#Some plot details in other posts may be from the extended version

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

Hi! This is anon from the other day who was asking about outlining! First of all, thanks so much for your input! It was really helpful and I finally have an ok outline- at least in my opinion! Just wondering if you have anymore advice on outling in general- My fics going to be a longer one- looking at average novel length here for everything I want to shove in it. Have a good day! :D

Hello, dear anon! I am always happy to give advice (though the quality of it may be lacking, as I speak from personal experience rather than professional study).

If you're looking for some more advice (writing wise), I would suggest making sure that you don't spend too much time obsessing over any one chapter, especially as you're just starting out on such a long project. Not that you can't edit, but I've seen so many new writers (how new are you at writing? That may change my future advice, if you ask for it) edit and edit and edit their first chapters without ever moving onto the second because they're trying to get it perfect. I'm on a writing exchange platform on Reddit (Writers Helping Writers), and I had one kid send me his first chapter no more than seven times to review the different versions, because he couldn't get down the details of how he wanted that inciting scene to go. It's been like 3? months, and he just sent me an eighth version the other day, and I had to tell him that I wasn't gonna give (the same) feedback on the chapter anymore XD

Especially if you're going to be doing a long fic, new things you'll want to add to different sections will pop up as you go. You just have to accommodate for ideas as they come up rather than try to preemptively pin them all down, and I'm saying this as the person known as being super super detailed with crazy outlines, apparently. You have to be a bit flexible--the story will take you places that you didn't expect to go, and you'll have to go back and fix details and revise many many times.

Specifically for outlining, however, I am a very visual person, so I have drawings, diagrams, and I also have a corkboard with all my chapter "sections" on sticky notes, with string connecting big subplots (I've actually taken these all down right now, and the only one's up are concluded subplots XD Arc 2 is a mess rn). You'll just have to play around and see what works for you, when it comes to that. Have you seen the train station model for subplots? I'm not sure if that's exactly what it's called, because googling it gets nothing, but when I started writing years and years ago there was one for the Hunger Games going around XD Basically, deciding which subplots will be advanced in which scenes, and tracking them through the story that similar to a system of subway rails, with each chapter being a stop that only some of the trains (subplots) will stop at. It gives you the opportunity to visually make sure that you give each the amount of screentime they deserve and also remember to give them a satisfying conclusion that's going in the same direction, to extend the metaphor, as the main plot.

It's great that you have an outline already, as that'll cut down on those revisions that I mentioned earlier a lot! And you're going for NOVEL LENGTH? Wow, good luck, and as I said before, please message me when you get around to posting that! Feel free to message me if you need anything, whether that be talking through plot points or my specific processes for anything.

You have a good day yourself, my dear writing anon!

[pippin-katz]

RWRB Essay Part Ten: Pacing

Word Count: 611

The film moves fast, but this is because the book also moves fast, but the film has way less time to get the same point across. I may be in the minority, but after I disconnected the book from the movie, I didn't feel like it was rushed.

Here's the thing, a lot of movies have a nasty habit of being stuffed with filler. There's so much unnecessary stuff that's put into films to pad the runtime, make it longer. Most people don't really think about it, but it's actually super common, and annoying for those who notice.

The minimum runtime to be considered a feature length film in the US is 60+ minutes, but a lot of movies nowadays try to get closer to 120+ minutes, which is a big difference. Consider the original Avengers film, 143 minutes, which is a lot, and then we got Avengers: Endgame which was 183 minutes.

For some perspective, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers released to theaters with a 179 minute-long runtime, but the extended edition runtime is 235 minutes. The Lord of the Rings films are notorious for their extended versions and the fact that they are extraordinarily long. Almost everyone who watches the extended edition trilogy spreads it out over several days, if not a week because it is too much to watch in one sitting unless you have the entire day free.

These massive numbers come from the fact that they have a lot to show, most of which is vital to the plot. Too many movies now add unnecessary content to make their runtime longer.

Red, White, & Royal Blue does not move too fast. It simply does not waste time.

