AHHHH! I’m about to blabber ! My planning process takes months, to be honest! See, the thing about me is I can have a ton of vague story ideas, but when I want to pursue an idea that’s really piqued my interest, I ~have to plan it out. That being said, this is how I write my stories:
One of my first steps into my planning process is creating my character, as I’ve found it gives me something to work with. I shape their personality, getting to know them and the way they think along the way! This also goes for other main characters/side characters who play a role in the overall story.
It should be noted that all of this is done and typed up on one of the greatest creations ever: Google Docs or Word . Within the doc, I have literally everything you can possibly think of. Characters’ personalities, plot points, a timeline, possible title names (if I haven’t come up with one already), certain dialogue I want my characters to say in certain scenes, ideas on how I want to start the very first scene of the first chapter, scenes (a certain background/ what characters&background characters are doing), etc. There’s so much on my document, and it’s honestly so lifesaving!
I’m the type of person that can’t “go with the flow”. I’ve tried it once, and it just didn’t work out for me. It was constant writer’s block and lack of motivation. Kudos to those who can create amazing stories using this method, though ! I’ve tried multiple methods of writing, but this is what’s stuck to me: creating an outline+more.
As far as writing on the portal goes, I always refer back to my document. I feel like every episode needs to have something that keeps the story moving, if that makes sense. Crossing out important plot points or minor ones that lead to those major plot points is key! Dropping hints, foreshadowing, or other techniques are things that I implement into my writing & chapters to engage readers. It’s always fun to have someone slide into my DMs and mention that they caught onto something that was said or have them start developing theories !
Another one of my favorites: setting the scene! It’s no doubt that all writers on the platform improve in their writing and danacoding skills as they continue to learn. With my new story, I’ve just now started playing with filters when there are throwback scenes, or adding effects to a scene to make it stand out. Simply by adding those dramatic flairs when they’re appreciated goes a long way, and the overall outcome is so, so worth it!
All of what was mentioned above keeps me motivated in writing and continuing a story! I think it’s important for me to have something to look forward to in every episode. It makes “writing” all the more fun. I suck in general with updating because I am super slow and persnickety, but just the thought of something exciting happening in the current episode keeps me going!
One last thing I wanted to mention is if you have a trusted friend, it’s always great to have them check your story out, if they’re willing of course. It’s amazing what a fresh pair of eyes will do. My gal Emma is my goto person . We brainstorm our story ideas together and send each other our stories (via Google Docs; again, godsend!!! Or our story links). I say trusted because it’s important to be honest with each other and not easily take to offense the feedback we receive. That could be correcting things that don’t make sense or asking for clarification if there’s ever plot holes. There’s so much more to it, but that’s just the gist of it.
Overall, just have fun with it! If you’ve got an idea, don’t let anything stop you! Get those creative juices flowing! I hope this was able to help you and good luck with your journey !