How do you plan your story?

[MikeLowrey]

Hey there, so I know we are all a bunch of amateur writers here. I am sure some here may have had their work published elsewhere but for the most part, we all do this for the hobby and the fun. My question this afternoon is how does everyone plan out their stories?

Do you create an outline? Diagrams? Timelines? Maybe some of you don't really write things down and just go from your head. This isn't just a question I have for writing erotica here but I have often wondered how best-selling authors plan out their books and keep things in order from character appearance, development, and how the who story ties together.

If you are feeling a little froggy drop a comment on how you compose your stories.

 

[AlinaX]

I'm writing one at the moment where I've ditched it twice and have spent ages writing and rewriting a very non-linear third version that won't include half the things I'd originally planned...

 

[KeithD]

I don't plan my stories. My muse delivers the nub of them--usually in those five-to-ten minutes that I'm waking up in the morning.

I research the stories and I'll do a character list--just the name spellings only, usually--and any other place names or such that I need to be consistent with. I do not outline. I outline my nonfiction write, but the fiction I do for entertainment--of myself, first.

 

[Winter_Fare]

I don't have the time or energy to over plan my stories. So far they all stem from one wank fantasy or another, with characters getting fleshed out as I zone out on the bus or wait for dinner to cook etc.

I use Google docs on my phone to add details and ideas to my stories as they occur to me, and I definitely draw on what I've read more than what I've experienced for inspiration. (Fantasy and horror is my passion). I tend to write one looooong story and then break it up into more digestible chapters during the editing process.

 

[yowser]

Different flavors of this issue come up here from time to time, I'll let others chime in but it seems there are two broad categories: Plotsers and Pantsers.

The first enjoys careful attention to the story: engineering blueprints, detailed inventories, transitions, character development, story arc all carefully constructed. Usually do not start writing a story without a clear idea of the ending.

The second crew get an idea, an image, a character, a situation, and then start to water and fertilise the mess. Stuff grows, characters go off and have a life of their own, the ending may surprise writer and reader alike.

Many of us are in between, or have various combinations of traits.

There is no perfect system, or someone would have a patent on it.

The last time some discussion of this came up was about six weeks ago Tips for first time writer? but I bet if you are patient and root around the forum, there are plenty others.

Author 8letters has done a useful guide: https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1506090 that's worth a good read.

Go for it...

 

[NotWise]

Until recently, I came by the main characters and the arc of the story and started writing without a detailed plan. There were a few cases where I wrote myself into corners and had to back out.

For the last few months I've been starting with the main character and the story arc and writing a fairly detailed synopsis of the story to make sure there are no dead ends, then writing the story from the synopsis.

 

[SimonDoom]

My stories start with a concept. Often something a bit weird or whimsical.

Like, what if a woman bought a bikini off the Internet, and it turned out it that it had magical properties and when she wore it in public on the beach it wanted to fall off her and expose her? I wrote a story based on that concept.

I am a determined plotter and outliner. Once I come up with a concept I work out the characters that I want to play out the concept and I work out the plot. I work out the basic plot points and I know, pretty much, how the story will end before I start writing.

I often prepare an outline with the major characters listed and I write their basic traits, motivations, and figure out what is the obstacle to the fulfillment of their individual erotic needs.

Usually I write the last page before I am very far into the story. As I write, I am writing with a specific ending in mind. It's like I'm writing a piece of music and I want to end on a very particular note and I want everything I write before that to justify that note. I pay a lot of attention to the final paragraph and final line.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't plan or plot, and have only written (very brief) character notes once.

I start writing, based most often on a single idea, a scene or an image, and see what happens. Characters introduce themselves in the space of a paragraph, and a plot slowly takes shape and evolves as I go along.

I'm writing something for the Mickey Spillane tribute at the moment - for the first time ever I've already got the final scene and the last line. I'm 12000 words in and still don't know how I'll get there, other than loose ideas in my head.

 

[_Lynn_]

I don't plan or plot, and have only written (very brief) character notes once.

I start writing, based most often on a single idea, a scene or an image, and see what happens. Characters introduce themselves in the space of a paragraph, and a plot slowly takes shape and evolves as I go along.

I'm writing something for the Mickey Spillane tribute at the moment - for the first time ever I've already got the final scene and the last line. I'm 12000 words in and still don't know how I'll get there, other than loose ideas in my head.

I write the same way. The only time I made notes was when I did NaNo, and they were just a few names, ages, etc.

 

[Haulover]

...
I am a determined plotter and outliner. Once I come up with a concept I work out the characters that I want to play out the concept and I work out the plot. I work out the basic plot points and I know, pretty much, how the story will end before I start writing.

...As I write, I am writing with a specific ending in mind. It's like I'm writing a piece of music and I want to end on a very particular note and I want everything I write before that to justify that note. I pay a lot of attention to the final paragraph and final line.

This ^^^

 

[lovecraft68]

When the idea really its I swear they plan me.

