# Plotting a story and getting it done



## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

**For those who don't frequent the 40k Original Works forum**

Howdy folks!

Creating characters and stories are all well and good but will get you nowhere without a good plot from which to base your story. The plot is the basis for everything the writer plans on doing when writing a story. It's the foundation from where the writer builds his creation. 

*The idea forms*

This is where it all begins. An idea wiggles it's way into your brain and all of a sudden you feel the need to write. Here is where the foundation begins. It can come from anything. Maybe something you read or saw on tv. Irregardless of where it came from it's where the story will be built from. Once you have an idea, you need to sit down and begin the process of plotting it out. This is where the next part comes in.

*Planning the story*

Now that you have the idea, you need to flesh it out. This is a very important part. There are several means with which one can do this. Some use the tree method. Here you take a piece of paper and put your idea in the middle. From there, branch out with possible actions and ideas that will help shape the story around your original idea. Once you've done this, go back and look over each one. Brainstorm on how they will fit in with your overall idea of how the story will go. Decide which ones you think will work and which ones you think won't. Don't disregard the unchosen ideas though as you might find a way to work them in later. 

You have your basic plot outline now so go a step further. Look at each of the ideas you feel will work in the story surrounding the intial plot and add to them. Here is where you'll start getting a better idea of how the story will go. Start with each one and see what you can think of to flesh them out. Be it a simple piece of dialogue or another set of ideas, each piece will slowly start to fit into place as each idea spawns more possible twists. The important thing is to not go overboard. Decide on a set number of ideas and possibilites and work from there. It's always better to start with a small amount and as the story progresses, add additional pieces if one sees the need to. By doing this, you'll have a visual order of things and a good starting place to begin writting from.

Another method is to simply start writing from your basic idea. There's nothing wrong with doing this as long as you can keep a good creative flow from which to build your story on. Of course, one can always start using this method and once they reach a point they can't continue on, start with the previous one. I'm guilty of doing this. I simply put finger to keyboard without thought and work from there. On larger, more encompassing stories though, I plot them out so I can keep up continuity and flow.

*Write a rough draft!*

This part is rather self-explanitory! :biggrin: Now that you have your idea and your plot, begin the process of writing the rough draft. If you've planned it out, you'll find that this part is a lot easier as everything is in front of you waiting to be written. Rough drafts are an important part of writing as you can see the story progress and find any problems that you may need to fix before moving on to the final product. Here is where you may come across more ideas to add into the line to bring the story together better. This is also where you may find that some of your original plotting might not work. 

*The final draft*

You've brainstormed, you've plotted, you've spent hours on the rough draft... Now it's time to see your works come to fruition! This is where all of your hard work comes together and the monster that niggled it's way into your brain finally finds it's outlet! Taking your rough draft, rewrite everything you've put down. Why rewrite it? When you take the time to rewrite it, you give yourself more time to fine tune the story. You may find that the wordings seems off while reading it in the final draft or a part needs a little more work. 

*The last part *

Aye, there's just one more piece of work to do before you post it up. Once you've finished writing the story over do all the minor bits like spell/grammar check. With this done, set it aside. Don't look at it, don't go over it, don't think about it. Go read a book or watch some TV. Let it sit for a day languishing without attention. There is a reason for this. When you're writing(if you're like me), you get caught up in the work and sometimes may miss something. After you've had some downtime away from the monster, go back and reread it two or three times slowly. Cover every word, every line. Check the dialogue and the flow. This is where the final proof reading comes in and where you do any final editing. Many times I've written something only to come back to it later and say to myself I could have done it better if I'd done 'this' instead. Your story is now finally finished. Well..mostly...you still have to post it here for my reading enjoyment :biggrin:

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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