How do you write a coherent story whose plot doesn’t drift off course? Plots usually drift because you didn’t plan what the work should look like in advance. Utsudo suggests first choosing the big direction (such as history, romance or fantasy), then deciding the tone—you can even categorize your work with tags. Next, develop your characters and set an outline. With a skeleton in place you can fill in the details, and as long as you stay true to your outline, the plot is unlikely to stray.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Now and then I hear people say things like this:

“Weird, I meant to write a lighthearted story. How did it turn into horror…”

“I meant to write a short story. How am I at 70,000 characters and still can’t wrap it up?”

Why does a plot drift as you write?

I think many beginners run into this. I did too when I started. My very first story in elementary school had no plan at all: it went from fantasy to isekai, then from isekai to romance, and in the end even sci-fi and the supernatural showed up.

It crossed that many genres in just over 100,000 characters. Naturally, the messy thing couldn’t go on and was abandoned.

This happens because you haven’t thought through what the work should roughly look like. Conversely, it can be solved by planning ahead and outlining first.

If you have these problems too, your plan for the work may not be clear enough—you haven’t found the thread that guides your main plot yet. So what you need to do now is make your story’s background and settings clear.

Decide your genre and big direction first

Ask yourself: what kind of work do I want to write this time?

If you still have no idea, look at how other websites categorize works and settle on a big direction first—history, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural and so on. Think about which category makes up the largest share of your work.

Decide how to present it and its tone

Then think: how will you present it?

There are many genres and countless ways to present them. A romance-centered story could be lighthearted, or sad and melancholy. A historical story could be heavy, or have a parodic flavor. Try imagining what style the story in your mind has.

Or think in terms of tags, like #romance #comedy #cute, categorizing your work up front. Creating is wonderfully free, but until you know your own process, finding some way to set boundaries will make it easier to handle and help you gradually gain skill.

Set an outline to keep the plot coherent

Usually, once you have these ideas, you develop the characters, direction, tone and so on. Once the characters appear, the outline tends to fall into place naturally, and a title often comes to mind as well.

In other words, once these are decided, set an outline. Whether you like super-detailed outlines or ones with only the key turning points, both work. With a skeleton in place, fill in the gaps and gradually complete the work.

After that, as long as you stay true to the outline you drew up, you shouldn’t run into serious plot drift.

If you still do, then you really are beyond saving (X

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Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #118: Maybe Stories Need a More Effective Way to Be Discovered
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.