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 I am overplotting my story - how can I figure out what is necessary and cut out what isn't?

Who says it’s too complicated, with too many characters? Would you tell that to Tolstoy or Tolkien or Martin? Either way, what’s the absolutely basic outline? “Boy meets girl” sounds too extreme f...

posted 6y ago by Robbie Goodwin‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:43:53Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35949
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Robbie Goodwin‭ · 2019-12-08T08:43:53Z (over 4 years ago)
Who says it’s too complicated, with too many characters? Would you tell that to Tolstoy or Tolkien or Martin?

Either way, what’s the absolutely basic outline? “Boy meets girl” sounds too extreme for me but “there’s this character, who does that thing, which leads to this outcome…”

When “does that thing” is “goes on a quest” then at this level, that’s enough. The quest might involve three or 27 adventures; that’s irrelevant detail.

Assuming you’re working towards an outcome - else, no story - how is that measured against your starting conditions? What changes; how does it change and why?

Look more obviously at _Arabian Nights_ or more obscurely at _Ancient Evenings_ and notice how easily irrelevant side-lines cab be woven into any story… and how, just as easily, they could be cut out.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-05-06T15:11:30Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 1