The Stages of Writing: Stage 3: Plotting and Outlining

Plotting and outlining together are the third stage of writing. These two forms of writing are sometimes used interchangeably; but overall, this stage is the preparation that is made before authors write the first drafts of their short stories or novels. This is probably my favorite part of the writing process because it's where writers get to know their characters, settings, and story worlds. Let's check out below the difference between plotting and outlining, how to write a good story, and what writers can do to prepare before writing their books. 🔍

WATCH THE EPISODE

See episode 10 of season 2 of my Journey of a Christian Writer series, The Stages of Writing: Stage 3: Plotting and Outlining or continue reading the blog post below.

PLOTTING AND OUTLINING

Plotting and outlining are similar to each other, but there is a slight difference. Plotting is primarily building your story structure, organizing story elements, or setting up your plot or storyline. On the other hand, outlining is primarily the essential information listed of your characters, settings, and story worlds. These sources of information could include the following: character profiles, setting descriptions, visual aids, backstories, archetypes, or story threads of your plot, and especially for larger projects like a book series.

HOW TO PLOT A GOOD STORY

Plotting a good story takes strategy, critical thinking, and a vivid imagination; but overall, all stories include a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Whether you're a plotter, planster, or a discovery writer, in order to plot and write good stories, writers need to ensure their stories are complete and the three main parts of their stories (beginning, middle, ending) blend together into cohesive plots with no plot holes in them. If stories aren't complete and make sense, avid readers will notice this, which could leave them dissatisfied or not finish your books. To avoid these potential issues, it's important to have solid story structure.

STORY STRUCTURE

Every good book has some kind of story structure. Although they might not be the same, the plots of good books were created and built in an organized fashion, if not but through the author's analysis, intuition, and observation, and not an actual written plan. Story structure is vital and ensures that writers have included all the necessary plot points, stages, twists and turns, and scenes in their stories to complete their books. Writing a story without structure can be like trying to build a house without a foundation. Without solid structure, your story may come crumbling down or be left in the ruins.

WAYS TO PLOT STORIES

There are different ways and methods that writers can plot their stories. Some writers use the Snowflake method, some use the Save the Cat method, and others use three-act structure just as screenplay writers or playwrights. Whichever way writers use is really up to them as writers. Many beginner writers research plotting methods and experiment to see what works for them. I did the same thing until I chose my own personal way of plotting that works for me.

NOTE: There is NO one way to plot stories. What matters is that whatever way writers choose, they ensure they have a complete beginning, middle, and ending and an organized and structured story.

OUTLINING FOR YOUR STORY

Writers are the creators of their story worlds. Creating story worlds is a big and adventurous undertaking, and especially for an entire novel or fiction series. At the same time, it's a gateway to using one's creativity and imagination. Outlining for a story takes a lot of time and patience but will make it easier to write about the characters and settings of one's story world. All of the story information writers can keep in Word documents, writing software like Scrivener, or other note-taking organizers like Microsoft OneNote or Notion. This information will be their story bible while writing the first draft of their short stories, novels, plays or books.

WHAT ARE STORY BIBLES?

Story bibles are writing references and collections of information based on the characters, settings, and story world of a novel or book series. This information could be in physical binders or in a digital program on one's computer and range from a number of different things, such as casts lists, character profiles and backstories, main settings and sub locations, belief systems, culture, or significant items mentioned in the story.

Below is the story bible navigation menu in my notion for my Hallelujah Praise series.

The navigation menu of my story bible in Notion for my Hallelujah Praise series.

EXAMPLE OF CHARACTER PROFILES

Within the image below are a collection of some of the character profiles I created of my Johnson family members. I color-coded each one of the family members with their own color according to the role they play within the family. This is something other writers could do with their character profiles while using Notion or other software programs, such as Scrivener.

A collection of color-coded character profiles of my Johnson family characters.

Writers can include various types of information in their character profiles as I have done in my character Isaiah's character profile below. Some of these things could be basic info, physical attributes, daily life, personality, motivation and emotional wounds, emotional traits and mannerisms, and occupation or education.

EXAMPLE OF CHARACTER ARCS

In the image below is an example of how I set up my character arcs using my 5 phases of a transitional character arc diagram and my 4 conditions for character arcs in a book series. Beside the diagram, I built a color-coded chart in my Notion based on it and the index cards I wrote for the four conditions of Isaiah's character arc, which is very simple to do. In the first column is the five phases, in the second column is the four conditions, and in the last column are linked summaries of Isaiah's character arc, each one with a bullet list below of the correlated condition to each phase of Isaiah's positive arc.

My character Isaiah's character arc using my five phases diagram.

For example, below in Denice's stasis summary I have listed all of her losses associated with this first phase and beginning part of her character arc.

My character Denice's character arc using the five phases diagram and the summary of the stasis of her positive arc with a bullet list of her losses below.

EXAMPLE OF SUB LOCATIONS

Similar to character profiles, writers can also create setting descriptions of the sub locations within the main setting of their stories. These can include the place's address and external and internal descriptions, as the example of Isaiah's or the Johnson family's home below.

An example of a sub location setting description of Isaiah or the Johnson family's home, including the address and sections for external and internal setting descriptions.

CLOSING REMARKS:

Knowing your characters, settings, and story worlds are crucial before writing the first draft, and especially for a whole novel or book series. All of this information will help keep your story consistent from one chapter to another in your novel or one installment to another if you write a book series, which your readers will appreciate and make them that much more likely to enjoy your stories. Who knows? Your novel or book series might become the next popular Great American Novel or much-loved book series someday in your book genre. For more writing videos or tutorials, subscribe to my writing channel Journey of a Christian Writer series. All right, that's all for this post. If you found it helpful, please, give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)