Lesson Four: Mapping Out a Plot [Advanced]

“QUOTE”
--Quoted person.

Lesson (Using a first person narrative).

Highlight the lesson, then immediately sink into the first part. Try not to make too big of a seam between one section and another.

End with a short (non-obtrusive?) recap.

--Blah blah, author and that boring good-bye thing.

That is what the average outline looks like. But can you get more out of an outline?

It’s simple really.

The more complex the story, the more elements are in it, the more likely you are to forget some tiny detail, and that one detail could be the thing that kills your reader’s enthusiasm.

So, in order not to forget that detail, to have all of your elements in line, and because you might want a place to play with your ideas before having them all reach 100K, you’ll want an outline.

An advanced outline will do more than just tell you what happens where and when. It will go much, much deeper. Here are a few things you might see.

Settings.
-These aren’t just the main locations and some details about them (trivial ones usually); but this also incorporates the tone that your story will have and the narration. Cyberpunk story set in medieval Equestria where Luna was the only Princess ever born? You might want to go with a darker tone rather than a light one. Mention that here.

Characters.
-Not just a list of your characters, but a physical description of each one, and, most importantly, their background. Not just ‘he’s from a rich family’ but a nice, short, biography of this character’s life and why they act the way they do. You might never even mention this in the story, but it’s good to have!

Basic Plot and Ideas.
-This one’s simple. Just the very basics of the plot, and the main ideas you might want to present. In case you forget.

The Actual Outline.
-I’ll cover this one the most, so say goodbye to list form for a bit.

Right, so, you have the story in your head, or at least a few good scenes. That’s cool! What happens between those scenes? Ah, stumped? This is where you iron it out.

A full outline can take days. But in the end, you’ll have a beginning, middle and end, as well as a boatload of useless details and cast-off ideas.

The amount of detail you put into these should reflect the importance of any given scene and how much thought you put into it.

In the end, how and why you make an outline is up to you, but you should try to make one, even if it’s really rough. There’s a reason why many professional authors waste countless hours plotting out their tales (not to mention, if you want a nice big twist, this is the way to go about it).

Cyberpunk story set in medieval Equestria where Luna was the only Princess ever born?

Das hot.

Also, great take on outlines. Glad I'm not the only one who puts so much effort into outlining.

Excellent. I was just about to begin plotting my first story when you released this.

Ah, this was helpful. I was going to expand my outlines, but couldn't remember what I wanted to add.