Thread: How to structure a massive, intricate plot that lives in my head??

I am writing a book (well, a tetralogy) that at this point exists about half on paper, and half in my head. I am working on getting it all written down before it is forgotten, but a lot of it is amorphous or merely scraps of description, dialogue, character sketches, and other things that don't just translate into scenes or even outlines. In order to actually put it all down in a way that makes sense, and (God willing) move forward with the actual writing, I have got to get everything down in something like a coherent plot outline, character descriptions, etc. The problem is that there is so much of it that it's almost impossible to visualize all at once, or put things in strict sequence, but that's what I have to do if I want to fill in the holes and figure out how to lay out the scenes. I have tried making outlines in a word processor, using "mind-mapping" software, and a technique of my own involving poster boards and hundreds upon hundreds of post-it notes. They've been sort of helpful, but mostly they are just re-hashing what I already have written down in another form, and are not adding much structure. I think I am a hands-on sort of person and it will work best to have an actual physical structure (flow charts and sticky notes have been my best solution so far.) I have a wall in my room dedicated to this project. But I'm all out of ways to set this unwieldy mass of information down on an external object. I've been completely stuck on my book lately (maybe because I ran out of post-it notes.) It's really making me crazy.

Help!!!

How much do you know about the structure of a novel? Do you know what three-act-structure is? Do you know the definitions of terms like first culmination and second culmination? I suspect if you had a structure for your novels, the bits and pieces would fall into place.

I have a (very) broad framework but it does little to structure the massive tangle of details I've worked out. As far as "traditional" plot structures I've basically abandoned most of them. But I know the essentials of exposition, development, climax, denouement, and all that. The main problem is, say, knowing what needs to happen before what. There is a single main overarching storyline, but there are multiple significant subplots intertwining as well.

You need someone to help you develop your story. For example, when you have a story about Alice and Bob getting married, you can tell him/her this and he/she will ask you questions about what Alice and Bob are like, how old are they, do they work and where, what their job is, questions about their characters, their past, their ways of thinking, their interests, their goals, things that will help you develop and grab the whole idea about your own story. Then, he/she will help you to narrow it down to the scene you're writing, like why they should meet up in a diner to discuss their marriage, how deep is their relationship, if Alice is concerned that having children early will hamper her career will she point this out, and how Bob's going to react on this, and such. He/she will even get into details like when is it happening, what time, if it's in January then will it snow, do they sit near a window, is the diner crowded, how do they affect the couple's mood and more importantly, will it bear the outcomes you need to continue to the next scene.

I'm telling you this not because someone did it to me, but that's what I need as a writer. You can do this alone, but from what you told us, you need someone to help you on this.

Hope it works. Cheers.

It isn't that I haven't developed the story. It's that I've developed it so much and accumulated so much detail that I don't know how to sort it out. It's like having created a highly detailed and developed painting, but it's in the form of a jigsaw puzzle that has been partially disassembled and crammed into my cranium. Please understand I don't mean to be ungrateful or dismissive of your advice. It's just that I'm not sure I've conveyed my problem very well.

That's the point—you already have it all, but it's all in your head. Your problem is that you have difficulty writing it down, because when you attempt to, you're overwhelmed by so many details you failed to keep track on the scene you're writing. Having someone helping you to develop the story will help you build the details necessary in your short-term memory, drawing them from your long-term memory, so you can write them down. In short, they help you to focus drawing only the details of a particular scene (that you're currently working) from a vast amount of possibilities.

Scientifically speaking (skip this if you're not into science), judging from how you describe your problem, you put so much detail, perhaps an entire parallel universe, within your head. All of these information are stored in your long-term memory, while in order to bring them to surface, you have to move them to your short-term memory. This process is much faster when you're presenting the details orally, especially when interacting with someone else, since it'll keep the information in your short-term memory longer—long enough for you to write them down.

It's like not knowing what to wear to a party while having a closet full of clothes. You'll ask a friend, and he/she will help you decide what to wear—ultimately, you decide what to wear, but your friend help you in doing this.

So, I think it's worth trying.

Just a thought; it sounds like you have a huge project, so huge you have an entire wall devoted to its planning. You mention the problem of putting things into strict sequential order. How long is the wall? Have a timeline the length of it. Do it in pencil so things can be rubbed out and changed around. I think that's what I'd do.

