Plotlines (Planning it out)

There’s one advantage to writing a fanfic and not a story – as long as you write a story about a popular idol, people will read it. I mean, you don’t even have to have a good plotline or whatever because as long as you use an idol that some people enjoy reading about, then you already have a reader or two willing to read your stories. And this is, unfortunately, a true statement.

We’ve all been guilty of it at some points in our lives – reading a horrible story for the sake of the idols that they use in it. You want to stab your eyes with pens after reading a chapter, but you don’t, solely because you like reading about your bias.

But does the idol make up for the horrible plot of a story?

NO (unless they’re your ultimate bias).

I’ve learned that there are generally two types of writers: ones that plan out their story beforehand and the ones that just write as they go. And it’s really easy to tell the two apart.

For one, an author that doesn’t plan out their story beforehand will have an inconsistent plot. For example, one minute our heroine will be in love with Guy A and then she’ll have conflicting feelings for Guy B until Guy C comes into the picture and steals her heart away but she ends up with random Guy D who dies and says that his last wish is for her to marry Guy E who she has never met before but instead she follows her heart and marries Guy F who she met at the grocery store earlier that day. Which brings me to my next indicator – new characters appearing out of nowhere.

An author that plans things ahead of time will seamlessly incorporate a character into the story (i.e. – mentioning the new character in the previous chapters or having them make a cameo before making their major debut). Authors that haven’t really planned out much of their stories will tend to have random characters appear out of nowhere that change the plot significantly.

What I’m trying to tell you authors is that we (your readers) know if you’ve planned out your story or if you’re just going wherever your muse takes you. Some are kind enough to not point out the inconsistency of your plot while others will be blunt and tell you that your story doesn’t make any sense. If you want your story to be featured on the homepage of AFF, do yourself a favor and plan out your story. Because unless you get picked for the daily random story or you have enough karma to advertise your story, then there’s no way you’re going to be featured with a plot-less story that makes no sense (unless you have some really dedicated readers that just generally like you).

My rules for plotlines:

1. Plan it out. You don’t have to know EXACTLY everything that you want to do, but just a basic outline will do.
2. Know your ending in the beginning. When planning to write your story, it’s best if you know how you want your ending to be.
3. Aim for no clichés. (Read about this is my next chapter.)

FINAL THOUGHTS:

It’s important to plan out your story. You don’t have to go professional and plan out every single thing that happens (because that takes the fun out of writing), but at least know where your story starts and how you want it to end. I’ll end this chapter with the words my creative writing teacher once told me: "A plot is like a roadmap, you need to know where your starting point is, what your destination is, and how you are going to get there."

EXTRA: It came to my attention that I forgot one important thing – this chapter is dedicated to actual stories/fanfics. It doesn’t apply to a series of unrelated oneshots or drabbles.

My Adorable Hamster Gyu~~~

RANDOM FACT: My Dad has been feeding my baby brother every 15 - 45 minutes because, in his eyes, he is always hungry. (Dad, just because he whines or cries or looks at you doesn't mean that he's hungry. It means that you either need to change his diaper or that he wants attention...)