
Motivation: what does your character believe they're trying to do?
Need: what need are they trying to fulfill, even if they don't know it?
How to come up with ending reason:
Life experience/backstory: what aspects of their life experience lead them to believe their goal is what they want?
Strengths/weaknesses: how do your character's strengths and weaknesses inform their reasoning? How do they cloud it or twist it?
Ideal ending: what makes your character want their ideal ending? What do they think they'll get out of it?
7) What need are they trying to fulfill?
This is something your character may not know specifically, but it impacts a lot of their decisions. Basically, this is going to be the thing that they are trying to fulfill throught the story, even if they don't go about it in any productive way. For some juicy conflict, you can make your character's need and goal/ideal ending contradict each other in practice, causing your character to make plot-driving decisions.
What this influences:
Motivation: how can their need motivate your character? What does that motivation look like?
Strengths/weaknesses: what strengths has your character developed to cover up their need? what weaknesses does your character's need perpetuated?
Ideal ending: what type of ending does your character believe will help to satisfy their needs, even if they don't know what their needs are? Or, what type of ending will help them survive without meeting their needs?
How to come up with a character need:
Backstory/life experience: what aspect of your character's being has been long neglected?
Ideal ending: what needs can that goal meet? or, what needs can be covered up by achieving that goal?
Ending reason: what needs does your character think they're meeting?
Hopefully this is helpful for coming up with dynamic characters!
