I don’t know wordlengths, whatever the story length, whether a one-shot or a multichapter story, I usually have a plot outline. For multi-chapter stories, each chapter is summarized in eighteen lines each. For one-shots, the line length and number of paragraphs are far more varying, to do with scene or theme change. I usually summarize things in a balance between being specific enough to know where I’m going, but vague enough to have wiggle room for creativity. Sometimes I got very specific to make a point clear and go vague because I don’t know what’ll happen. Sometimes vaguing can trip me up (choreographing fight scenes AAAAH!) but other times it does allow me to make some great things up on the spot.
As an example of how I plot and summarize my stories, here’s my outline for Familial Tour:
Summary: When Bron and Shorty make their first visit to the Great Valley, Littlefoot is delighted to introduce them to his friends and the amazing sights. With two new companions and old and new tensions, shall this tour go as smoothly as Littlefoot hopes?
Story Goals: Have Bron and Shorty get to know and better appreciate Littlefoot’s accomplishments and his friends. Get along with friends. Shorty better fits into the family. Story
Summary: Littlefoot’s on his way to play with his friends when he notices a commotion. He’s delighted to see Bron and Shorty leading the herd in. He nuzzles Bron and then Shorty, which embarrasses the latter. The grandparents greet them and help marshal the herd in what would be done in their stay. Some mutter about Bron just favoring his son but Bron said there are genuine positives to stopping in the Great Valley. Shorty was pleased to be welcomed by the grandparents. Littlefoot had a quiet conversation about how to introduce Ruby and especially Chomper. Littlefoot puts it off until later, worrying about how Bron will take to other dinosaurs. Cera and the others arrive, offering to leave Littlefoot with his family but Littlefoot insists they come along.
They meet Topsy, Tria, and Tricia. Bron and Topsy have a brief verbal scuffle over the validity of the longneck migration but Bron smooths it over by cooing over Tricia. Cera brings up Tria being her stepmother to Shorty. The gang’s adventures and tangling with Redclaw get brought up. Mama Flyer comes along and she and Bron briefly commiserate on the difficulty of being a single parent. Petrie returns informing the gang he couldn’t track Ruby and Chomper. Littlefoot decides to play it by ear as an apology to Petrie. Shorty finds the gang’s behavior suspicious but says nothing. Littlefoot got reassured he didn’t need to press himself so much in the tour. Bron and Mama Swimmer talk about adoption, Spike’s delight over their parents making Shorty feel better. They decide to get a view of the valley when Ruby and Chomper arrive.
Littlefoot allows the pair to decide to meet Bron and Shorty while Littlefoot prepares his family for the reveal. They are still shocked by Chomper and Ruby. Some innocent comments from Chomper about “pest control” cause tension but the others move to their defense. Chomper and Ruby offer to lead the route to the valley view. Littlefoot had a quiet conversation with Bron and Shorty about why he’s friends with the pair, Bron and Shorty thinking the pair were deceptive and their needs presented a danger, Littlefoot assuring the pair were good, how his mother’s death influenced his friendship with Chomper, and filling in some of their past. Guilty when Littlefoot breaks down, Bron and Shorty decide to give Ruby and Chomper a chance.
They get some great views, mentioning the many dangers the valley had. Shorty wryly says the Valley wasn’t as safe as said. The gang point out the valley, though sometimes at each other’s throats, worked together to survive these disasters. The gang expresses exasperation in the adventures they get into but stick by Littlefoot. The valley and the gang’s example make Bron consider integrating his herd one day. Shorty wondered when he could made such a contribution.
After a few more stops, they decide to pause the tour and play hide and seek. While they hide, Littlefoot asked Ducky for advice on how to act around adoptive brothers. Just as Bron found them, Littlefoot slides down to a steam shooter are and Chomper tackled him out of the way of a steam shooter. Bron rescued Chomper and Littlefoot. Bron warms up to Chomper. He does the same for Ruby after finding her and Petrie, where they talk about her learning interests. Shorty talks with Cera and Spike, learning it was okay to find to both like Littlefoot and find him annoying. They plot how to get back at Littlefoot.
With Ruby suggesting they use Bron’s tail as a slid, Cera and Shorty step in to suggest the risk of falling into a nearby mud put. The others slide down Bron’s tail and enjoy themselves. With Spike pretending to be stuck in the mud, Shorty and Cera offer to help Littlefoot pull Spike out. Teasing Littlefoot, they shove him into the mud. Happy Shorty was happy, Littlefoot laughed, and a mud fight ensued, briefly paused when Shorty struck Chomper. He was relieved to find Chomper laugh and join in the fun. Shorty throws mud at Bron to invite him into the game and Bron send a wave of mud at the gang. They are stunned but fall over laughing.
Bidding a warm farewell to Cera and the others, Littlefoot, Bron, and Shorty return to the grandparents. Bron briefly goes to have a meeting with his herd about whether to go through the valley or not in the future. Shorty reassured Littlefoot he understood why the latter chose to stay in the valley, even joking he could have Bron to himself. Though nervous, Littlefoot is delighted when Bron return with news the herd was more receptive to stopping here as part of their migratory route. Though Bron and Shorty could only stay for a few days, Littlefoot assures they could make the most of that time. With the grandparents were invited, the family trade humorous stories and enjoy each other’s company.
