How do you plan a story?

KingTubbins

KingTubbins

Virgin
As the title says, how do you plan a story?

Since I am writing my first story, I made a very brief general outline and just began to write each chapter. But now I've gotten to a point where I have begun to plan each chapter with a brief outline before they are written. At this point, I have many chapters planned compared to what I have written but I have found this easier as it means I don't make it up on the spot and I can adapt the plans if I have a different idea or direction I want to pursue.

Let me know your thoughts!
 
I generally have a plan for only a couple of chapters ahead myself so I know where I want the story to go. Next I write the dialogue like a play feeling it out in my head like writing a play which is probably something only I do but for me it works. The characters typically take over then and ruin any sort of plan I originally had for the chapter but since it is only dialogue I can write a lot out in a short time and really flesh out where I want things to go and get a sense of who the characters are before having to describe them to the reader. I had about 50 pages written for my current story of just dialogue. Once I have several pages written I will go back and begin adding actions they do and thoughts they have and look for a good breaking point in what I wrote to end the chapter with a question and save the rest for the next. I have also written in some scenes I really like this way since what I wrote is still in my mind Ideas I hadn't thought of before will some times pop into my head when I am not writing and if it is still just dialogue I can typically fit them in.
 
The best way, I find, is to start with one thing - the point of the story, usually the premise - and iteratively expand by adding details. At this stage of writing you should be willing to write down anything that comes to mind, be it a plot twist for a plot that doesn't exist yet, or a sex position between characters you haven't thought up. Anything is possible for now. Once you start, you're more or less locked into whatever's public, but there's no issue with adding detail to or even changing future plans while you're in the middle of writing chapters, as long as the story's trajectory still makes sense. I don't use them as much as I should, but chapter-by-chapter plans are immensely helpful for pacing and balancing difference intensities of erotic content.

Game mode stories need much more thorough and strict planning if they're going to be released progressively. Using modules like scenes, rooms or small hubs (depending on how your game is structured) helps if they are designed in such a way that you can move future modules around without ruining what you've already published. It's not obvious at first, but often you will need to go back at least a chapter or two to fiddle with variables while you're writing a new chapter. If those chapters are already public, readers will have opened them, and any changes might mess up their saves.
 
As a relatively new writer myself, the story I'm currently working with has a sort of landmarks approach to it. I generally find myself planning important set pieces that I want the story to have, but won't know how I get there until I get there. Even then, the landmark scenes I planned out have seldom turned out exactly like I envisioned in my head; they should be adapted to fit how the characters have developed, not vice versa.

As for what to make a chapter, I generally just write until I find a good spot to stop; kinda hard to explain, but I generally find it when there's a scene transition, an important point of information is dropped, or a monumental question is asked. I do it innately thanks to reading a lot of books. For writing itself, I've been writing by envisioning how the scene is supposed to go in my mind, like a movie or cutscene, and just describe what's happening. It works for me, because I have a vivid imagination :D.
 
Here's what I do...

First comes inspiration, of course. That can come from anywhere.

Think about the idea and how well it makes a CHYOO story. The qualities that make a good story in general are not always the same for an interactive tale with multiple threads. The initial idea is usually more about a setting than a plot, since there will be multiple plots in the end. The protagonist is usually someone fairly bland, an Everyman/woman who the reader can identify with.

Consider: would this still be a good story idea even if there were no sex in it? The best CHYOO stories are about more than that; "a week at an erotic resort" might be fun in real life, but if that's all there is to it then there's not much interesting story there. On the other hand, make sure the story idea is one that allows sex to happen without too much effort. A long-distance auto race could make for a great interactive story, but it's difficult to make sexual situations happen when everyone is driving in different cars trying to get to the finish as fast as possible!

If the premise of your story is, "You discover you have mind-control powers and can get anyone you want to have sex with you," you might as well abandon that idea, because there are hundreds of those on the site which never make it past Chapter 2.

Start identifying your supporting characters. Know a little about what the story is from their point of view. I generally choose pornstars to base their appearance on; that works for me.

A lot of stories are about a place: a desert island, a cruise ship, a college campus, the Planet Zorgox, or whatever. It's good to have a diagram or map of what your setting looks like, just so you don't write anything contradictory.

I don't think it's ever too early to start actually writing it; you may change your mind about things, but go ahead and write the first chapter if it's in your head. Read it and re-read it to think about where it could go from there. If you find that Chapter 1 ends with a yes/no choice where only one of those options will lead to more story, then it's not done yet. I like to then follow it up with at least four different Chapter 2 entries; if you can't come up with four main branches that the story could go off on, it's probably too restrictive to work. I actually have a rule on my stories that no outside submission may branch from Chapter 1; it must kick off from Chapter 2 or later. Those first chapters will define your story, so you probably don't want to leave it up to other people to write them.
 
