forum Plot Making
Started by @thatpagangirl
tune

people_alt 8 followers

@cami

i'm really bad at actually plotting out my stories, so they usually start with one or two scenes featuring the main character, and then i just start writing to get to those scenes. half the time it's just a scene i made up on the spot, like someone sprinting down a road and turning a corner, only to duck under a sword swung at their face (yes, that's an actual scene that inspired my third novel, and it might not even make it in). most of the time the plot just falls into place doing it that way. i write a lot of fantasy, so it's mostly adventures with some magic thrown it. sprinkle a little conflict and plot twists galore and suddenly i have a book. it's just a matter of using the initial scenes as a jumping off point for the rest of the story - ex. what were their motivations in that scene, why were they in that location, who is the person opposite them in the scene. for that scene above, i still want to include it, but it's changed since i started writing the story. that happens more often than not :)

@Masterkey

I am a huge plotter before writer kind of person. I usually start with a character. I start coming up with a backstory, their dreams, their problems, and what kind of "moral lesson" they need to learn. I always want my books to send some kind of message, so that readers come away inspired, or at least come away thinking more deeply. Then I think to myself "where do I want to see him struggle? Space? Underground? Modern Japan? Ancient Egypt? On a pirate ship?" I love TOO MANY genres and TOO MANY stories to rule anything out. I just start thought dumping all my favorite things (I've got too many to give them ALL to one story, ofc) onto this character. I give them a friend. I give them an enemy (be it a person, or the weather). Then when I go to sleep at night I start imagining him doing stuff. Just anything. With his friends, too.

Once I marinate in all that for awhile, I'll write down a plot outline. I'll just write whatever stupid thing comes to mind. I have five different ones for my current story, actually. Then I talk it out with my family, I add more characters who all have goals of their own, I imagine how they could be tied together.

I basically have to be intentional about it, to really think over everything. Then I write it down. VOILA! I found a plot!