There is not a single scene in Red, White, & Royal Blue is meaningless. Even the fun montage scenes like those at the lake house are there to communicate the development of their relationship, and how far they've come.

While we can see their love showing up early on, obviously they lead with friends-with-benefits relationship that makes for most of their physically shared time being sex centered. The lake house shows them genuinely enjoying being around each other outside of that context, like reading together on a hammock or Henry doing drunk karaoke. Their small conversations are picked carefully to showcase their banter, then their growing connection.

The story is about them, and therefore, there's no point in taking a winding sidetrack to go into the details of Alex's college classes or the campaign progress. That's all great for the book, but in the movie, they don't need to do that, and the decision not to was the right one. It only would've taken the focus off of them.

They have a lot to do with just them. There's no reason to drag their feet around, so they don't! There's no point in spending fifteen-twenty minutes to show something they can accomplish in five. There's no point in dragging out the passage of time.

The fast pace only doesn't work if their progression as a couple isn't believable, and we've already established that their progress as a couple is perfectly balanced.

That's my take on the pacing, that it's not rushed. I prefer them just going, not wasting any time. That's the other part that makes the cuts not bother me.

As much as I love so many scenes that didn't make it, they didn't need to be there for the story to progress as it needed to. Trying to cram more in would've only made it hard to keep up with. That would've made it rushed. The way it is is fine.

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[dustydoop]

Goncharov Plot in detail

1960s- Gon is a prominent member in Russian organized crime, he owns a bar that is used as a front for the mafia and deals with their money laundering. A mysterious man (Mario Ambrosini) has been costing him a lot of money with his gambling. Andrey is introduced, implies that Ice Pick Joe injured his eye. Gon marries Katya, another prominent member in the Russian mafia. They don't love each other, just the money and power. Katya's father winds up dead (Implied that it may be Gon?). She gives Gon a watch, this comes up a lot later. 1970s- Gon has become power hungry, unsatisfied with his slightly low position in Russian mafia. He decides to go to Naples to take over. He takes with him his wife, her brother, Andrey, and Bruno (More people are there, but unnamed). The five go to a bar, owned by Mario. While the men speak at the bar, Katya meets Sofia, trying to get inside knowledge. This gets weird (Beer Bottle Scene), but the two wind up friends. The men realize that Mario is the man they failed to kill 10 years ago, causing Bruno to lash out a bit, Gon encourages this. He is not seen again, implied to have been taken by an Armenian-ran trash company working for Mario. Katya was close to Bruno and confronts Gon about this, eventually threatening him with a gun. She then takes off on her own for the night, but returns the next day (You wouldn't have missed Scene). The next morning she runs into Sofia at the market, they have a conversation about apples vs pomegranates (Apple Scene). While this is happening, Gon and Andrey plot against Mario. Gon, Andrey, Sofia, and Katya all have dinner together (Anchovies Scene). Before dinner, Katya gives Sofia her pearls from her father in an attempt to regain Gon's affection and show her love for Sofia. Gon and Andrey kidnap Joseph to try and get info, all they get is that Sofia is Mario's sister. Joe is gone the next day. This causes Gon to spiral in fear, becoming more and more aggressive towards Katya and Andrey. Katya vents to Andrey, leading to awkward steam. All this time, Mario is sending cryptic messages about Pompeii and Gon running out of time. Joe slips info to Gon because Gon helped him with childhood issues. Mario kills Joe with his ice pick due to this. Gon travels to Pompeii to face Mario, leading to significant damage. Mario leaves him with a warning to leave, he knows Gon is weak and a lot of Mario's men have died at Gon's hand. It is implied Mario bleeds out after Gon leaves. He goes back to Naples a broken man, set on destroying all he has. He sees Katya and Sofia are out on a boat ride and shoots Katya from the shore, turning her dress red (Boat Scene). She fakes her death and convinces Andrey to kill Gon. Gon and Andrey take a walk over a bridge, and Andrey lays down all the truths as he stabs Gon and then himself. As he does this, the clock hits midnight (Bridge Scene). The last shot is Katya and Sofia, both in their pearls, watching as the clock continues to tick.