It isn’t possible for one person to know what goes on in another person’s head. Put that another, more blunt way, you may have to figure this out alone.

1. Write your novel's plot as a summary, no more than five pages. Then edit it down to two pages. Then edit it down to one page. Then edit it down to one paragrpah, then one sentence. Save each summary.

2. Do a detailed chronology - a timeline starting at the beginning and ending at the end. This is a big project. If you want, use a chart or columns to keep track of separate characters or plotlines.

You referred to the problem as a jigsaw, so try to arrange it that way. Write down each of the events on a separate piece of paper and then begin sorting them. First have a box to represent each book and sort the events into the right book. Then start over with each book and sort the events into chapters. Keep breaking it down and organising the events until it makes sense and you're happy with it.

Originally Posted by madalyn

It isn't that I haven't developed the story. It's that I've developed it so much and accumulated so much detail that I don't know how to sort it out. It's like having created a highly detailed and developed painting, but it's in the form of a jigsaw puzzle that has been partially disassembled and crammed into my cranium.

I had / am having the same problem with a big project that I'm working on. Here's what helped:

Of course, I started with a broad outline of my overall plot, but i found that there was just too much to include.

My story is all about conflict, so things got clearer when did many other separate outlines: one for each 'character conflict arc'. I mean 'conflict' here in the broadest literary sense--each character's internal and external struggle.

Picture separate outlines for:

• Character A vs. Character B;
• Character A vs. Character C;
• Character A vs. Character D;
• Character B. vs. Character C; and
• Character B vs. Character D . . . and so on.

Each arc outline describes my intended exposition, development, climax, and denouement for that particular character's arc, and it includes the action points and snippets of dialogue that I want to include. I played around with each arc individually to maximize dramatic effect . . .

and when that was done, I weaved each individual arc into my broad plot outline. The arcs overlap like crazy and it looks jumbled, but I know that my dramatic structure for each character's arc is preserved.

Seeing how elements of different arcs worked together in certain scenes lead to tons of other ideas, so I went back and rejiggered a few arcs after putting them all together.

I know what you mean. I've been working on this big plot/ story for years and at times there's so much crap. From characters, to plot, to setting, to underlying messages and meanings and all this other jazz that it gets confusing as all hell and I just throw it down and scream, "F--- this, I'm gonna go play Xbox for a while!" I eventually found a program called OneNote, it worked pretty well to organize stuff, which I guess would be my first suggestion. Organize it, somehow. If your story has a lot of back story involved, I'd suggest making some kind of history or time line or whatever first. That's what I did. Then I made maps and so on. I started with the setting pretty much, since these characters exist on this place, where things go down. Early on I just kinda made it all up as I wrote. I was younger and it was all cool to me, but when I read it back it didn't make any damn sense and was really strange and convoluted. I suggest starting on the foundations of things and just basically organizing. World, characters, plot and so on. I made the mistake of making huge explanations and stuff here and there and it just bogged me down, but other people work differently I guess. I had a section dedicated to side plot ideas, or conversations and whatever else, then I'd have the main plot arc elsewhere, since when I mixed the two it got really confusing at times.

Buy a digital recorder, carry it at all times, and record it when you think of it. In theory you should then be able to get it automatically transcribed on a PC, complete with spelling mistakes and other errors, but you should be able to remember what you said and correct as you read through.

If you feed the headphone output into the microphone socket, Windows has a program which, in theory, transcribes. I have used it, it does work mostly, but it's better than losing it all to the ether. I have such a recorder, but being ancient, keep forgetting it, leave it sitting on the table beside my mobile phone. Come to think of it, mobiles have recorders.

I've had a similar issue for some time before I realised that I hadn't clearly separated back story from the part of the story that I am actually going to tell. When you're dreaming something up that runs from about 1450 to present day, it's a massive amount of information, research, family trees, facts, maps etc. before I even start on working on the details of the small change in physics that will make my plot work!!

I know what I want this world that I'm creating to contain and I'm finding that the more I build, the more the people within it are starting to come up with actions themselves, dictated by the small amount that I already know about their personalities and motivations.

I have not moved yet from "world-building" to formally laying out the plan of the part of the story that I intend to tell. Might this be where you are too?