#plotting tips

(a non-suffering writer’s guide to structure, sanity, and staying mildly hydrated)

Hey besties. Let’s talk outlines. Specifically: how to do them without crawling into the floorboards and screaming like a Victorian ghost.

If just hearing the word “outline” sends your brain into chaos-mode, welcome. You’re not broken, you’re just a writer whose process has been hijacked by Very Serious Advice™ that doesn’t fit you. You don’t need to build a military-grade beat sheet. You don’t need a sixteen-tab spreadsheet. You don’t need to suffer to be legitimate. You just need a structure that feels like it’s helping you, not haunting you.

So. Here’s how to outline your book without losing your soul (or all your serotonin).

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🍓 1. Stop thinking of it as “outlining.” That word is cursed. Try “story sketch.” “Narrative roadmap.” “Planning soup.” Whatever gets your brain to chill out. The goal here is to understand your story, not architect it to death.

Outlining isn’t predicting everything. It’s just building a scaffold so your plot doesn't fall over mid-draft.

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🧠 2. Find your plot skeleton. There are lots of plot structures floating around: 3-Act. Save the Cat. Hero’s Journey. Take what helps, ignore the rest.

If all else fails, try this dirt-simple one I use when my brain is mush:

Act I: What’s the problem?

Act II: Why can’t we fix it?

Act III: What finally makes us change?

Ending: What does that change cost?

You don’t need to fill in every detail. You just need to know what’s driving your character, what’s blocking them, and what choices will change them.

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🛒 3. Make a “scene bucket list.” Before you start plotting in order, write down a list of scenes you know you want: key vibes, emotional beats, dramatic reveals, whatever.

These are your anchors. Even if you don’t know where they go yet, they’re proof your story already exists, it just needs connecting tissue.

Bonus: when you inevitably get stuck later, one of these might be the scene that pulls you back in.

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🧩 4. Start with 5 key scenes. That’s it. Here’s a minimalist approach that won’t kill your momentum:

Opening (what sucks about their world?)

Catalyst (what throws them off course?)

Midpoint (what makes them confront themselves?)

Climax (what breaks or remakes them?)

Ending (what’s changed?)

Plot the spaces between those after you’ve nailed these. Think of it like nailing down corners of a poster before smoothing the rest.

You’re not “doing it wrong” if you start messy. A messy start is a start.

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🔧 5. Use the outline to ask questions, not just answer them. Every section of your outline should provoke a question that the scene must answer.

Instead of: — “Chapter 5: Sarah finds a journal.”

Try: — “Chapter 5: What truth does Sarah find that complicates her next move?”

This makes your story active, not just a list of stuff that happens. Outlines aren’t just there to record, they’re tools for curiosity.

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🪤 6. Beware of the Perfectionist Trap™. You will not get the entire plot perfect before you write. Don’t stall your momentum waiting for a divine lightning bolt of Clarity. You get clarity by writing.

Think of your outline as a map drawn in pencil, not ink. It’s allowed to evolve. It should evolve.

You’re not building a museum exhibit. You’re making a prototype.

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🧼 7. Clean up after you start drafting. Here’s the secret: the first draft will teach you what the story’s actually about. You can go back and revise the outline to fit that. It’s not wasted work, it’s evolving scaffolding.

You don’t have to build the house before you live in it. You can live in the mess while you figure out where the kitchen goes.

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🛟 8. If you’re a discovery writer, hybrid it. A lot of “pantsers” aren’t anti-outline, they’re just anti-stiff-outline. That’s fair.

Try using “signposts,” not full scenes:

Here’s a secret someone’s hiding.

Here’s the emotional breakdown scene.

Here’s a betrayal. Maybe not sure by who yet.

Let the plot breathe. Let the characters argue with your outline. That tension is where the fun happens.

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🪴 TL;DR but emotionally: You don’t need a flawless outline to write a good book. You just need a loose net of ideas, a couple of emotional anchors, and the willingness to pivot when your story teaches you something new.

Outlines should support you, not suffocate you.

Let yourself try. Let it be imperfect. That’s where the good stuff lives.

Go forth and outline like a gently chaotic legend 🧃

— written with snacks in hand by Rin T. @ thewriteadviceforwriters 🍓🧠✍️

Sometimes the problem isn’t your plot. It’s your first 5 pages. Fix it here → 🖤 Free eBook: 5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making:

Been reading a lot of manga lately. Finished a couple and I began noticing this issue writing wise. So here’s some tips.

Six tips for Plotting Fights

1. Build Anticipation

A good way to build anticipation is by introducing the opponent either through talk or simply having them talk prior to fighting. This doesn’t have to be them directly talking and character A saying: “let’s fight.” Give the opponent a proper introduction or at least some sort of entrance into the story. Think about what the stakes of this fight are? What is the point of it to? The fight won’t be memorable if there is no stakes or a point to it. Think about what could be preventing them from fighting or what is going to allow them to start fighting.

