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Welcome to Practice Corner

I am a true believer that you always can learn and grow, in anything you do. And in the case of writing, every time you start a story, it's a blank canvas, and anything can happen. You can play with styles and techniques, because you can go as far as you imagination and the delete button. So, weekly I will post writing tips and exercises to help with your writing.

To start, I chose a topic that, yes it's back to the basics, but I think is a great place to start with winter fests, exchanges and NaNoWriMo -

Plotting

So you looked over a fest and found the perfect prompt, or was bitten by a bunny, and now you're itching to start writing. You sit down at the keyboard, favorite drink by your side, ready to write the next epic story that will have readers running to your creation and ...nothing. Or in my case, too much of everything.

I am not talking about writers block (that is a whole other post) I am talking about not being able to map that story in your head. So what you do? Well go back to plotting it out!

Here is a list of 25 ways to Plot, Plan and Prep your story. It is really interesting and, yes, you will not use all of them, but I bet there is a way that will work for you on that list.

Question: What do you do when plotting your longer stories?

Now for the exercise part. Pick one of the following H/D plots and plot out how you will write it. You don’t have to write it unless you want to, but work on how you will write the story.

AU! Harry and Draco didn’t meet in Hogwarts. Instead, they meet at the Quidditch World Cup as rival seekers

After believing Harry Potter died in the war, Draco Malfoy receives an unusual letter.

Draco’s new neighbor keeps him awake late at night

Draco finally gets the chance to be the knight-in-shining-armor

As a Prefect, Draco discovers Harry out of bed after hours one night

Prompts from http://drarrypromptoftheday.tumblr.com

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Thank you for this. I need all the help/practice I can get. I’m looking forward to more topics and tips!

I shall incorporate this into all the writing I have to do! thank you!

My computer just ate my first response! I assume we are supposed to respond here, but I can repost in our common room if I need to.

My original post was a Draco saves Harry, but as I was planning it out, it is not something that I will be writing or trying to write soon.

Draco finds a strange owl waiting for him. He is surprised because it is from his deceased godfather, Snape. He opens the letter to find out that Snape is in need of his services. and oh my goodness, that is how quickly the bunny hits!

Snape is taking care of Harry. Harry had come back to rescue Snape because of one of the memories (of course not recorded by JK). He had taken draught of living death. Snape and Harry disappear without warning while the rest of the people are celebrating. The two of them bond together, a common bond over the love of Lily. During the course of their stay in healing (the wizarding world believing that the two of them are dead) they become very close (Severitus - which does not mean H/S, but father son - must stress that one). Harry has become ill for some reason. Snape goes to the one person that he knows would have access to certain books that may help Harry heal. It may be a reaction to no longer having a horcrux within his body.

Draco meets with Snape and finds out what he needs. He scours his library looking for a cure for what he believe is wrong is Harry. Draco rushes in (to save the day - combining prompts here) and finds Harry. Draco helps to bring him back. He is surprised at the strong relationship between Harry and Snape. Eventually, happily ever after. Depending on how long we want it to be, I can add in a special bonding ceremony as a way of settling the missing link - Harry needs another to bond with so that his magic/health is stabilized.

cyn/slytherin

Edited 2013-09-07 16:22 (UTC)

I don't really plot my fics... Or, I use the techniques the link calls 'zero draft' and 'in the document as you go'.

Usually, I see a prompt I like, and I think of a scene or a snippet of dialogue that uses it. And that's the starting point that I build my story from.

From the prompts above, I would pick 'Draco finally gets the chance to be the knight-in-shining-armor', because it would make an excellent starting point for a fun and fluffy story and I like writing those.
I would start by thinking about a scene where Draco saves Harry. Preferably something funny, where Draco's inner monologue can be snarky and sarcastic, but also show his reluctant feelings for Harry.
I'd write that scene, and then expand on it.
I'm not very good at elaborate plotting, but reading Stephen King's On Writing made me realise that that's okay. Apparently, his way of plotting is to throw characters into a situation, and then write to see how they solve it. I suppose it's the same thing I'm doing... Except I write fluffy humour, not horror. Oh, and my writing hasn't made me a millionaire.

