#im determined to at least sort out the basic setting and plot threads for this thing andras is for this year

[local-magpie]

1/3/25 sketch page. no butts this time (sorry) but have a roper and a 17th century dog?

[saint-ossifrage]

God i wish I had your determination for fic writing 😭 can I ask how you go about doing outlines, bc im horribly disorganized and I have no clue and would like to learn 🥺 (if thats okay to ask rip)

Ok so first of all. I am so sorry this got so long. Second, thank you for asking about something I love. I never get to talk about this. Unfortunately, that means I have way too much to say about it. I don’t know if you were expecting something as detailed as this...either way, take it with a grain of salt. Different people set up outlines how they like, this is just how I do it. Ok, here we gooo!

What I’m doing right now is working on a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. I started with a vague plot that I didn’t even think I would write out because of the complexity/length. It turns out my hubris will be my downfall!

Anyway, I started with three broad plot points. Beginning, middle, and end. Example: A gets taken. X happens during their abduction. In the end, B and C rescue them. They’re broad on purpose because that makes it more flexible as I flesh it out, which is important in case I figure out there’s a plot hole or a different scenario I prefer. Then, I start nitpicking as I expand it. I like to ask simple questions. Ex. Why did A get abducted? This helps me determine what happens leading up to the fic and pushes me through the story. Consider character arcs throughout this process.

(I also ask myself how that might affect canon, but that’s because I want this fic to fit into canon without completely changing the ending. So, I lay out the pros and cons of trying to shove my fic into canon. Would this change it too much? Would it make sense at all what with X and Y? I’m kind of a freak about it when I put my mind to it, so you should by no means feel pressured to do the same!)

Once I figure out if it works or not, I start laying down the groundwork. I use Artistotle’s story structure because it’s easy to understand for me. I'm actually drawing out the chart right now. I start by assigning the exposition and rising action to chapters. Additionally, I like to know my ending because, otherwise, the middle might get muddled due to excessive meandering.

Here’s how I lay out chapters:

So on and so forth. This is just how I do it, you can format it however you want! You can have as many scenes in a chapter as you like. I try to stick to 3-4 depending on length for my own sake. I also strive to make my scenes and, more importantly, chapters end on a specific note. It could be happy, hopeful, suspenseful, sad, or even a cliffhanger.

(FYI, I specified DAY/TIME - which would be something like TUESDAY MORNING or MID-TUESDAY, etc. - because I was getting confused about how many days passed in a past fic and how that affected the current fic. I’ve learned my lesson. I estimate how much time a scene would take so I can count up how many days pass over the course of the chapters. This isn’t necessary, of course, but I included it just in case.)

Oftentimes there will be a narrative thread that will wind through multiple - if not all - chapters and this can get very confusing to keep track of. I have to consider how it will develop and build on itself, so I take some time to think through it in a separate bullet list. I write down the basics. For example, if a character gets sick at the beginning of the fic and gets steadily worse, it would look somewhat like this:

Or, if a character is grieving, I jot down the 5 stages of grief. Then, I start brainstorming about how their specific externalizations of each stage would look like.

On my doc, I have four sections. Section 1 is for the broad plot. Section 2 is for the detailed chapter outline. Section 3 is dedicated to the threads I’m fleshing out. This is also where I put the Q&A's. I’m kind of a control freak so I even highlight very important things, like motives for characters. This layout is just so I don’t get confused, but it’s not necessary.

Then there is Section 4: the scrapped bits. It’s important to be flexible while building your outline. You don’t need to completely throw away things that don’t fit! Just stick ‘em in Section 4 or some equivalent and let it rest while you cultivate this story.

Going back to the outline - I give each scene a working title that’s dumb as hell, for fun. Again, not at all necessary, but it makes me laugh. Plus, I like having chapter titles sometimes, and I can get inspiration from a scene title if it fits.

I use this outlining method specifically for multi-chapter fics. I wrote a very long crossover chapter fic in the past and it was a huge, unwieldy project. I know it's sort of the standard, but posting a chapter before the rest of them, or at least the next one, is written made it hard to keep track of all my loose threads. That's why I did a 180 and started obsessively organizing things. Unfortunately for my readers, I developed this method halfway through the fic. Oopsies :3

That’s about it. I did my best to explain it, but I’m not sure how much of this is comprehensible to someone who isn't inside my brain. If anything is unclear please ask me about it. If you can’t tell, I like talking about writing. I don’t mind. I’d feel super bad if my explanation was confusing. I hope it helps 💗