To Edit: When Littlefoot decides not to tell Bron and Shorty about Ruby and Chomper with his grandparents, hint at more selfish intentions. When they meet with the family of Littlefoot’s friends, have the parents mention even in passing the good Littlefoot’s done. Thus, not only would Bron and Shorty become closer to Cera and the others but the same would happen for Littlefoot, whose pride would rise. So when Ruby and Chomper come around, there would be a blowup that centers a bit more on Littlefoot’s judgement which had been so praised. Plot and Character Threads
- Littlefoot’s nervous about Bron interacting with other dinosaurs, fearing he would have some subtle prejudices, but that fear goes away as he interacts with the others’ parents. He wants Bron to approve of his life and doesn’t want to disappoint him, so when Ruby and Chomper go around, it’s a bit of a shock.
- Bron genuinely enjoys seeing Littlefoot’s home and friends, and does his best to ingratiate himself with others. Though he worried about the adventures Littlefoot gets in, he sees they make Littlefoot happy and doesn’t want to rock the bout. That gets challenged when Ruby and Chomper show up. He must struggle with his distrust and trusting Littlefoot and wanting them to be happy.
- Shorty struggles with being fond of Littlefoot, wanting to express his gratitude, and being jealous of him. He doesn’t want to rock the boat but learns through Cera and Spike it’s okay to be somewhat himself by teasing Littlefoot (Even if he can’t be fully honest about his feelings). He does appreciate the others trying to ingratiate them into the family but the sight of what Littlefoot and his friends have still inspires some envy.
- Littlefoot does his best to ingratiate himself so Shorty would be comfortable, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. Ducky gives him advice and he decides to follow it when Shorty and Cera prank him, believing that’s one aspect of siblinghood – playing mischief on each other. Shorty would find this both touching and annoying.
Note that after I write the story, I sometimes go back and adjust the outline to put it more in alignment of the story I wrote. Those Editing Notes were to myself as I reviewed and rewrite things, though I wasn’t always faithful to them. The Story Goals were basically what the character’s going to learn and/or accomplish in the story, which’s usually written before I start plotting and writing
As for how much I plan…I usually complete the plot outline like above before I start writing. I often check back on the outline to refresh my memory as I write but I as often write the story from memory and things can deviate. I do have some idea for many of the plots and the goals for each lead character, but sometimes I have to elaborate on things and come up with goals for the other characters. For example, as I’ve been writing a future chaptered LBT story, Mr. Threehorn’s character path became clearer and more elaborated as I went along.
Sometimes, a scene or chapter grabs me so much I’d jump ahead and write it. Though it’d be redone later, it does clarify things like location, where and when characters should be, and make me discover part of characters I didn’t think before. Might as well get the energy and mood of a scene done now without worrying about forgetting it later.
And speaking of that, when I do my one or two pages per day, I often write what’s going to happen next in brackets so I wouldn’t forget and keep up some of the momentum. I came up with that after being on a roll, knowing where I’m going, and coming back the next day not knowing what was going to happen next. This is how I’ve done it for Familial Tour:
[Cera told him not to be ashamed. Her friends and family annoy her all the time yet she still loved them. The issue was to find a way to deal with it. Spike nodded with agreement. Shorty was surprised at such honesty. He wasn’t sure if he could be that honest yet he saw he could both love and be annoyed by his loved ones. He wondered what he was supposed to do about those feelings. Cera whispered up a plan that Shorty liked and Spike giggled along. A few minutes later, Bron would discover them.
While Shorty took advantage of Littlefoot apologizing to Petrie, he accidentally struck, Chomper. He froze, wary. But Chomper laughed and Ruby slung mud at Shorty in “revenge.” As Shorty engaged Littlefoot in a brotherly brawl, Littlefoot thought he fit right in, bringing energy and passion into a family of even-keeled temperaments.]
I'm still not good with deadlines. Still trying to have a steadier schedule so I can actually post stuff on a more regular basis. But as I write but often while writing later chapters, there's something that ends up not working or can be improved in the earlier chapters I want to fix.
As for where I get my ideas from…often times, I forget. For those times I do, I sometimes take a concept from other shows and twist them to serve my purpose. Often times, it’s Doctor Who and it’s spinoffs, which weirdly have a few things in common with LBT than first thought. I also get ideas from trailers, which are different from the show. For example, an audio drama trailer about a conspiracy speaker can be twisted to Littlefoot and a huffy Mr. Thicknose meet a conspiracy speaker or Littlefoot and his grandparents listening to a story speaker whose tales weirdly twist minds and/or the environment. Don’t know if I’ll ever write that, but those ideas occur to me as I consume other media.
To write dialogue, I often watch those other shows to imitate their mood and speaking beats because that’s the mood and beats I want in my stories. For LBT, I most often go to Doctor Who and the Tales Of video game series, the former because I like how characters speak and interact and the latter because I can be a bit grim a times and I think the cute, silly banter in Tales skits gives the gang some welcome in-character lighter moments.
Anyway, I hope this was helpful and coherent. It’s what I do to write.
