01. One bed ➳ Two beds

Characters finding themselves crowded with two beds, but they're looking for absurd excuses to share one bed.

02. Enemies to lovers ➳ Lovers to enemies

How a couple goes from starstruck lovers to enemies at each other's throats.

03. Fake dating ➳ Fake break up

Characters fake their breakup in public due to their circumstances, and now they're back to secretly dating while the public thinks they are split up.

04. Their partner getting kidnapped by evildoers ➳ Their partner kidnapping evildoers

Their partner is stressing out the main character by recklessly kidnapping evildoers to teach them a lesson. They are panicking between covering their traces and applauding (and ogling at) their partner for being so badass.

05. Breaking up to protect their partner ➳ Dating to protect their partner

They start dating for protection due to their circumstances and eventually fall in love with each other.

06. Getting paired up for spinning bottle ➳ Not getting paired for spinning bottle

Both of them are trying hard to land their turn on each other, but their luck is awful. (They play all night while everyone else is passed out drunk, leaving only two of them still up).

07. Seven minutes in heaven ➳ Seven minutes in hell

The friend group splits up this lovey-dovey couple. In this opposite game, they are not allowed to see each other for the specified time period (and they are clearly dying to be all over each other again).

08. Intact memories to amnesia ➳ Amnesia to intact memories

The story starts off with a character having amnesia, and readers find out their background as the character regains their memories throughout the story.

09. Parents disapproving their relationship ➳ Parents are playing matchmakers, but they disapprove of each other

Both of their parents play cupid to get them together, but the characters hate each other's guts (and warm up to each other eventually).

10. Comforting their partner from a nightmare ➳ Sharing a funny dream they had with their partner

The character wakes up from the most absurd fever dream. They wake up their partner to tell them this hilarious dream.

⚲ Visit Creative Writing Library 🕮

I spent my early twenties STRUGGLING with undiagnosed ADHD (and depression, and probably autism) and it nearly destroyed my ability to be creative. A big part of rebuilding my ability to make things I loved was figuring out ways to work with my brain instead of against it, and that was where these notecards came from.

They help me develop my ideas in a way that I'll actually follow through on with a tactile, color coded system that is flexible enough to adapt to all sorts of projects. I have used them for novels, I have used them for fanfiction, I've even started using them to plan some nonfiction projects.

Some things to think about when building/describing a character:

Physical traits

Hair: color and length. Maybe it's natural, maybe it's dyed

Build: height, weight, muscle

Face: maybe they have a longer nose or forehead. Think about specific features like freckles, gapped teeth, jaw shape, acne scars, lip shape

Eyes: eye color, shape, 

Backstory

Where is your character from?

Do they have family? How has that affected their personality?

What are their goals?

What are their likes/dislikes?

Strengths and weaknesses

Age

Personality

Voice: is their voice deep? Lilted? Strained?

How do they react to stressful situations? 

What do they wear?

Are they kind? Meaner? Restrained? 

How do they move? If they're older maybe they're a bit slower. Maybe your character is clumsy or move awkwardly

Body language/face: is your character normally more serious? Do they have RBF? Maybe they smile more or their face is more relaxed at rest. Maybe they leave their hands on their hips a lot, or prefer them crossed or in their pockets.

How are they perceived by others? How do they view the people around them? 

WORDHIPPO

I use this website whenever I'm struggling to find alternative words, use it to avoid being repetitive.

POWERTHESAURUS

Also to find alternative words.

ONELOOK

A dictionary to search definitions of words.

GRAMMARLY

A website/app that helps you proofread. (Tho not sure if this one is ai or not)

Edit: in my defense, when I first used this app it didn't have all that ai slop, and it was just a regular spell checker so yeah, don't use it lol

UNICODE CHARACTER

An app/website for literally any symbols. There's an app for it, it's called Unicodepad.

BABY NAMES + BEHIND THE NAME

To search for names & their meanings

Extra: If you use Pinterest, search "character gestures writing" or "body language cheat sheet" you will find a lot of helpful references.

