How do you outline/plan your (web)novels?

[Deleted member 45782]

• General Synopsis Idea (rough outline like paragraphs while specific plots are like bullet points of the main overall ideas of what happens in story or at least idea of beginning and end of story)
• Character Description (name + name meaning, personality, background/history, relationships; generally idea what they become as; what kind of character like protagonist or support character)
• Story Comparison to Other Stories (in case it feels too similar to existing story or just want ease of mind that story am writing is different from others already out there)

 

[Ruyi]

i like pen and paper in the real world because the act of writing helps my brain get moving.

otherwise i just scribble notes IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS in my gdocs for story arcs. before that tho i do have an overall idea for the story's beginning, middle, and end. everything in between is an impetus to move me closer to those end goals.

more importantly, i save everything i discard (in its own googledocs) in case i want to borrow a sentence/phrase/idea for something else later. super helpful and even staves off writer's block when i get "stuck!"

 

[Deleted member 45782]

i like pen and paper in the real world because the act of writing helps my brain get moving.

otherwise i just scribble notes IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS in my gdocs for story arcs. before that tho i do have an overall idea for the story's beginning, middle, and end. everything in between is an impetus to move me closer to those end goals.

more importantly, i save everything i discard (in its own googledocs) in case i want to borrow a sentence/phrase/idea for something else later. super helpful and even staves off writer's block when i get "stuck!"

Same. Haha. Reminds me i need to discord that jar of note scraps and other notes too. Got too many papers. Writing off a device helps me focus.

 

[Muddy]

Ai-chan uses an offline desktop wiki to organize the particulars of Ai-chan's stories. For example, there are categories for characters, plot, locations, important events and miscellanous stuff. And inside those categories, Ai-chan can also add subcategories to further manage various aspects of the story. Ai-chan can even write early drafts in it.

It definitely beats using notepad or word document to plan stories. There has been many times when Ai-chan would open notepad and thought, "Where the heck is the characters section?" and then once Ai-chan got to that part, it would be sensory overload as Ai-chan had to waste time sifting through unneeded information. That slows down the writing process and breaks writing flow, a problem Ai-chan suffered for the past 2 years

Ah, another wiki user. I'm curious, what wiki program do you use?

For my process, I tend to start out with a rough outline in a word document. That outline will get split into acts, and then into an outline of all major events as I write. Lately, for larger works, I tend to gravitate towards a wiki (I use Zim) to organize the finer details of characters and worldbuilding. It really helps to keep track of all the little details, all of the minor plot threads, and the complexities of characters. I've found that kind of organized information especially helpful during the editing and polishing process.

As for the broader question: what to focus on when you start out. If I had to condense the how-to-plan part of writing into a singular piece of advice, then it would be this: everything has a beginning, middle, and end. Know where your plot starts, know where it ends, and have a rough idea of how to get from point A to B. The same applies to the protagonist. Know where they start out and how their personality develops throughout the novel.

Nothing has helped my own writing more than getting this basic principle down. For me, it meant the difference between seeing a story through to the end, and abandoning it halfway through because I had no idea where I was going with it.

 

[Ai-chan]

Ah, another wiki user. I'm curious, what wiki program do you use?

For my process, I tend to start out with a rough outline in a word document. That outline will get split into acts, and then into an outline of all major events as I write. Lately, for larger works, I tend to gravitate towards a wiki (I use Zim) to organize the finer details of characters and worldbuilding. It really helps to keep track of all the little details, all of the minor plot threads, and the complexities of characters. I've found that kind of organized information especially helpful during the editing and polishing process.

As for the broader question: what to focus on when you start out. If I had to condense the how-to-plan part of writing into a singular piece of advice, then it would be this: everything has a beginning, middle, and end. Know where your plot starts, know where it ends, and have a rough idea of how to get from point A to B. The same applies to the protagonist. Know where they start out and how their personality develops throughout the novel.

Nothing has helped my own writing more than getting this basic principle down. For me, it meant the difference between seeing a story through to the end, and abandoning it halfway through because I had no idea where I was going with it.

Oho! Ai-chan uses Zim too. High five!

