Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How do you visualize plot structure?

As I've answered elsewhere I use sequence diagrams to map non-fiction (design) stories. Let us assume that I want to write a story about me and my mapmaking obsession. Then I would start like: ...

posted 9y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:32:21Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/18279
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:32:21Z (almost 5 years ago)
As I've answered [elsewhere](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l54qr.jpg) I use sequence diagrams to map non-fiction (design) stories.

Let us assume that I want to write a story about me and my mapmaking obsession. Then I would start like: ![My mapmaking story](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l54qr.jpg)

_(if the diagram is not readable you can download the diagram and open it with a picture viewer)_

On the top and bottom row are the story's actors and participants (humans, object, places, moments in time etcetera, or the **who** , the **what** and the **where** ). The arrows visualize the activities (the **how** ) between the participants. You read the sequence diagram top-down following the arrows in sequence (the **when** ). You can put notes in the diagram to explain the **why** or for other things which need attention or to give more detail on the who, what, were, when or how.

I use [PlantUML](http://www.plantuml.com/) as a tool because it allows me to write my diagram. That way I can combine the diagram with other story ideas or even the first story draft in one simple text file

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2015-07-19T07:39:41Z (over 9 years ago)
Original score: 4