Planning a Story

Are you one of those people who have gone through their writing career adamant that they “don’t need to plan,” yet somehow end up with writer’s block? Your story is full of plot-holes? Your characters’ actions are inconsistent with their personalities? Do you reach such desperation that you actually ask your readers for ideas?

Well, all of the above are reasons why you should properly plan your stories. And if the thought of brain-storming and mind-mapping bothers you as much as it does me, but you suffer from the consequences of not planning, then maybe this system is for you.

Step One: Get Your Tools

I don’t think anything else will get you more excited than the thought of your favourite pen and a piece of thick A3/ledger paper. It may sound a bit silly, but nothing is more important to get you into that creative headspace. So for example, I like to use my fountain pen I got in Germany. It has sentimental value so when I write with it, I feel like I’m really putting my heart into it.

I also like using big bits of paper, preferably thick, so when I’m done writing all over it, I feel like I’ve created a work of art. This is the feeling you should get when you’re planning. Also it helps you to think big; seeing such big open space gives you freedom.

If you like writing with music, chances are you will like to plan with it as well, so do it. Particularly if you are writing fanfiction, listening to the artist you’re writing about may help.

Step Two: Proposal

Obviously, you need to have a basic concept for your story to even get started, but your title is the first thing you should write down. Bold letters, decorative, however you want it, write it down. I never work with a story I don’t have a title for (or at least a temporary one) because to me, it feels like that idea is too premature to use because it doesn’t have an identity. Don’t start something you don’t feel ‘the growth’ from.

Then pen your initial proposal; a few sentences about what your story is going to be about. Don’t go into too much detail. The whole purpose of planning like this is to expand your ideas so you don’t get too bogged down in it.

For example, let’s take the title Knock Me Out.

The proposal: Jenna moves to NYC where she witnesses a shooting and says nothing about it. Emotionally scarred, she starts taking kickboxing classes and meets Logan. She falls in love with him, but is called away when her sister is diagnosed with cancer. Upon her return, keeping quiet about the shooting haunts her everywhere she goes and Logan just might be at the centre of it all.

Step Three: Summarize

Take your proposal and write a full summary of your story. You want to include detail to the extent that there is a definitive chronological order to the story but not describe every single event. You just want the big stuff. Get your main ideas down right to the end of the story. You do not need to have these in your head before you start, remember, you’re planning. This is where you develop your story.

Continuing with my earlier example: Jenna moves to New York City and is immediately shown its ugly side; she’s mugged on her way home from work, has her apartment broken into and witnesses someone shot point-blank. Emotionally scarred, she is suggested by her boss to take self-defence classes. This sparks a deep passion within Jenna for kickboxing, and is also where she meets Logan, a light-hearted, joking young man with a smirk to die for. Their friendship develops with ease and Jenna is pulled in further and further by his charms. But there’s something that she’s noticed, something that Logan’s hiding; a secret that could destroy Jenna’s now safe little world.

For the length of that paragraph of summary, I’d expect there to be at least three different sections of planning needed. What I just wrote would be part one. If you are planning something greater than fifty-thousand words, splitting your summary into sections will make it easier to tackle. Don’t bog yourself down in planning, pace yourself. You will almost always feel better if you have a session when you’ve accomplished a little thing, rather than half of one big thing.

Note: Don’t include individual flashbacks in your summary (if applicable), but definitely mention it as a recurring concept if it is relevant to your plot/order of things.

Step Four: Notes

It’s also a good idea to keep a box at the bottom of your page or a notepad beside you to note down details you want to include, some of which could be integral conversations, character traits, and sub-plots, which don’t necessarily impact the story in a greater sense. When you’ve completed your summary, take this list and number the ideas (exclude character traits) according to the section of the story you want it in.

Example: I want Jenna’s best friend from home to call her and say she’s pregnant.

I want this call in the first section of the story, so I’ll mark a ‘1’ next to the idea to remind me to include it when it comes to outlining my chapters.

Step Five: Characters

You can plan your characters at almost any stage of your planning, but I prefer to do it after I know the overall direction of the story. This is because once you have your summary done you will have a better idea of how you want your characters to act. The fun part is figuring out why they’re doing this, where they’re coming from – working backwards if you will. This ‘figuring out’ is what you include in your character planning.

There are plenty of tutorials on character on Mibba alone so I’ll just give you my top two tips:

1. Family histories are important. Draw a family tree. Write up about your character’s parents, how they met. Without a doubt they will impact your own character so it’s integral to know them. No character is minor. Everything you write must be deliberate and have purpose, otherwise what’s the point?
2. Just because you may write several dozen pages on a character does not mean you include all of that information in your story! As the author, this is for you to know to help you justify characters’ behaviours in your mind. Reveal only what helps the plot, especially if you are writing in first person. Even when having a heart-to-heart, in real life, no one ever gives a full life story. It’d take hours and is boring. Don’t do it in your stories either; you are the all-seeing, all-knowing presence of your universe. Your characters are not.

Step Six: Basic Chapter Outline

Grab a fresh piece of paper and start at the beginning, chapter one. Write a couple of sentences about what you want to happen in this chapter. Put your summary next to you, and refer to your notes.

Example: Jenna is given her apartment key. She phones her mom. First day of work, she comes home and finds that her apartment’s been broken into.

Now do this for every single chapter, one or two events each until you reach the end.

Step Seven: Full Chapter Outline

This is where you get to put all those beautiful ideas and details down properly. Take your chapter outline and expand. Aim to write at least one paragraph for each chapter.

Example: Jenna meets her landlord, a grumpy sixty year old man who seems to only love his royal-like dog, Charles. She tells of how she’s from a small town, fresh out of college, is an interior designer who scored a job in NYC. Excited, though a little dismayed with her tiny apartment, she organises her room (nod to profession) and the next day, she goes to work. Have her meet her boss but don’t include much about work at this stage. Have her come home, happy but tired, then reveal the destruction of her apartment.

Step Eight: Write

If you really want to, you can go into further detail with every scene but I find that expanding this much is sufficient enough. So from here, you take your several pages of glorious planning and actually start writing! Enjoy.