Ai-chan chose Zim because it's user-friendly, easy to use and free. The other offline wiki programs feel so complicated with all the coding and installation instructions that Ai-chan gave up without trying. Like what's the point of making the offline wiki hard to use for the common people? It's not like Ai-chan is going to show it to people. Ai-chan just wanted something that can be loaded quick, used quickly and then closed without a second thought.

Though it does have a problem in that it can't make graphs and it doesn't look like wikipedia or fandom. Plus there is no option to synchronize online. But for personal use, it's perfect.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

I do bullet outline more but I remember drawing up a story comparison chart in past. Like say somehow you stumble onto an existing story that is similar to your story or you realize the story you're planning to write is too similar to another story. If not sure, then do a comparison if 4 or 5 major details/plots are similar, then how will you go about changing it? This chart gives me an idea of what is similar and what can be twisted to make your story more different. Character rough brainstorm - I usually just bullet outline thu but it'd be an interesting idea just to chart it this way.

 

[Sylvie]

Just curious about what methods you all employ to tackle the huge task that is writing a novel.

How much of your story do you plan? How do you plan it/what do you focus on? And what would you recommend newbies to do when starting a web novel?

Any insights, tips, or experiences are appreciated.

There's a whole course on this by Brandon Sanderson on YouTube and I learnt a lot from it.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

@BubbleC an outline update (idk if its useful thu)

 

[BubbleC]

@BubbleC an outline update (idk if its useful thu)

Ooh thanks!

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Ooh thanks!

I placed it in a story for anyone to use. Placed it in the slice of life genre though (; _ ;). There's no nonfiction genre to put it in.

 

[bal]

First, you must have an outline. It can serve as the framework for your entire novel. Control the direction of the entire novel.

Then you have to read a lot of similar novels and analyze these novels to see what the overall structure is. You can add your own unique perspective to it.

The last thing to do is to persevere. At the beginning, the audience may be relatively small, which will test your patience very much.

Here are some suggestions for writing web novel.

 

[Jet]

I jot down ideas I find applicable. There were instances when I was too lazy to expand on it and would forget what it was all about then sadly. But it's just a bulk of notes ahead of the main text otherwise. And that's pretty much it. I don't understand why ppl create enormous network of notes in some special apps for that. I can generally make sense of my story either way. I just try to jot it chronologically. Or put it into a big dumpster of a paragraph in cases when I'm still undecided on where and how to implement that.

As for the main outline, the one you put up with before starting a novel...mm, that's a different kind of beast. I think, I just sit on an idea for a story for a decade or two. Wondering whether it's worth it and if I got enough material in my head to begin with. I just fantasise about it, never writing down a word. I don't necessarily need an ending or the latter part of the story, but enough to go on for some thoudands of words... If I do decide to proceed, then I start with chapter1 and wing it the way I explained before. Writing as much as I can. Jotting on ahead when my mind starts to wander. I'm almost always long burnt with the idea and lost interest in the genre altogether after playing with it in my mind for 10-15-20+ years, but that's how I am. I don't think I can successfully start working on a story I just thought of. I'd end up dropping it before reaching half a page. Having nothing beyond the general premise and all. It used to be different back in the 90s, but not anymore ;(.

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

For the most part, I write by the seams, so I just prepare a simple overview like:

Starter Arc - Momoko is sent to Euphoria, a world inhabited by magic and knights. She meets Aiyoma, and adjusts to the town of Lanier; A while after, she hears about the Rite of Trials and commits to completing them to become a knight.

Then I just start writing. If you have a creative enough imagination and a willingness to just keep on with the story it'll eventually write itself.

 

[ChrisLensman]

I usually make a rough plan in my head. I know where I want to go, what key scenes I want to include and how to get to them. This process is never really finished and I keep adding little details along the way, sometimes entire character arcs and plotlines, like 'hmm, maybe a little political intrigue and assassination could fit in here' and then suddenly that political intrigue slots in perfectly with what I had planned for the story anyway.

Eventually I'll start """story-boarding""", or writing down bullet points. Not in some document but on a purely physical note pad. These bullet points can vary wildly in how detailed they are. Sometimes a single scene will get twelve bullet points dedicated to it and sometimes the bullet point on my note pad is twelve words long and it ends up turning into three whole-ass chapters.

In other words, I give my characters room to breathe if they need it but I keep them on just tight enough a leash that the story never quite goes off the rails.