I honestly am more of an in your head plotter. I'll walk around having conversations between the characters in my mind. I think it's part of why I have such trouble writing descriptions because my fics are very about dialogue. I prefer not to plot out, though, because I like seeing where things go. I feel like I'm very limited if I plot it out and it's where I always get writer's block trying to turn in a story in that direction. I try to keep from plotting out too much.

With really any of those prompts, I'd work it through in my mind. For instance, the new neighbor keeps him up at night, I'd start with how they'd meet. I'd figure out what their first conversation would be, picturing it all in my mind and figure out what they'd say to each other. So, I suppose even though nothing is written down, I do plot. I just don't do it on paper.

Finally find someone who uses the same method to plot! *Hand shakes with

xonceinadream*
The difficulty for me are try to filled the visual descriptions, I'm not those who use visual thinking, even though I draw more than write in fandom now.

While the story is forming, we all need to plot in some stage.

I'll take "Draco’s new neighbor keeps him awake late at night," because it's obvious that the neighbour is Harry, and I automatically assume it's sex noise because of my filthy mind.
No, it would be too predictable and them turn into pwp all the way down. It was mechanical noise. Why did harry do that? He had OCD. What kind of OCD produce so much noise? He felt unsafe even after war. He used both muggle locks and wards with illusion charms, and he tried to improve them every day. (The muggle lock or the wrong attempt of spells produced most noise) Draco, with his wit and intelligence, solved all of it and entered the house. Oh no, Harry must be panic if Draco go straight in. We need them warmed up before the final. Harry seldom went shopping but he still needed it. (didn't trust owl catalog shopping, they were evil.) Draco saw him around in mostly muggle shop and exchanged some conversations. Draco never give him the dubious look of why Harry bought a huge amount of supply(so he didn't need to get out for three weeks). Harry felt safe around him, unlike those cashier who always gave him suspicious look, which made him want to take out the wands. Draco was suspicious but he hid it well. Harry knew he needs help but is too afraid.
Plotting finished! I think it fits in "Draco finally gets the chance to be the knight-in-shining-armor" too.
I want to read the last one! It will be lovely to see Draco in action and solve an enigma.

The first time I get an idea for any story, I write down its summary first. I find that when I'm writing that down, all other ideas jump out at me, and I scribble little notes on a notebook. I usually write the ending first because I tend to have a very clear picture in my mind of how I want the story to go. Once I'm satisfied with that, I write the beginning, but I prefer to let the middle bits write themselves - I just see where they take me. I carry around a little notebook with me out of habit, so if I get a burst of inspiration for the part I'm working on, I can jot it down. I also tend to have "conversations" with my characters in my head, so I can write them with a specific personality in mind.

From the above prompts, I think I'll pick "Harry and Draco didn’t meet in Hogwarts. Instead, they meet at the Quidditch World Cup as rival seekers." because I've never done an AU before. I'd begin by thinking of the direction I want this to go in and plan out the ending - is it happy? hopeful? open-ended? - and then I'd work on the details. Which teams do they play for? If they didn't meet in Hogwarts, does that mean one of them went to a different school? Next would be the meeting - what game do they meet at? The first match, or finals, or even a glimpse of each other at practice? Who would win, and how would they continue on from there (Would someone get asked out already, or would they keep bumping into each other after that? Would there be attraction from the beginning, or would someone have to be transferred to the other team first?). There are endless possibilities!

I think I get what

ashindk is saying. I usually don't try for elaborate plots either. For me, what works is to get a basic frame ready and then build the story as it goes. For example, I can see that the prompt Draco's new neighbor keeps him up at night calls for a lot of snarky dialogue and grumbling on Draco's part. So the humor from this story will be derived by characterization and antics while the actual plot would just write itself.

I'll do that here and try to show you what I mean:

I think I would see it as Draco waking up to some very loud music and his first thought would naturally be Potter- because of course he doesn't spend every waking moment thinking about Potter, it's just that stupid Potter is a lousy neighbor. He assumes Harry is hosting a party and of course that would make him huffier since he wasn't invited, although he'll convince himself that he's only mad because Potter is being so loud. *cue snarky grumbling here*

Of course Draco will try to stop him. At this point, I'd try to insert something really silly for the lulz- like Draco banging a broomstick against the ceiling (this is something the reader can relate to since we've seen it as a commonly used trope on TV or even done it ourselves. But when Draco does it, it's just funnier). This plot point also helps me add a bit of detail because now I have to go back and revise the plot to Harry being Draco's upstairs neighbor, not his next door neighbor- this happens a lot to me. Eventually though, Draco will go pyjama clad and fuming to Harry's place to tear a strip off of him.

