“The hardest part is believing in yourself at the notebook stage. It is like believing in dreams in the morning.” – Erica Jong²

There are two types of writers: plotters and pantsers. Plotters outline and organize their fanfics ahead of time. Pantsers “fly by the seat of their pants”³ and work on an update to update basis. Most people are a mix of the two. Neither method is inherently better than the other.

Plotters have the advantage of having a better idea of how their fic will turn out. They carefully map out their fic from the beginning (Point A) to the end (Point Z). Since they know where they are going and where to stop on the way, they can take whichever path they want to get from one point to another. Plotting also gives the work greater consistency and helps avoid plot holes. On the other hand, they risk restricting their writing. Overplotting, being too detailed in the plans, can take the fun and creativity out of the writing process. That sometimes causes the writer to never write their fic since they got it out of their system in the plotting process.

Pantsers have more freedom. They are the people who enter a place without a map on purpose so that they can wander. They take the journey along with their protagonist. Pantsers write interconnected moments that somehow end up as a narrative. Pantsying gives more leeway in writing; however, this type of writing is more prone to writer’s block and plot holes. It can sometimes be more wordy since they’re not writing in a particular direction.

As guilty as I am of pantsying my works, I advocate on behalf of the plotter. It is almost always better to write a work, especially a longer work of fiction, with some sort of outline. Plotting helps fend away writer’s block by giving you a goal to work towards.

It’s a terrifying to want to write a fic especially if you only know that your ending. To continue the map metaphor, it’s like being told you to get to Sealand⁴ (Point Z). It’s hard get to Sealand if you don’t know where it is. If you only think about getting to Sealand then the task with seem impossible, so you figure out how to make the task into something you can deal with. You find out that Sealand is off the shore of the England that makes things easier.

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You now know you need to get a visa to get to the England and to find a helicopter from England to Sealand. You have created Points F and J. Now when you write, you just need to write from your starting point to Point F. That breaks down your journey into more manageable pieces. There’s still a gap, but you can make the logical leaps to bridge points A and F that are harder to make when you focus on getting from Point A to Point Z. How much you actually want to plot is up to you. You can map from A to B to C and such to Z or A to K to Z. (Just so that you know, you can’t actually travel to Sealand because people have to be approved by the King and Queen. If you want something to laugh about google Sealand.)

The minimum I recommend you should do:

1. Write down the idea that you have.
2. Figure out and write down the goal of your fanfic. (The goal doesn’t have to be anything huge. It can just be get the ship together.)
3. Write down the events you want to happen.
4. When you are done with step 3, organize them in whichever way makes sense to you.
5. Optional: Consider any themes you want to write into your fic.

I suggest considering themes like death or love in your work because it gives up story more depth. It is optional because most stories on aff are straightforward. They intend to create a moment and allow the reader to experience that world. Themes are like spices. They enhance your work and help shape the final dish, but are not entirely necessary.

Here’s how the above process would look a story about a mermaid in love with a human.

Untitled

Idea: A romance between the mermaid and a human.

Goal: For the mermaid and human to marry.

Events:

• Mermaid falls in love with human.
• Mermaid and human fall in love.
• Mermaid get legs.
• Human meets mermaid
• Mermaid is invited to stay with human.

Organized:

• Mermaid falls in love
• Mermaid gets legs.
• Human meets mermaid.
• Mermaid is invited to stay with human.
• Mermaid and human fall in love.

Possible Themes:

• Love
• Familial love versus Passionate Love
• Changing yourself for someone else.
• Is Love True real even when it is based on an allusion?

The method I showed you is not the only way to plot your fic. There was endless ways to plan your fanfic and I do not intend to suggest any method over another. The best way to find a plotting style that works best for you is to google them and experiment until you find one you like or until you create a method you enjoy.I literally have [A] runs into [B] in my planning pages. It's easier to replace roles later then to come up with your whole cast at once. I personally freestyle each time I plot since try to fit the plotting style to the finished product.I personally freestyle each time I plot since try to fit the plotting style to the finished product.

²57 Tips to Writers, From Writers

³The Great Debate: Are you a planner or a pantser?

⁴You can’t actually get to Sealand because it is a barge in the middle of nowhere that two people claim as a country. Since they are its King and Queen, they have to allow people onto their barge. Just google it.

⁵Map of Sealand