2. Challenge Your Protagonist

Actually challenge your protagonist. I personally find it very irritating to have a protagonist that I never worry about or there are zero stakes to it. Maybe character a is fighting in character b’s stead and if they lose character b will lose something important. Make the challenges be terrain, their own morals, injuries, or weather.

3. Create Limitations

Creating restrictions and limitations to what the characters can do can be very interesting. Think of what landscape they are fighting in. If it’s a city, think of what limitations that would have. What physical limitations does the character have? If they’re a long range fighter are they disadvantaged up close. Handicapping your protagonist will make them have to think far more strategically than others. Through that

4. Not Everyone Can be the Strongest

I’m a person who enjoys a very powerful villain, but I read a lot of stories where everyone seemed to be the most powerful awesome person. Don’t be afraid to make your hero lose. They need to lose to make the battle where they win mean more to the reader. Even if they do win a fight, make it a struggle and also think about why they need to win. If they always win it can get boring.

5. Space Fights Out

For the love of god, I read too many mangas and books where it felt like it was fight right after fight right after another fight. It just became too much. Fights need to be spaced out not only for narrative reasons but spacing out fights can make you think about which ones are really important. It can help make them more poignant. Also will make the fights more memorable.

6. What is the point?

Think about what the point of the fight is in the story. Is it to establish the villain? Is it to show how much the hero has grown. Think about the Why for the fight both plot wise but also narratively? Each scene functions to tell your story, but it should serve a purpose.

Problem: The Narrative Falls Into a Repetitive Pattern

Solution: Does the story begin at the right point? Are the characters introduced in scenes where they exert the right influence? Are the novel's emotional beats consistent (or meaningful)? What's the tempo like? Is the pacing balanced and purposeful at the sentence level, scene level, and act level? Is the story's use of description unique and dynamic? What's the difference between the author voice, the narrator voice, and the character voice? Be as flexible or inflexible as needed, but above all, be willing to learn.

Writing Resources:

Never Lie Beyond What You're Capable of Selling (How to Fight Write)

How to Craft Your Protagonist's Inner and Outer Journeys (The Novel Smithy)

5 Ways to Keep Reader's Interest When They Know Something the Character Doesn't (Writing Questions Answered)

Variations on Story Structure: A List (September C. Fawkes)

8 Common Pacing Problems (September C. Fawkes)

How Structure Affects Pacing (September C. Fawkes)

Quick Plotting Tip: Write Your Story Backwards (bucketsiler; ahbwrites)

What Is Pacing in Writing? Mastering Pace (Now Novel)

So, one thing I hear over and over again in my time in the RP community, is the sentence “I suck at plotting.” Understandably, plotting can be difficult. Maybe you don’t know much about the other person’s muse, that muse’s fandom or universe. Maybe you’ve already used all your ideas on other plots and can’t think of any new ones. Maybe you don’t have much practice with plotting or you just automatically default to winging things because it’s easier, so you’ve gotten a bit rusty. Regardless of the reason why you think you suck at plotting though, I definitely believe there are some tips and tricks to learn how to become a better plotter or refresh your plotting skills, and I want to share some of those tips and tricks in this post.

                                          TIPS AND TRICKS.

1) ASK QUESTIONS. This is probably the most important part of plotting if you’re stuck and can’t think of any ideas. If you don’t have any ideas, ask questions. Some examples of questions you can ask: 

“What kind of theme are you interested in writing? (angst, fluff, ships, etc.)” or “What kind of dynamics would you be interested in? (romantic, friendships, enemies, frenemies, family, etc.)” or “Should we do a first interaction or something pre-established?”

The above are some questions that can narrow down on the millions of opportunities for plots that is only limited by your imagination, and instead give you a set direction when you try to come up with ideas. Think of it like a painter looking at a blank canvas. Staring a painting is always the most difficult because you have to figure out what to draw, and there are endless opportunities, which can be intimidating. But once you’ve figured out what to draw (for example a flower) it becomes a lot easier to put that painting brush down on that canvas and start painting.

If you’re still stuck after asking these questions, you can also ask questions directly about the other mun’s muse. Some examples: “How would your muse react to x, y,z?” or “.”

Some other questions you can ask. “Would you be up for doing an AU? / Would you be up for making a crossover verse for x,y,z fandom?” (If asking for the other mun to make a crossover verse for their muse, you can also offer to give information about said universe in case the other mun isn’t familiar with it.)