Harry will be surprised when he opens the door to a scowling Malfoy, but will immediately step up to the challenge. He's not hosting a party, he's just winding down. He'll defend his right to listen to music on the one night he's not in Auror training and tell Malfoy to put up a Silencing Charm- which is of course a fair and reasonable response. Draco will do no such thing because stupid Potter should have the common decency to play music at reasonable hours instead of acting like a hooligan. At this point, Harry will abandon his attempts at being reasonable and mature because stupid Malfoy always pushes him! These little things build the story and maintain characterizations for me.

The argument would probably devolve into childish name calling- possibly uncalled for comments about Harry's hair and Draco's snitch patterned pyjamas. Draco storms back, only to realize that he's locked himself out of his apartment and his wand is still inside! Oh dear...

A lot of internal monologuing later, he dredges up the courage to go back to Harry, who is initially reluctant to help but surprisingly understanding about the whole thing. Harry then agrees to open up Draco's apartment for him unless *cue eye roving Draco's slim frame* he'd just like to crash here for the night? Draco of course, agrees because...well, it just makes sense of course. Eventual snogging ensues, as do smexy times.

I would end this story with a dash of ironic humour. The boys are in bed- having the time of their lives of course- when all of a sudden, a random irritable voice calls out from the neighbouring house (another neighbour). "Will you lot keep it down in there? For Merlin's sake, it's the middle of the night!"

END.

Wow, this turned out long. But ooh, new plot is ready :)

I don't plot my fics, not really.
I have an idea in my head then I just go with it.

Prompt I shall use: Draco’s new neighbor keeps him awake late at night I usually plan my story out in 15 steps or less

Setting: Draco lives in the Muggle world.
1. Draco sees hunky moving guys and is intrigued.
2. Draco sees Harry moving in and goes to confront him. "Are you spying on me?"
3. Draco sees blokes coming in and out of Harry's flat at all odd hours of the night.
4. Draco makes snidey remarks about it to Harry.
5. Harry claims Draco is being jealous. Draco scoffs and walks away. Finds a bloke to prove to Harry that he's not jealous.
6. Something happens where Harry and Draco end up working together, stuck in the same room.
7. Draco begins to like Harry.
8. Draco does get jealous.
9. Draco throws a fit about the fact that Harry is too loud in his flat. Too many loud parties.
10. Harry and Draco have a fight.
11. Draco begins dating someone to take his mind off Harry.
12. Harry stumbles into Draco's flat drunk, ready to confront him.
13. Harry wakes up on Draco's sofa and doesn't remember what happened.
14. Draco tells Harry he likes him and that he was using a bloke to make Harry jealous.
15. They kiss / shag / shower together. Depending on my mood.

THE END.

15. They kiss / shag / shower together. Depending on my mood.

or all three if we are lucky.

It's funny because I just posted my thoughts about writing in a recent post (http://slashedsilver.livejournal.com/11803.html).

I tend to have difficulties with plotting because my brain works in a very direct manner -- I want to get Characer A to Place B. So the whole fic works towards that, and is usually centered around one main idea. So usually there's a main scene in my head, or a very general idea that I encapsulate into a few keywords. For a

mini_fest fic that I had been plotting, I planned out everything, because it seemed like it was going to need a slow relationship build and some sort of plotting, and it seemed impossible to "go with the flow" as I tend to do (I tend to write scenes haphazardly as they occur to my brain). However, what happened was that I lost all motivation to write the fic in the end! Backfired.

Since I seem to have typed a whole bunch of contradictions in the paragraph above, I figured I might as well try the prompt and see how I actually do think.

Prompt: Draco finally gets the chance to be the knight-in-shining-armor.

Great! What happens to lead Harry to be stuck in some kind of situation he can't get out of? Is it going to be angsty, life-threatening type? Or shall I go with something fluffy? I feel like I'm in a fluffy mood, so I'll go with the second one. So obviously Harry is stuck in a tricky situation, that doesn't need to be life-threatening. And indeed, does it need to be Harry? I feel like making him a bunny -- but no, that's a bit too close to the other animal-transformation fics there are out there.

