When you’re trying to flesh out that kernel of a story idea in your mind, putting together a cohesive plot can be a daunting task. Sometimes figuring out what happens and how can seem intimidating. Many writers solve this issue by taking a lot of time crafting a complete plot outline of how everything flows from start to finish before they begin writing. Other writers start with their characters and their unique predicament and make up the plot elements as they go along. These two approaches do not have to be mutually exclusive.
For many of my stories I first create a list of cool moments I want to see happen in my story. Then I build a vague plot outline around those moments. I keep the outline vague to leave some flexibility for if the characters or situations dictate a change in direction. But basically these moments serve as destination points you can direct your story to. You can discover some cool stuff by pointing your characters in a direction and just following them around. This is a hybrid technique for early plotting, where you set a destination point and then make stuff up as you go along their journey to get there.
This is the early plotting stage, so you should not worry about any filters. Be as weird and outlandish as your mind will allow. Don’t try to filter the ideas, just let them flow directly from your mind to the paper (or computer). You can go back and tweak, finetune, rework your ideas, or even replace them with something better later. Just get the ball rolling and follow your muse without overthinking things. One you have your vague plot outline done, then you can go is and add details.
Asking Questions
To get this process rolling, ask yourself a few questions about your stories, and write down your answers. Start with this one: What are the 5 biggest moments that you want to see happen in your story? Now step back. What is the next moment you are working towards in the story? Write out, step by step, how your characters get to that moment. Write single sentences for each action and don’t overthink it. That’s how I map out the next sequence of actions in my story. I don’t have a rigid outline, but I have moments that I want to happen, and I lead my characters to those moments, step by step.
Say you want one of your villains to spring a trap on your group of plucky heroes. How do your heroes get into position for the trap to be sprung? How do they spring the trap? What do they do when the trap is sprung? How do they get out of that mess? What does the bad guy do when they get out? Sometimes you need to micromanage your plot to get the story moving.
But that just gives you a skeleton to build on. Now you need to add the meat. Pick a character, any one, and follow him or her through that sequence of events. What does he or she see, smell and touch? What are they thinking as they go through this? What memories does it bring up? What are they thinking about the rest of the characters right now? How is he or she reacting to what is happening? And what does he or she do about it?
here’s an example. In Leopard Man, my key scene was Ashlynn being chased through Forest Park by the bad guy. With that in mind. I had to ask myself how the heck she ended up in Forest Park to begin with. She was there with her best friend because they had to walk to her friend’s house in that area. So now why is she running for her life? She saw something in that forest she wasn’t supposed to see. Okay, so now that she is running, where exactly does she run to? Well, there is a small neighborhood at the end of the park, with a church at the end. So what happens if she makes it to the church? Will she be safe there? What if she isn’t? Who is chasing her, and why is she so afraid of him? And where is her friend in the midst of all of this?
Every answer leads to more questions, and each question and answer is a block to help you build your scene, chapter or story. I hope that helps.