2) DON’T BE AFRAID TO SHARE YOUR IDEAS. If you have an idea, or even a part of an idea, don’t be afraid to share it. Even if the other mun isn’t interested in that particular idea, maybe that idea can spark an idea for them and they’ll probably tell you something akin to “I’m not sure my muse would fit in that setting, but I could see them x, y, z.” Oftentimes, even ideas that don’t work or interest your RP partner can help spark new ideas, maybe in the same direction or maybe in an entirely different, but just as much fun direction. It also shows your RP partner that you’re at least willing to make some effort with coming up with ideas, which will in turn, make them more interested in coming up with ideas of their own.

3) SOMETIMES, LESS IS MORE. A part of why some people seem to fear plotting is because they think they have to come up with intricate plots with lots of details and planning. And while that can definitely be fun, a lot of the time, LESS IS MORE. And by that, I mean, if you can just come up with the most basic of settings, sometimes, that’s more than enough to go on. Maybe that setting is something as simple as figuring out how your muses should meet. After all, if you plot out everything from how they should meet, to how their relationship should form, all the way to the end, there isn’t really a lot left to explore when you are going to actually sit down and write threads together and that can take away from the fun. It can also be that you plot out all these things, and when you start writing, you feel forced to take it in that direction when it just doesn’t flow naturally. So yeah, sometimes less is, in fact, more, and you shouldn’t ever be worried that you have to come up with big, detailed plots.

4) BACK-AND-FORTH / EXCITEMENT. Also what I like to call “Yelling about our muses to each other.” This can be a great way to plot without even thinking about plotting. It usually requires some good chemistry with the other mun, but if you are both excited about your muses and the potential for them interacting together from the beginning and show that excitement in your ooc messages, sometimes, just yelling those excitements at each other can spark a lot of ideas. Just a simple “I can see our muses becoming really good friends!!” will set in motion that back-and-forth yelling about your muses type of conversation that leads to ideas just spilling out naturally. Just the excitement in the messages themselves makes the plotting more fun and makes it come more naturally.

                             ETIQUETTE / DON’TS.

1) IF YOU’RE THE ONE ASKING TO PLOT / INTERACT. If you’re the one who approaches the other mun about plotting and / or interacting, DON’T leave the job of coming up with ideas to the other mun. If you’ve approached someone for plotting, chances are their muse caught your interest for some reason, and you could see an interaction between that muse and yours. Instead of putting all the job on them, express from the beginning why you could see an interaction between their muse and yours. Trust me, it makes the plotting so much more easier, not just for you, but for the mother mun, too. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to be asked to plot, and then the person asking never actually contributes to any ideas.

2) PLOTTING IS A GROUP-PROJECT. Kind of connected with the above, but if one mun alone ends up coming up with all the ideas, it can make that mun feel like you’re not really as excited or as willing to put in the work as they are. No one likes to feel like they’re the only one in a group project doing all the work.

3) IF PLOTTING WITH A MULTIMUSE BLOG... Help the mumu-mun out by telling them which of their muses you’re the most interested in interacting with from the get-go. Even if you are interested in all of their muses, it’s usually very helpful for a mumu-mun to have some options to choose between. Or at the very least, you can ask them which of their muses they are having the most inspiration for lately.

4) NON-CONTRIBUTING RESPONSES. If someone writes you multiple sentences with ideas when you’re plotting ooc, don’t just reply with one word sentences like “Yes!”, or non-contributing sentences like “Sounds good to me!” or “I’m fine with anything!” I’ll admit, this is something I’ve been guilty of, and I think pretty much all of us has at some point, and while I do think it’s something you can get away with if you only do it on occasion, if you give these types of responses multiple times to the same person throughout the same plotting session, it can get frustrating to the other mun after a while. It kind of ties in with #1 and #2, that you’re leaving the other mun to do all the work. At the very least, if you feel like you don’t have any IDEAS to contribute with, you can still show your excitement over the idea. For example “That sounds like so much fun! I can’t wait to write that out!” Maybe even ask something akin to “Is there anything else you think we should plot out, or do you want to start with what we’ve got so far?”

It can be the smallest detail like a joke a character makes to the largest plot point but no matter what it goes in. Also length does not matter. I have written well over a page of just points about one subject but also single words. Nobody else is going to read it so if it makes sense to me that’s all that matters. 

I also write down questions I need to answer when I find a plot hole or something I need to work out. eg. Why did a whole civilisation just up and disappear? to What are [character]s allergies?

When I feel compelled to write but don’t know where to start I go through the document until I find a point I can expand on. It can be writing the scene it happens in/is about or just expanding on the idea. It helps to widen my options rather than plucking something out of my brain on the spot. 

As I get further through my process I’ll probably find points that I won’t use but that’s OK. It doesn’t mean I cant use them later or in a different context or story. Remember that you are allowed to cut stuff. If you don’t really want to cut it but you need to because of plot, add it to the list and see if you can write it in again later. 

