At 09:17 AM 2/24/98 -0500, Doug Murphy wrote:

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?

Do you make an outline of the whole fic and stick to it like crazy glue?

Do you

just come up with an enemy that the characters from the anime have to face

and

work out the plot as you go?  How do *you* decide how the plot unravels in

your

storylines.

(Well, you asked...)

I don't write much in the way of fic (one or two projects in the
background) but I really think this question applies to any sort of
not-for-profit hobby writing...so, well, here's how I tackle my
(semi-weekly) extremely scribbly comic book (The Umgurai Saga, see my sig
if you really care...and act 26 is a good starting point)...

<pause for thought>

Er.  Well, this is harder to think of than it looks.  For me, end-product
writing is a bit like...compost.  Yeah.  Almost any issue of Umgurai is
technically in planning for months, maybe years...ideas that occur to me in
odd moments, or on walks, or when I'm at the doctor's office (today, for
example) get filed away and allowed to build up for a while.  The actual
word I tend to use in discussion is "percolate" which makes the comparison
to compost all the more interesting (sorry, coffee lovers).  

When I think I've got enough raw material that's on similar notes to make a
story, I'll throw together a loose plot for the story in my head, and then
let -that- percolate for at least a day or two...on a weekly schedule,
though, it can be months before a story pops out of the percolator and into
production.  Either way, I do a rather longish plotsummary before I begin
drawing, for several reasons.  One, I get all my ideas down on paper so
when I start drawing I don't miss anything...Two, having a plot written out
helps me spot inconsistencies and just plain lame stories...Three, I can
send this plotsum to my prereaders and they can spot any severe problems.

Once I've got a plot that looks really workable, then I'm ready to start
drawing.  Umgurai is a sort-of-set 6-page format, and occasionally I need a
bit of filler or a little less material....this is where the stock of spare
ideas comes in especially handy, as throwaway gags, foreshadowy cutscenes,
and, most of all, stuff I suddenly realize ought to be in the issue, all
appear.

Anyway, that's the procedure.  Couple of quick examples if my as-usual
foggy prose has lost you...here's a thingy I cut-and-pasted off the web a
while ago that I simply -must- use one of these days:

|

L O N D O N,   Jan. 27 - Today, Toy maker Lego unveiled the world's first
thinking child's building brick.

The Danish company launched an intelligent brick equipped with a
micro-computer that will enable children to design, build and program their
own robots.

The manufacturer of interlocking plastic building bricks used by children
all over the world unveiled products it dubbed "a new generation of
intelligent construction toys and learning tools for children" and
incorporating computer technology. 

|

Yeah, that's right.  Cyber-Legos.  Well, I thought it was funny....

And here's one of those plotsums (sorry for the length):

|

Eric is in homeroom, hanging around with some people.  Wrathborne comes on
the announcements talking about how they'll all have to work hard to make
up for all the school time lost by having 'vacation.'  As Eric tunes her
out, he notices Quartz isn't here.  Where is Quartz?  This is the subject
of our story.
Cut to Podunk-22, where Quartz is standing at a pay phone and making good
progress in rewiring it to get around the operator's droning message about
a state of emergency.  At that moment, he sees a giant figure wearing a
helmet step around a mountain.  A quick scan reveals it to be�a supersized
version of Bosco, who Quartz recalls as being a Tipsco associate and the
Technology sub teacher of some time ago.  And at THAT moment, a rather
dull-looking woman, holding a picture of him (the one from the yearbook
last year, if you like) drives up and tosses him in the car, then speeds
off.  After some pleasantries, Quartz produces a card reading, "Podunk-22,
WY.  33rd and Main.  Be here now: 9:15, January 5, 1998."  When Major
Katsusand explains that his father sent for him, Quartz declares, simply,
"In that case, I want out."  But at THAT moment, they drive into a tunnel
and come out on a platform in front of a giant robot head.  Intrigued,
Quartz jumps out and stands facing the robot, and then starts critiquing
its design (A horn?  What's THAT for?)  At that moment, a window opens to
reveal Gendou Von Quartz.  "It's been a while."  "Not long enough, but good
morning.  I trust you have a reason for summoning me to this backwater
borough?"  Gendou quickly outlines the situation: A giant monster is
attacking the city, and only Matthew can pilot the robot against it.
Quartz is about to say that's the most absurd thing he's ever heard, but
then he realizes just how much he can learn by examining the robot up
close, and agrees.
Plugsuited, Quartz continues his superhuman analyzations within the entry
plug even as it fills up with a mysterious fluid and the robot takes off.
Facing off against Bosco (and achieving perfect synchronization), he
switches on the external speakers and starts asking him what he thinks he's
doing.  Bosco gets defensive and proclaims that -he- was the one arrested
illegally by NARF agents, who were going to wire him into some sort of
weird machine.  He activated his super-sizer-upper mode to escape, but now
they're attacking him with all sorts of weird weapons. Quartz ponders, and
tells him to hold on a second.  He calls up the NARF videorecords in his
plug and determines it all to be true.  He then leans over and begins
whispering a plan into Bosco's ear.  The overgrown schemer nods, then
shrinks back down.  About this point, Gendou asks Matthew what he thinks
he's doing, and Quartz states plainly that he's following his orders---to
protect the world from those who threaten its safety.  With that, he
cleverly triggers a seemingly accidental series of computer events, which
result in the ejection of the entry plug and the self-destruction of the
unit.  On the ground, Quartz, dripping LCL, simply smirks as he mentally
decides that disarming the obviously corrupt organization of NARF---and his
father---more than outweighs the cost of paying for Evangeliist, which with
the hacking he's done probably won't have to be paid anyway.
In the dark room, the holograms of Tipsco and the mysterious masked leader
are joined by some other shadowy chaps and Gendou Von Quartz, who is
explaining in totally meaningless terms why the loss of the robot is only a
minor setback, and that it would disrupt too much of the committee's
internal dealings to fire him anyway.  Tipsco nods solemnly, and the others
reluctantly agree.  End.


|

If you read the issue that this story was made into ("The Unfamiliar
SEELE-ing"), it's plain that I don't think it's important to stick rigidly
to a plotsum.  I removed the Misato bit entirely (couldn't draw her, and it
didn't offer that much outside of budget Eva reference) and shifted some
bits around where things got corny or hard-to-explain.  Fortunately my
prereaders caught some out-of-character bits in the plotsum, and those,
too, were cleaned up for the final story.

Oh, and you may notice I use a rather odd, almost conversational, style in
my plotsums.  That's just how I am. 

So, to summarize...let ideas gather, let ideas percolate, form story, let
story percolate, do plotsum, throw plotsum to prereaders, revise mentally,
do actual fic.

Gah, that was lengthy.

---Addison, leaving you standing here a long long time ago

 Check out the Umgurai Saga, my classic comic-book creation, at my web page!
 http://www.avana.net/~agodel/index.htm 
"If they ever get a temperature below Absolute Zero...I don't know what
would happen!" -- A Teacher
"Something is wrong when the first answer on your Algebra II homework is
"gastric juice." --- Me