stories that short are called flash fiction. they are often extended metaphors or individual scenes trying to drive home one specific point. i see them a lot in books primarily dedicated to poetry, a few self-contained pieces of prose describing a memory of the author or an interaction between two mystical figures (like the sun and the moon) symbolizing something else.
they usually won’t have more than a single scene and very vague characters. i haven’t seen any that really have a plot in the traditional western sense (exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, and all that). im sure there are exceptions to this, but most of the more famous short stories that come to mind for me are at least 20-40 pages.
If your plot is simple and can be summed up easily in jusr a paragraph or two, there’s nothing wrong with that. Being conscise isn’t an issue. But a lot of writers have more complex plots that have other subplots tie into the main plot and they have to include those for the main plot summary to make sense. I don’t think one or the other is right or wrong, it’s just how in depth your story is compared to another author, and those will always be different.
Subplots aren’t necessary in shorter stories, but they help give longer stories more intrigue and fill the gaps when there are moments in the story that would otherwise be boring. When done well, subplots should tie into the main plot and strengthen and support it.
plotting and outlining are the same thing, in this context.
and idk, my outlines are longer than a page so I can’t really answer this. but i would assume that one-page plots are probably just simplified down to the main points.
also probably the size of the person’s handwriting has something to do with it, because some people write really tiny lol
My advice is to read some other books and take a close look at how they implement subplots into their work. Try and analyze the book from a writer’s standpoint and pick it apart structurally. The closer the book is in genre and vibes to what you want to write, the easier you’ll be able to apply what you learn to your own writing.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable, especially given that you’re also a pantser. There’s not as much to understand about your story because you give it plenty of room to breathe and have it open to creative changes.
How someone does this depends, ofc, on what technique they’re using to plot. Three act structure? Snowflake? Rollercoaster? Etc. some of these technique’s require more involvement. Either way, they’re usually detailed and precise. If you ever want to see how something like this looks there’s some templates on google that provide a good insight.
As for me, I usually have the plot summary, which can be 1-4 pages but not over. Then I have my grid/bones (as I call it) plot, which is where I make a grid in word with three brackets. The first is chapter name/title and setting details, the second is for the chapter summary (though you don’t need to include all chapters, I usually include important ones that contain plot beats/important info) and the third is for extra details that may not be mentioned in the chapter but that I need to know.
I guess it helps me to organize and structure my writing more. I do wish I was freer with my writing because, oftentimes, I feel constrained by the bounds and limitations I’ve created for myself.
Overall, though, plotting is actually one of my favorite things to do. It’s satisfying coming up with interesting plot details, getting all of the gutted information out there to see, tweak, and judge, and then writing the chapters. Something about that cycle is very appealing to me.
At the end of the day, each writer is different and has a different process they work with to satisfy their own creative itch. Personally would become very overwhelmed if I only had a page of my plot, why I can see (and have seen, lol, let my boyfriend look at my plot grid the other day and he was like ‘holy shit’) people becoming very overwhelmed with my detailed construction.