As creative writers, putting an idea into work can sometimes feel a little bit daunting. I think plotting stories without losing the motivation is harder than actually sitting and writing the content. To maintain my enthusiasm for my ideas, I’ve established a creative routine to plotting extensively.

I’ll admit one of my steps are a tad obscure, but it helps me maintain excitement for the work because the process is fun rather than taxing. The most important thing as writers is that we enjoy the writing process, otherwise it reflects in our texts. You don’t want your next big project to feel like a high school essay you’ve left to the last minute. You want to immerse yourself in the idea; understand your characters, know what’s going to happen to them. In this post, I am going to touch on what I do when plotting my projects.

Plotting the Story

So, what’s going to happen in your story? A very basic question, but one very much worth asking. How does it start? How does it end? And what about all that progression in the middle? Developing a plot begins by knowing what you want to happen. How I begin my extensive plotting is by opening up a presentation via Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint. Some people plan on Word Documents, but I don’t really like how those are set out. Instead, I find that slideshows separate a plan cohesively and attractively.

Once you’ve got your title slide with whatever project number your piece is or it’s potential title, it’s time to think about subheadings. Part of plotting is dissecting the timeline. With an initial summary in mind, it’s time to split it into acts. I typically follow a three act structure. Sometimes you’ve got far too much content for that, so you may want to go for five acts. Create a slide for the acts your story will follow and gauge a general purpose of each one. You want to know what each act does for your story. Does it give us some exposition? Are you introducing a key character or point? Does it set up the conflict for the story?

This gives you a guide to follow as you’re writing your project. If you’re as particular as me, you may even start planning out what happens in each chapter of your story. Bridging it together by laying out your key points enables you to focus more on the content you’re writing than what you want to happen next. I find it’s easier to write when you know what you’re aiming for.

Plotting the Characters

When plotting characters, I like to do three things. Using my PowerPoint presentation, I dedicate a slide to each main character stating the basics, like their age, background and so on. Anything that influences their purpose in my projects.

Then, to flesh them out and give them a bit of personality, I like to create Pinterest boards for them. In these boards I collect quotes, ideas and characteristics I want to link to the character. You can check out an example of these boards on The Literature Lowdown Pinterest page (which you can find on our homepage).

Finally, I like to refine my characters by drafting then in The Sims 4. This part may seem a little silly, but being able to have a visual representation of my ideas is extremely helpful for when I’m in the plotting stage of a project. You can even take this a step further, if you like playing The Sims 4, by giving your character a personality using the traits in Create A Sim. You could even layout out their home or any important settings for your project in build mode. I find plotting my characters into something physical rather than keeping them as words on a page helps me further along in the writing process.

Final Thoughts

Plotting your projects doesn’t have to be as painful a process as some people find it. In order to remain connected to your work, I find it important to get to know all the major details so that you don’t get lost along the process. My ways of plotting extensively work for myself because I know exactly what I want to be doing. The ideas in my process may not work for some. They can be a distraction from actually writing the content for your story. You can lose interest because you’re too hung up on what happens in the second act.

Like all my advice, this is just what works for myself. If plotting using my techniques does not work for you, you may be a more free-spirited writer, eager to get words on a page. It is crucial you do what works for you!