Maybe I am clueless, but help me understand something.

Quick Question: Honestly, I’ve hear people mention this, but how does one just write a whole page long plot for a story or two?

Like when I write a plot, it is a single paragraph or two. Are you trying to understand the entire story or something?

Am I just lost on how writer writes an entire plot to a story for one whole page or two?

Can someone explain that to me?

I am aware that not all writers do this, but some do and I am curious.

Maybe I was taught that a plot should be short and to the point, but honestly I don’t know anymore and that feels a bit like a blurb.

I don’t write blurbs, but I do take a bit from book summaries that are found on the back of the book or in the flap of the book cover.

So, I am lost and might want to change things with my plot for future stories.

Is the page long plot made like an outline or not really?
Thoughts and feelings? Can anyone help me understand a bit?

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.

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Short stories?
What are you trying to say exactly?

Forgive my slowness.

my bad, i am overtired and misread this as being about how people can write entire stories only a page long! sorry!

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That is alright.

You can come back to better answer when you are fully awake.

:sweat_smile: :grin:

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.

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That is the issue. My stories are very complex and don’t even have a subplot(s) in it.

Has there ever been a novel that DIDN’T have a subplot or more?

I doubt such a novel exist.

Maybe you should play around with some subplots then? :person_shrugging:

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Honestly, I don’t get subplots.

Like I just don’t understand the point of them…sorta.

I just write based on plot and that is it.

I guess I don’t know when a subplot will need to come into the story, so that is why I don’t get it that much.

I am very blind to things like that.

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.

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I suppose so.
I just want to understand when I need to toss in a subplot and what that would even look like.

I can’t really call myself a “true” writer since I am still ignorant to basic things and I’ve been writing on and off since eight or nine years old.

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

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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.

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Do audiobooks count in that regard since for me to physically read a novel is NOT happening?!

You could probably do it with an audio book too, yes.

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Thanks a bunches!

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Outline, huh?

Interesting.

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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.

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Am-am I really that obvious?! :flushed: :sweat_smile:

Dot points :+1:

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