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Questions for Outlining

bre-does-milwordy:

Outlining is typically my favorite part of the writing process, and the one that gives me the most trouble. So I’ve made a list of 8 questions to ask yourself when getting to know your story.

1. Who is your protagonist?
This goes beyond the basics – what is their name, where do they live, etc. The most important question you can ask when plotting a story is “What does my protagonist want?” followed shortly by “What is my protagonist able and unable to do?”

2: What is in your protagonist’s way?
Every story needs conflict. No one wants to read a short story where everything goes the protagonist’s way, and they certainly don’t want to read a novel like that. Ask yourself who or what has what your protagonist wants, or who or what is preventing them from getting it. Whether this is a person, an object, or a force of nature or the supernatural, the main obstacle in your protagonist’s way is your antagonist.

3: What does your protagonist need?
What tools do they need to get what they want? What allies do they need? Where do they have to go? Basically, ask yourself how your protagonist can counter their obstacles.

5: Who can help your protagonist?

Harry couldn’t have reached the Sorcerer’s Stone alone, and Frodo had eight pals to walk to Mordor with him. While some stories work well with a lone wolf protagonist, most need an ally or two to achieve their goals. Take some time thinking about who is around your protagonist, and how they can help – or hinder. Every single character can affect the plot in some way, if given the chance.

5: How does your protagonist intend to get what they want?
Now that you know what they need, it’s time to look closer as your protagonist as a person. How would they approach the problem? Would they try path A or path B first? Protip: the first path almost never works, and if it does, it should be a bittersweet victory. Your protagonist’s first attempt should leave them with a new obstacle, a new next step to conquer.

6: Now what’s standing in the protagonist’s way?
Since Plan A didn’t exactly work out, we need to figure out a Plan B. This means we need to know what Plan B is made for.  You have to know your next obstacles before you can know how to overcome them.
Step six is usually repeated a couple of times to give a story more meat. Typical novels repeat it one to four times, but that number is just as flexible as everything else. Be careful that you’re not boring your readers with impossible odds, but also be careful that your protagonist doesn’t get everything too easily. Do what feels natural here.

7: How does the protagonist get what they want?
So we know how they intended to get it, but how do they really get it? How do they finally best the last of their obstacles and claim the prize? This is your climax, the point of highest tension in your story.

8: How has all of this changed the protagonist’s life?
What’s different now that the story is over? How does book 7 Harry differ from book 1 Harry? Can your protagonist go home, or are they irrevocably changed? Have fun with this, you earned it. It’s the moment your story has been leading up to, and often the message you’ve been trying to send.

So there you have it, 8 quick tips for your basic story outline. Remember that none of these are hard-and-fast rules, and that every story differs. Use these as a guideline when you’re stuck, but don’t be afraid to break the mold a little. Happy plotting!

zekers-life:

Is nobody giving a sh*t about how we went from a semi Chibi art style into a freaking realistic humanly proportioned trainer style?

Look at the freaking buildings, I think there’s a lot more than just the freaking pokemon that they improved on the designs. 

Venting1

I’m so happy I’m soon going to the psy… I’m so full of things, I feel like bursting. I feel disgusted by myself, I’m so unuseful and awful… I harmed twice since I came back to my place, and I just could not get out of my bed today, and yesterday as well… Pff…

Today I stepped out of my apartment, shaking of lack of nutrition and on the verge of anxiety attacks because there was just so many people. I kept repeating “No one is looking at you, no one is looking at you” under my breath, probably sounding like a maniac. I got controlled twice by security agents, it made me almost cry. 

But most of all I am lonely. All the time, all the time, it just never stops. Loneliness is eating my brain and all my happy thoughts. I cannot talk to my friends, I don’t want to bother them. I get the feeling they wouldn’t care if I did, anyway. Because when you are always feeling miserable, telling so to people tends to bore them. They take your sadness, tiredness, weirdness, for granted. They think it’s normal for you to feel that way. 

So they choose not to answer. Or they belittle it. It’s something they refuse to sympathize with, because it’s tiring to love someone who is depressed and anxious. 

I’ve got a girlfriend, a family, many friends. But I feel so lonely. I feel abandoned. I feel restricted to a bubble where no love can enter. I feel like all the words said to me are not sincere, I feel like no one cares about me, at all. I feel like the only person on Earth – and it’s stupid. I’m stupid.

I mean, I must be, if I’m actually writing all of this on a blog no one visits. It’s like I’m screaming pain into the wind, in the hope some human ear may catch a bit of it. 

Anyway, that is the purpose of this blog. I can’t keep writing to myself, or I’ll turn insane. 

Two more days to go, before I can verbally unleash this at someone, who is paid to listen to all that shit and give me more pills. Let’s hope it will actually lift my spirits. 

azzandra:

butchcommunist:

kropotkitten:

thejesusandmarxchain:

do tumbleweeds actually blow around in the southwest or is that a myth…?

!!! They do!!!

Tumbleweed is actually an invasive species from Siberia. What happens is when the soil gets too dry the roots come out of the ground and the plant curls up into a ball so that it can blow to a new spot. When it comes into contact with wet soil its roots will unfold and it will settle down. 

That is ten times more fucked up than I thought. They plant themselves again? That’s neat. I always thought they were just dead leaves and twigs in a bunch.

I like this. Tumbleweeds just fuck off when they don’t like a place, they are not like other plants who have to respect your plant rules, they are rebels.