Developing Your Explosive Idea: 7 Tips To Help You Sort Of Plan Your Story!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I am a natural-born pantser. Before I found my favorite author (Laura Frances, who explained pantsing on her blog) I didn't even know what pantsing was. Every time I heard anything about authors, I heard that they were hyper-organized, they had planned their novels down to the most minute detail years before they ever began writing, and, then, they had their book almost entirely completed on sticky notes.

Nope! That ain't me. (Sorry.)

Truthfully, I started writing stories in kindergarten. I had gone to this very academically advanced school (I'm no genius, though!) that taught me how to write paragraphs (5 full sentences) in kindergarten. I would write stories on the dotted-line papers, drawing pictures in the margins above, and I'd give them to my teachers in Sunday school. Listening to them read my stories out loud after class was the most fulfilling thing for me, even at six years old. I knew then that I wanted to write.

But, most six-year-olds don't compile topic, sentence, paragraph+ outlines. Most six-year-olds don't use sticky notes aside from using them to make a "movie" with little ball doodles. Most six-year-olds don't really know what planning is - I certainly didn't. I just did things. I had some explosive idea in my head, and I just went with it. In life, that's called spontaneity.

In the authorly world, that's called, "Pantsing."

And, to be honest, I've retained some of that six-year-old spontaneous mindset. Or, in the case of the GIF, the insane mad-person mindset. Take your pick

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm cursed, and unlike a fairy-tale princess, there is no way to break the spell. But, there are things I can do to be more organized, to help develop a storyline and help determine the ending.

In reality, I guess it's impossible to not have somewhat of a plan because a story idea is a story plan, it's just not detailed.

Here Are Some Things I've Recently Been Doing To Help Me Detail Story Ideas:

1) Take Notes. When you get that explosive idea for a poem, short story, novel, or whatever work you want to write, get that idea down somewhere- whether it be your phone, computer, or pen-and-paper--- Your hand will do if you have nothing else! It doesn't matter what you do, just jot the idea down so you don't forget it. A forgotten idea is no good, so try & make sure that doesn't happen!!!

2) Pitch A Plot (or several) To Yourself And, don't just write down a single word or phrase. As soon as possible write a paragraph describing your idea. I'll typically write a beginning sentence for the story, give a description of the world I'm imagining, and give a few ideas for the plot. That way, if I decide to hold off on the story when I do come back to it, I still know some important details about the idea.

A great thing to do is figure out your type, if any, of conflict. There are several, but I'll list a few to help you along.

Like, David vs. Goliath:

David: MC, the underdog, the oppressed - this can be a single person or small rebellion group

Going Against

Goliath: Main antagonist, the oppressor - this can be a piece of advanced tech or a powerful government/ person who always seems to have the advantage & makes your main character feel too small to come out on top.

Or, David vs. David

Where much of the conflict is internal, typically with an antagonist who simply enrages the self-conflict of your main character, and where the main character is struggling to do what is right. Protagonists & Antagonists are both on the same playing field as far as resources and advantages go.

A character who has everything they could possibly want- Power, money, fame, etc.- but then realize what they're doing is wrong and their struggle to change their ways, which could very easily turn into D vs G whenever MC calls out their boss or colleagues.

David vs. Nature

Think "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. The main character has no antagonist besides Nature. His only fight is to survive in the wilderness, with no one else around him and no experience.

Here's a fun thought: combine all three! :)

3) Briefly Describe The Main Character(s) Your characters are probably the most important aspects of your stories. You can have the most beautiful world described, but if your characters are just numb, faceless entities, the entire story is ruined. So, before I begin writing, I'll jot down a few personalities and physical descriptions of the MC(s) and make a list of possible name ideas (one of my favorite aspects of writing!!!)

Try to know at least 3 of your main characters and who your main antagonist will be.

But, don't be too legalistic with your character descriptions. I've been in contact with another author (J.H Gates - Author of Rise of the Forgotten) and we've both decided that our characters are real people, and we, as authors, are simply their ghostwriters. Let your characters flourish into their own personalities, physical traits, dialects - whatever they want to be. It might sound a little odd but, trust me. With the mindset of being a ghostwriter for your character, they will develop in ways you couldn't have imagined!