So through this situation, I need Harry to see Draco in a different light. He sees that he's caring, has an incredibly soft spot (my head canon is that Draco is a marshmallow), and I like that scene so much I think I'll write it first: Harry watching (unnoticed) as Draco tends to... all right, a soft bunny rabbit who has perhaps hurt its paw. Why is Draco tending to it? Maybe he feels lost and lonely since returning to Hogwarts for Eighth Year (I love Eighth Year). Maybe Harry's noticed and that's why he's continued his Malfoy-watching. Maybe before this we'll have several scenes of Harry watching Malfoy suspiciously -- then confusedly -- then ohnoeshelikeshim! Then the question is, how do we get Harry to approach Malfoy without Malfoy putting his guard up?

All right, I've realised it: I tend to write around my scene rather than plot it out from start to finish. I also realise I'm not much about the plot as I am about the feels. Maybe that's why I struggle so much with coming up with an intelligent plot.

This reminds me of the meet in the middle plotting. You number a page out to 15 and then plot out the first scene, then you jump down to the bottom figure out the ending. They back to the top for 2 and then down to 14 until you meet in the middle.

Because I knew there was no way my answer to this question would fit in comment (other than to say: I use Dramatica), I made a post. Then it was too big (I think it was all the code though) for one post, and then too big for two posts.

How I Plot My Longer Stories:

Plot Progression (http://stephaniejo84.livejournal.com/12502.html)
Plot, Theme, Genre (http://stephaniejo84.livejournal.com/12225.html)
Characters and Illustration (http://stephaniejo84.livejournal.com/11941.html) (If you later planned on asking about characters, or really any of the things I'm listing here—no worries, I didn't go into detail on any of them just on how I plot them.)
Weaving (http://stephaniejo84.livejournal.com/11676.html)
The End (http://stephaniejo84.livejournal.com/11392.html)

That was a great article to read; thanks for sharing.

I use the zero draft method on a white board. If I'm writing for a fest, as soon as I confirm my prompt, I get out my whiteboard and just write whatever comes to mind with no structure for an hour. For the rest of the day, I go on with RL, but if inspiration strikes, I write on the board. The next morning, I start scratching out what doesn't work and keep adding new things. On the third day, I type whatever is left on the board and form a tentative outline before I start writing. I tend to write scene by scene before stitching them together and making sure the story flows. It doesn't always work, but at least it's a starting place.

I picked: After believing Harry Potter died in the war, Draco Malfoy receives an unusual letter..

My thought process: My first question is what is Draco's relationship with Harry? Are they still enemies, friends, lovers? I think it's important to establish what they are to each other, or at least have it in the back of your mind.

For this particular prompt I ask: How and why does Draco believe that Harry died in the war? What does the letter say? Is it from Harry? How does he receive the letter? Howler, email, owl post, normal post? Then I think about what his social status is in the fic because it affects what he does with the letter. If he's an outcast, then he's limited in what he can do. Or did he get along with Harry, thus allowing him to show the letter to Ron and Hermione and ask for their opinion?

Once Draco makes a decision and demonstrates why he cares to the reader, then I start writing.

I don't usually write super long things, so my plotting usually consists of 'how can I get these two or more characters to shag!'
Yes, I am shameless! XD

My detailed plotting usually consists of an outline of sorts or some detailed notes or a list of points to hit.

Of your prompts, of course the ones that speak to me are the two that my mind equates with porn! XD

As a Prefect, Draco discovers Harry out of bed after hours one night
- Draco keeps hearing strange wanking/sex noises
- He gets turned on
- He decides to invesitgate
- He discovers Harry in a compromising position
- Smut ensues!

TADA!

I love to read long stories though and I love to read about how people plot and plan! This is a great post and great topic for the first practice corner :D

Wow! this is really interesting! I love your process!

"... just write whatever comes to mind with no structure for an hour. For the rest of the day, I go on with RL, but if inspiration strikes, I write on the board. The next morning, I start scratching out what doesn't work and keep adding new things. On the third day, I type whatever is left on the board and form a tentative outline before I start writing. "

OH! What a brilliant idea!

"The first time I get an idea for any story, I write down its summary first."

I need to try this! Then the hard work of writing a summary would already be done too! <3

" because it's obvious that the neighbour is Harry, and I automatically assume it's sex noise because of my filthy mind."

