My new plotting method

I have discovered a plotting method that so far has been very helpful for me. This is based on a video by Brandon Sanderson I watched. (I can share it if anyone wants to watch it.)

I created this template:

Setting
Physical Setting
Cultural Setting
Characters
Main Characters
[Character]
Arc
Side Characters
Plot
General Conflicts
[Main Character Specific Conflicts]

So, what I do is under physical setting you just describe everything about the physical world (which is basically everything that would be there even if there were no people.) Under cultural setting, you basically describe everything else setting related.

Under characters you have separate subheadings for main and minor characters. For your main characters, you put a subheading for their arc. You list the ultimate result for each aspect of their character arc. Then you can do bullet points under each result to show the steps. Then you can put any other subheadings you want under the character and fill out those sections. (Personality, history, etc.) For minor characters, you can just do a paragraph or so for them.

For plot, you list all the conflicts in the story (I have a separate section for character specific conflicts) and the results of all of those conflicts. Then, just like with the character arcs, you can use bullet points to list the steps towards those results.

You can add any sections you want to the outline as you need them.

When it comes to actually writing it, what you can do is look at your list of conflicts and choose a few bullet points to do. This lets you see your progress through each of the conflicts in your story.

Hope this is helpful for people!

Tags: @highscribeofaetherium @savannah_grace2009 @rae … (Idk who else might be interested.)