I suggest giving it a try, especially if you forget ideas often. 

*step 1. flesh out your characters.

imagine their personalities, roughly line out their backstory and figure out their role in the plot. same goes with the world if you're not writing a realistic story.

*step 2. have a rough idea of what you want your story to be.

do you want angst? fluff? smut? is it a fantasy world, a futuristic city? get an idea of what your theme and genres are.

*step 3. f u c k i t

just write the whole thing. don't care about plotholes,logic or anything. just get it done.

*step 4. rebuild.

leave your draft for some time and don't think of it too much for a week or two. then, take it back, and rebuild your story, correct spelling mistakes, etc. repeat this step as much as needed, until you feel like it's done.

and you're done!

That totally makes sense! It’s an understandable struggle to have, and it can take a lot to get past sometimes. So, let’s talk about:

Creating Conflicts

As you probably know by now, a story is built on a single, developed conflict. Something happens and a character has to choose or do something, and the rest of the story follows from there. It sounds... somewhat simple, but making it into a full story with characters and subplots and... all that is a lot. Let’s break it down!

It’s important to remember that most stories are basically just one big butterfly effect situation. You decide you to ride the bus to school instead of walking, and suddenly there are giant radioactive spiders taking over the city and they want you to be their leader. But... how did we get there?

If you’re telling the story of how this happened, you might pull the classic, “Well, one thing led to another, and now we’re here.” Which is basically how plot structuring works most of the time.

Your Initial Conflict

We know how conflict works: something happens that either prevents us from getting something we want, or there’s the threat of that happening. 

So, what would make sense as a first step? Figure out what your character wants. Step two: figure out how to keep that from happening, or at least how to make that path as complicated as you can. Some examples:

Your S/O is kidnapped by the Big Bad. You want them to stay alive and safe, so you decide to make sure that happens personally.

There’s an apocalypse being orchestrated by a radioactive spider in your city. You want the world to continue existing.

Someone offers a reward of $100,000 for whoever catches a serial killer. You want that money.

The strongest conflicts are the ones in which the main character shows agency. They chose to involve themself in this issue, and they continue choosing to stay involved. They have a voice, and they’re using it; they’re not just being pulled through the plot. In essence: something happens, and your character chooses to do something about it.

So we have the initial conflict. First step: done!

Now comes... everything after. Here’s where we bring in:

The Butterfly Effect

A story is a series of causes and effects. Do your best to think of a plot that’s directly affected by the choices of your main character; when they do things, they change the story. They have control. Think of your plot in a way that’s something similar to:

Event 1 happens.

MC reacts to Event 1 by doing Action 1.

Action 1 causes Event 2.

MC reacts to Event 2 by doing Action 2.

Action 2 causes Event 3.

What happens, and what does it cause? When your main character’s actions have a direct impact on the path and the flow of the story, they create an aspect of control and agency that some characters lack. Suddenly, your main character is creating the plot as opposed to just moving through it.

So how can we make this interesting?

Put your character at odds with what they want, and their choices will directly affect if or how they achieve that want. Let the weight of their choices and actions create uncertainty.

This brings us back to the concept of conflict that created the first incident; it’s this same concept that will continue to drive the story. If your character wants to save their dog from eating chocolate and their options are to leave uncovered chocolate on the floor or to put it in a pantry at your head height, then... it’s obvious what you’re going to do. There’s really no question about it.

Interest comes when your character’s options are equally as bad; they have to cut their losses. In a build-your-own-adventure story I’m writing, at one point my MC has to decide between killing her mother and killing her father. Neither of these are choices she wants to make, but she has to make one. Here’s where we create uncertainty and interest.

All in all: let your character make decisions, and let those decisions carry real weight.

Generating Ideas

But what if we can’t think of any ideas for our next event or decision? Then we brainstorm, and we generate new ideas... then we choose one. Here’s a method that hasn’t failed me yet, so I’m going to recommend it.

Get your favorite notebook, and write down five answers for each question (try to make each one as unique as you’re able):

What’s the best thing that could happen right now?

What’s the worst thing that could happen right now?

What could happen that would raise the most questions?

What could happen that would change your characters’ emotions the most?

What would keep your character from getting what they want the most?

And suddenly we have 25 possibilities for moving forward, which (I assume) is 25 more than we had a few moments ago.

Which ones look the most promising? Which have the most potential for development? What I do is take two or three of the most promising ideas and write a few paragraphs of each one, and by that time, one of them is usually making the most sense to me.

I know this was a lot - hopefully this helps! If you have any follow-ups or clarifications you wanna make, my ask box is right there for ya!

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