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Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
https://archive.holyworlds.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5629		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Jay Lakewood [ February 18th, 2012, 6:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
So I have this problem. I don't know how to create a plot without a list, as the list system isn't working for me. :P So how does one create a simple plot line that is easy to understand and draw data from?

I'm looking forward to hear your opinions. :salute:
Author:  Elly [ February 18th, 2012, 7:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
Let's see, here are some ways that I've done it/experimented with. :D

1) Bullet-point system.
This is a bit challenging, and I haven't had much success with it yet. First of all, the bullet points are unnumbered. I like my things basically numbered. Still, this could work for you if you like general ideas.

I would think that for general plotting, this would be a possible, work-able idea.

2) Point A to Point B system.
This is still a sort-of list, but I thought it would be worth mentioning. It is loosely numbered and in tidy chronological form. You could probably either do this two ways:
A) Idea (basically four or five lines per scene)
or
B) Scene (slightly harder, one paragraph per scene)

3) Description system.
This would probably work best for me. A brief description, maybe with a quick summary of who's in the scene would work best for my novels. It would be worth experimenting with as well.
Author:  Jay Lakewood [ February 18th, 2012, 7:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
Hmm. My idea of a plot line is multiple layers, each of one character, and when combined, they show who interacts with who per scene.

I like the idea of creating a paragraph to describe what happens though. It sounds like, when containing a large enough overview, that a paragraph or two would provide an excellent base for a chapter/scene. :)
Author:  Lady Elanor [ February 19th, 2012, 6:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
*Subscribes to topic*

I am interested in doing something like this, I need something to help me with my plot and working through it, so I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say. :)
Author:  kingjon [ February 22nd, 2012, 11:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
For more ideas, I suggest reading this thread from the Forge about outlining. But also, if your attempts at planning your story somewhat formally aren't working out so well, try just writing without a formal plan, and see where the story takes you.
Author:  Elly [ February 22nd, 2012, 11:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
Thanks for the link, Jon. That's helpful for me as well, because I do the regular way of outlining for history in school, like this:

Quote:
I. Europe and Asia are blended in a huge mass of land.
A. They're totally separated in one narrow waterway.
B. The waterway is called the Straits and they are in where Turkey is today.

II. The Bosporus is a small channel flowing out of the black Sea.
A. The Sea of Marmara is the second part of the bodies of water that compile the Straits.
B. The final one is the Dardanellas which connects the Sea of Marma to the Aegan Sea.

III. Istanubul is on the western shore of the Bosporus.
A. Byzantium was a Greek town centuries ago.
B. Byzantium is now called Istanbul.
C. Constantine, the Roman emperor of 330, wanted Byzantium to be the site of his eastern capital.
D. The eastern capital was called Constantinople.
Author:  kingjon [ February 22nd, 2012, 4:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bullets, Numbers, and Plots
Hmm, that's certainly not the way I was taught to write outlines in school. In an outline (I was taught) the subpoints under a point should be either support for that point, implications of that point, or something like that. (In your example,"Europe and Asia are one huge mass of land" might have statistics on the area of each as its subpoints.) This means that the outline doesn't exactly match the structure of the paper, necessarily, but if you need to you can (in reading) skip the subpoints without losing too much or (in writing) add, remove, or change subpoints without worrying about the points above them.
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