 

[WinsomeWeb]

There are only two kinds of writers: pantsers, and cowards.

Anyway, there are all kinds of ways to plan an outline. The Snowflake method has seemed popular recently. Here's fantasy novelist Brandon Sanderson talking about his method for outlining. Save the Cat Writes a Novel is kind of a tool for outlining, though it's more an analysis of dramatic structure. Similarly, Dan Harmon's Story Circle is a retooling of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey from a analytical tool to a plotting tool.

I hate outlining personally. I've hated outlining since grade school. I have always just been of the mind to write, and see what happens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's usually much more enjoyable to just wing it.

 

[XerXesXu]

I usually start with a general idea of something I'd be interested in writing about. I next have an idea of how it would begin and how it would end, then start writing. Along the way the characters develop and the tension builds. From the begging I tend not to move towards the end, but at some point I have to make the story converge towards the end, that's when I start plotting. That can be the hard part.

 

[RunningJib]

I received a request

I received a request from a friend.

I've received other requests from other individuals, but their requests often contained too much detail and specifics.

I much prefer open-end ideas / outlines.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I always have a pretty good general idea of the story before I write anything. I don't write an outline, but I usually have some notes on specific scenes I intend to include. I also will sometimes write long dialogues between characters, sort of my version of the "chemistry test" they sometimes do when casting movies. For The Gold Dollar Girls, I wrote more than 2,000 words of just dialogue between Roxanne and Clover at a the diner.

Once I have a good start I always work on the ending. Honestly, I think the ending is the most important part of any story. I don't see the point of going forward with any story without knowing you have a strong ending. Otherwise you risk being like a gymnast who does a great routine, but falls on their face on the dismount.

I have described my method as being like a journey on which you know your starting point and your destination, and you have some stops you intend to make along the way. If you see the opportunity to wander a bit along the way, feel free.

 

[MillieDynamite]

My plan is like a battlefield plan, it works until the first volley whizzes by. That is, it works until my mind does a what if and veer this way or that.

 

[HeyAll]

My stories are fairly simple, so I don't have to write anything down.

With erotica, you know the ending is sex.

These days, I start working on a story when I love the idea and make the intro, then the rest of the story takes longer to come up with ideas. So I make up a lot of the smaller details as I go along. It's more fun that way, but sometimes I get stuck and have to abandon it.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I come up with a rough concept in my head, then I mostly just let the story flow.

Except - My "Tales of Leinyere" story. It needs to fit into the world created by others, so some planning is needed.

Oh, and my India vs Australia series. The main characters were created by another author - Sweetdeamssss, so I needed to make sure my story fitted with her characters.

I guess I swing both ways now.

 

[KeithD]

With erotica, you know the ending is sex.

Not necessarily in my erotica, although it certainly is key. I sometimes put it at the beginning and sometimes in the middle and not always at the end. Sometimes it's the stage setter of a relationship or dilemma, not the culmination of them in a realized plotline.

 

[Panty Wrangler]

Does coming up with epiphanies while masturbating in the shower count? That seems to be my main tool…

 

[gordo12]

Does coming up with epiphanies while masturbating in the shower count? That seems to be my main tool…

And is there lead in it

*****

Pantzer here. Lately, I've been writing a short synopsis for stories because I have so many ideas I start to forget where I was going to take them. Of course, the story bears no resemblance to what I laid out by the time I finish. To me, it seems more creative.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

no plan survives contact wit the enemy - Helmuth von Moltke

which is pretty much how it goes...

 

[TadOverdon]

• A character and a scenario.
• An overall premise usually arises from that.
• Lots of notes and some research sometimes. Snatches of dialogue.
• That grows into a sequence of major events or scenarios organized by chapters.
• Eventually we start writing scenes, not necessarily starting at the beginning.

Usually all of this goes on while writing something else.

No matter what order we write in, the one thing I won't do is write the last chapter or two until the rest exists in draft. I'm afraid that if I compose the end I'll lose motivation to finish. Although I will write the last sentence as soon as one occurs to me.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

Brainstorming happens with sticky notes plastered all over my apartment, asking profound questions like: "Why do lesbians prefer waterbeds?" and "How flexible are ballerinas really?"

No… In all seriousness, whenever I’ve tried to follow an outline it ended with me suffering severe writer’s block at some stage in the process. You need to give yourself room to breath while still keeping a coherent structure. Short notes that arise as I write and not before I write have been of more value than trying to outline beforehand.

 

[TadOverdon]

Outlining would not be real useful for me. It would look like:

Chapter one:

1. Mf
2. Mmf
3. Mf

Chapter two:

1. Mff

Chapter three:

1. Mf

Chapter four:

1. Mf

Chapter five:

1. Mf
2. Ff

Chapter six:

1. Mff
2. Ff

Chapter seven:

1. Mff

Chapter eight:

1. Mmf

Etc...