For example, my main character, originally named Maris, started as a blonde, like her mother, with green eyes like her father. She was a great student, small in stature, a little quirky, could be intense about some things, but was typically carefree. The more that my story matured and got deeper, I realized that my MC didn't match who I was imagining, but rather matched who I described years ago when I first came up with my book idea and her personality and the premise of her story didn't match. She wasn't the right type of character. So, I changed it: Her name, her physical features, her personality, her type of responses, her passion for her country, education, and, ultimately, her purpose in the world. Soon, very soon, you guys will get to meet my main character when I release a short story I've been working on called a "Character Sketch," through which I will be introducing 3 of my most vital characters - yet giving no spoilers for the actual book! 🤐 These lips (or, rather, these typing fingers) are sealed.

4) Summarize Your Book. As my story (not my idea) develops, I'll begin to play around with some summaries that I'd imagine would be on Amazon, on B&N, G-Books, the back of the cover, etc. I start trying to figure the Beginning, Middle, and End because I typically don't get that far before I start typing away. I've started so many stories with simply a few key details known, and... not much more. But, as I begin writing, the story starts to unfold in my mind and I don't want to lose those details - so I get down as many BME ideas as possible, and sort through my favorites or combine them or alter them, whatever. It doesn't matter. I just get them down as soon as an idea pops into my head. I literally sleep with a notebook in a cabinet next to my bed because oftentimes, I'll dream really odd and fantastical fantasies that I think could be turned into a wonderful book someday, so I will write them down (or, at least try to.)

Once you get the B, M & E figured out, the contents of the chapters are just connecting those three major events - and it's (relatively) easy to do.

5) Fill Out Metadata. This should probably be up there with describing characters, but I'm going in order of how I do things. One amazing app that I use that really tries (without any avail) to help me plan is an app called Novelist. I have it on both my phone and my computer (which is actually a Chromebook, so it runs off of G-play.) Anyways, it's a wonderful planning app that keeps my things really organized. You can write on it, but I prefer another platform for writing my book. Novelist has so many great features, but what I love the most is the Metadata section. It has a bunch of questions and fields for me to fill out about my character. It covers physical features, emotions, relationships, personality type, and even residency. It really is amazing. Plus, you can customize any field!!!

But, you don't have to use Novelist. You can write down your own fields on paper and fill them out!

Oh, Elizabeth! I'm so proud! That sounds like planning!

Aww! You're so right... except, I don't typically fill out the metadata until I've already developed my character and I've only done it for a few of my characters. I think part of planning is doing it before acting, not after. But, I don't do that. So... *long sigh. If only I could break away from my pantsing tradition and learn to plan like a real author... *Even longer sigh.

Oh, well...

6) Just Write. Even if you don't know much about your story, yet, just try to write that first chapter. Once I have the first chapter or even line down, more ideas start flooding in. I start connecting things and foreseeing things happening in my story the more that I develop, even if it's just the beginning. Most of the time, I don't know what happens next when I'm beginning, but writing is a lot like learning something new every time you sit at the computer - the more you work at it, the clearer it becomes.

7) Take A Break. In the character sketch I mentioned above, I actually started with no storyline. I went two days telling my parents that I needed to come up with a plot, with a reason to even write this scene, and they didn't have much idea of what I should do either. Because I didn't have even an idea of where to go, I couldn't write very much about it. So, I took a few days off then, one morning, a plot popped in my head!

A few good questions to ask yourself: What does your character need to do, change, or resolve in regards to herself or others? And how does he/she go about doing that? How, if at all, does he/she change in the end? Or, how do they remain the same?

I could go on and on with ideas and tips to help you, but I'm sure there's a word limit here, and I don't want to figure out what it is.

Or... maybe I do. Perhaps someday. 😃

Anyways... I hope these tips have helped you as they've helped me! We're writers, and that means we're all on this journey together, for as long as we have words to say, and for as long as we have words, we have the means to help and teach one another!

Until Next Time

- Elizabeth Mae Wolfram

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