LOL yes to all of this! :D

Meg/Slytherin

What do you do when plotting your longer stories?
Usually I start with an idea, and develop it into a summary. If my summary/prompt can't be put into at least 3 whole sentences then I almost always don't plot; it's always a smaller story and really doesn't help with a plot. If it is over 3 sentences, I start with an outline, and usually plot out the major points first, and then fill in the smaller things... If it's a sex scene I just write that, and then let my characters lead me around. If it's a major plot point, I'll go back after I think I have all the small plot points and elaborate on them...usually this gives me even more major points. By this time I'll have a full outline and am ready to write. As the characters dictate to me, I might also add in some smaller plot points.

Unfortunately, if I was using one of the prompts, my plot would be very short, if plotted at all. For Draco’s new neighbor keeps him awake late at night I might have written that and then Harry playing music/having sex...and then Draco interrupts and results in more sex. That would have been my plot and then I'd have written the story. I'm weird like that. I let my characters have quite a bit of say in where I go, especially in sex scenes.

Recently I came up with a prompt for a new big bang that I'm writing. The prompt was: Harry runs into Scorpius Malfoy at a BDSM club, and Harry thinking Scorpius is just having a little fun decides to push Scorpius' boundaries. Scorpius quickly disabuses him of the notion. Afterwards, knowing that I wanted to make this into at least 12k of a story, I wrote a proper summary, with a hint of a huge plot twist. This is what I came up with: Harry, a long time dominant, literally runs into Scorpius Malfoy at a bdsm club. Harry is not pleased to see the Malfoy scion and thinks he's just there for a little fun. Scorpius quickly convinces him that he's there for so much more than just one fun little time, and he finds so much more than he originally thought he would at the club, including a dark secret that Harry has kept to himself for quite a while!

(My comment is too long for just one, so I'm breaking it here and posting the second half as a reply below this.)

(second half) Meg/Slytherin

From that summary I'm able to come up with a decent plot outline that I can use to write a 12k word fic, compared to a 1-2k word fic. My major plot point outline would consist of: Introduction, Harry bumping into Scorpius, Harry brings Scorpius home with him for the first time, The dark secret revealed, Ending/possible collaring ceremony. (Sorry those are done in bulleted points but I don't know how to do that on here!) After that I'd fill in the small plot points and this is what I'm left with:
Introduction
Harry background/owner of the club/how he got from the war or epilogue to a dominant at bdsm club/possible hint at ‘the dark thing’
Scorpius background/mouthy little brat personality/going to Harry’s club for a little fun/possibly witnessing some things; good and bad
Harry bumping into Scorpius
Introduction to the club/the stations, places, in the club/possibly a scene
The accident
Harry’s surprise and attitude toward Scorpius
More of Scorpius’ mouthy attitude/him on his knees on the floor and offering to suck Harry off or something similar
Harry putting Scorpius in his place…this place is not for a fun time
Possibly Harry either doing a scene with Scorpius trying to get him out of his ‘fun idea’ or showing him a scene
If scene play happens then Scorpius’ reactions, and Harry sending him home to think
Scorpius comes back for more
Scorpius comes back to the club, at first without Harry knowing
Scorpius gets Harry to do a scene/another scene
Harry sends him away again and this time with a plan to see each other again
Scorpius comes back to the club and meets with Harry for another scene
Scorpius meets with Harry at least two more times, possibly once outside of the club
If outside scene, how the public reacts/Draco/Harry’s family
Harry brings Scorpius home with him for the first time
Possible Scorpius POV/his impression of Harry’s house/the play room
The scene/sex
Aftercare/Harry’s bedroom
Scorpius waking up/Scorpius questioning Harry
The dark secret revealed
How Harry started in the bdsm scene/how Harry became a dominant/possibly Harry’s trials in being a submissive
Harry meeting the other guy/their roles in the relationship/the scene between them
(Redacted due to spoilers)
Harry’s spell
Harry’s guilt/possible fallout from (Redacted due to spoilers)
Harry sending Scorpius home to consider his options
Ending/possible collaring ceremony
The next meeting between Harry and Scorpius
Scorpius’ decision
Sex scene
Possible collaring ceremony

The main plot points are the ones in bold, with the small plot points following. As I start writing, and find where my characters want to take me, all the possibles will become either scenes in the fic which would be described better in the outline or removed entirely from the outline.

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