Short answer, I fucking don't. I go with the flow of my mind and write whatever I want. Then, in the end, I put the pieces together and make them into a coherent story. Alcohol usually helps with this just so you know.
 
Writers can be roughly divided into two groups IMO. Planners - who map out a story first and then write to that structure. And pantsers - who just fly by the seat of their pants and write the words as they come. Famous examples of Pantsers include Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.

I'm a pantser, for better or worse. The format of CHYOA (posting one chapter at a time) means that we can write whatever takes our fancy at the time. Should we keep an over-arcing storyline in mind when doing so? Certainly. But as long as you have a vague idea where you want to the story to wind up then you already have the basics in place ie A beginning, a middle and an end. The rest of it is just your journey getting there.

I, like Xenolan mentioned above, am in a constant hunt for inspiration. Be it other stories, films, artwork whatever to inspire that next chapter and keep the story going. Even a silly pic can draw a short story out of the ol' creative well. For instance, the one below inspired Bimbo Bakery...

upload_2022-8-2_13-22-47.jpeg
 
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My natural inclination in life and all things is to wing it and see what happens. But in writing I really do need to plan otherwise I hit writer's block pretty easily. Working at the highest level, I start by taking a guess how long I expect the story to be, which is typically based upon how expansive the premise is. Then, for longer stories I tend to build character profiles, plot outlines, storyboarding scenes and such. You can see a clear difference in the ones that I planned not at all (My branch on The Virgin Games), ones that I planned a moderate amount (Katelyn Haynes), and ones that I've planned the hell out of (Harem Hotel).
 
This is a multi-month/year (process)

Step 1: Create broad story universe and basic theme
Step 2: Create a ton of "blurbs," which are essentially 1 paragraph summaries
Step 3: Create 2-3 page outlines containing 1-2 paragraphs of setting/character information, then a bulleted list of sequential actions, kind of like what I imagine a screenplay script is like
Step 4: Start flushing out the story, writing details, dialogue, etc.
Step 5: Realize I've somehow departed from my original theme.
Step 6: Realize that my most developed story no longer matches the universe I made or most of the blurbs or outlines
Step 7: Get depressed, go watch anime, maybe play some games
Step 8: Try to rewrite the story universe, end up reading Literotica/CHYOA/AO3
Step 9: Repeat from Step 1


And that's why I'm still working on getting the draft story I started in 2015 ready to publish.
 
Aman Onfy Mous said:
This is a multi-month/year (process)

Step 1: Create broad story universe and basic theme
Step 2: Create a ton of "blurbs," which are essentially 1 paragraph summaries
Step 3: Create 2-3 page outlines containing 1-2 paragraphs of setting/character information, then a bulleted list of sequential actions, kind of like what I imagine a screenplay script is like
Step 4: Start flushing out the story, writing details, dialogue, etc.
Step 5: Realize I've somehow departed from my original theme.
Step 6: Realize that my most developed story no longer matches the universe I made or most of the blurbs or outlines
Step 7: Get depressed, go watch anime, maybe play some games
Step 8: Try to rewrite the story universe, end up reading Literotica/CHYOA/AO3
Step 9: Repeat from Step 1


And that's why I'm still working on getting the draft story I started in 2015 ready to publish.
Click to expand...

Looks like you took on a project a little too big for your time availability/skill/dedication.
It's not like I can't relate though, heh.

If everyone could write a book they would probably do it, because apparently everyone thinks they can.
 
Here's my useless answer: ...it depends?

Sometimes I write a detailed plot outline, create a world, characters, and lore, all long before I put down a single word. Those tend to be my more serious and longer stories, when I want to create a good story rather than (just!) have fun. The problem with this approach is that it can feel really stifling, creatively speaking, to simply have to follow a plot outline. Like you're just a typing monkey for some other person (that person being you from yesterday). And since it's the first draft that takes the vast majority of the time, it can really feel like a chore.

Other times I just have a vague idea of something that might be enjoyable to write and just start on my first draft right away, not really caring where it'll lead me. This means you get to come up with fun stuff at every point, which tends to be a lot more enjoyable to write out. Feeling a bit bored? Have something weird happen! And off you go again. On the other hand, the lack of forethought means that sometimes your great just ends up sucking when you start writing it all out. Not thinking ahead can also cause you to get stuck, especially if it's a longer story. And what do you do then? Start over? Try to finagle it into a better structure? At that point I tend to get distracted by a shiny new idea.

For the story I'm currently working on, I landed somewhere in the middle of those two extremes: I had an idea, which naturally led to a very particular climax that I could work towards. I roughly sketched out my characters and then I started writing straight away. It seems to be working out so far! It helps that the story is pretty short by my standards, so there isn't a lot of long-term outlining to do.
 
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