And this genera of photos I found in Pinterest:

(Pinterest is in general a helpful tool for writing, if u know how to search things properly)

I've tried tons of writing apps and sites, so you don't have to. Here's a list of free sites to plot out your novel, with my review and some images of how I use it.

Milanote

Milanote is like having a giant pinboard with folders. You can upload anything onto it [yes even your main doc] and then draw over it or connect things with lines and arrows

Milanote lets you add up to a hundred things for free, not including drawing. This is one of the downsides of the site as I've found myself reaching that limit recently.

For me, the best part is being able to draw over stuff, and the color swatches.

Milanote is a lot less structured than other sites I've used, and personally, I don't think their templates are worth using.

8/10 overall, Milanote is what I mainly use. Here are some pics of how I use it:

Miro

Miro is a flowchart website mainly used for corporate jobs, however, it can be a great plotting tool for that reason

Miro has a lot of great starter templates if you are looking for a more structured freeform experience. It also comes with a blank page as well.

Unfortunately, I'd argue that it's a bit of a hard tool for beginners to use without a template, I've learned copy-paste is my best friend with Miro the hard way.

It's much better than most platforms at making timelines though.

It has a limit of three boards which is a bit disappointing but overall, I think it's worth the try.

5/10 Miro is very middle of the road for me due to the limited ability to customize things and the free limit. Here are some pics:

[I wrote that part weeks ago, I am now fully using Miro and believe it's the best for making timelines and charts, I just wish it let me make more boards 8/10]

Hiveword

This might be someone's jam, I can't really say it's mine though.

First off, the unpaid version is really just a few boxes saying "Write a summary here." which makes it just not worth it in my opinion

There really isn't any way to customise things which is my favorite part of most of these softwares

I've barely used this, so maybe there's something I'm missing but

1/10, Just use Google Docs at this point, here's a couple pics

World Anvil

People like this software, it's mainly used for tabletop, which is just a different way of writing adventure, and I've seen it recommended by authors.

Unfortunately, I'm going to disagree with a lot of people and say it's hard to use and isn't even really good at plotting.

I may be biased on this one as every time I've tried to use it in the past I've struggled. However, it seems like another just write it in a document and create a folder.

I'd say it's closer to an organizing tool, but even then just use something else.

3/10, I have nothing to say about it but maybe you'll enjoy it, all here are two photos

Campfire

This is the one I think I've heard the most about, but have never actually tried.

right off the bat, I'm going to say this is 100% worth it, you'll see at the end with the photos but this is like if Miro and World Anvil had an organization baby.

It's extremely easy to understand, and it makes timelines, it's more for writing your whole book but idk about that yet.

7/10, its themes are really pretty but it limits how much you can do to 20 I believe. Here are the photos

In one of my recent posts, I talked about losses as a core principle in driving a plot forward.

It's recommended in almost all guides. But here's the thing: someone doesn't have to actually die to create that emotional rollercoaster.

Here are 20 different losses your protagonist can face without losing someone to the cold hands of death:

1. Loss of a dream job opportunity

2. End of a long-term relationship or marriage

3. Betrayal by a close friend or family member

4. Financial ruin or bankruptcy

5. Loss of a beloved pet (The pet could go missing.)

6. Rejection from a prestigious program or institution

7. Injury or illness leading to the loss of physical abilities

8. Destruction of a childhood home

9. Loss of custody of a child

10. Failure to achieve a lifelong dream or goal

11. Being falsely accused of a crime

12. Natural disaster destroying personal belongings and home

13. Loss of a valuable family heirloom

14. Experiencing discrimination or injustice

15. Being forced to move away from a beloved community

16. Losing a significant competition or contest

17. Loss of memory or cognitive abilities

18. Falling out with a mentor or role model

19. Closure of a cherished local business

20. Loss of one's reputation due to scandal or rumor

Thank you for all of your support. If you love my blog, consider gifting me a rose. Val's here, and I hope your characters are ready to paint the town red.

Check out this printable template that helps you structure the nuanced parts of your plot you normally skip out on.

You also receive a free add-on that enhances your plot. It saves you time and helps you maintain quality.