I've been thinking about my plans for my fanfic works-in-progress, and it
led me
to ponder a simple but valid question: How do you plan out a good fanfic?

Define "Good."   :)

There are undoubtably as many answers to this one as there are authors.  Or
possibly more; I'm sure there are plenty of authors who use more than one
"method."

My preference is to start with a beginning and a firm ending in mind, and
(as far as possible) let the middle take care of itself.  As long as I'm
making progress toward the ending I want, I'm generally not too worried
about the route it takes.

However, that sort of approach isn't really sufficient for large, complex
'fics.  I didn't use any kind of outline for my first 'fic, "Recessional",
but I did have to outline "Autumn and Spring" because I was having too many
ideas that I wanted to fit in, to be able to remember them all.

(For those who may be interested, the working outlines for "Autumn and
Spring" can be found at
<http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/fanfic/as_prod.txt>.  It may be the
height of hubris to post one's outlines, or it may actually be useful to
someone ... you decide.)

I didn't find it necessary to work much with character outlines or guides,
because I was already pretty familiar with the people I was working with.

My current project, "Sailor Moon 4200," is planned to be considerably
larger yet.  It's outlined in quite a lot of detail, and I've spent a lot
of time creating characters in some detail.  However ... I'm doing my best
not to outline things _too_ much.  That (for me) would be a straightjacket,
and the actual writing process would be tedious in the extreme.

So I would say the ultimate answer is ... outline as much as you need to in
order to keep the story going where you want.  But don't tie yourself down
too far.  Give yourself room to keep creating.

Cheers,
Angus


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angus MacSpon                                                Allen Gainsford
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/          http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/