Welcome to the second installment of the Fan-Fiction Club: Plot-Building! There are a multitude of advice available to writers concerning plot development on the Internet, although you will have to do a more general search and adapt the advice to fit Sailor Moon fan-fiction and role-playing. The plot is one of the key elements to your story or role-play, because this is what will draw in your reader and allow them to understand why the characters behave the way they do.

There are just as many ways of constructing a plot as there are results in  a Google search for "Plot Development". You will likely have to adapt your own 'best practice', but a great way to try out a few different methods would be to write a short story.

Let's go over a few pieces of advice.

• If your plot is disorganized, then your story is also likely to be disorganized, difficult to follow, and it may have noticeable plot holes. Take a little bit of time to at the very least construct a broad end-point for your story, i.e. the thing(s) that happens in your story that will let you know your story is nearing its end.
  
• An outline can provide you a sequence of events. This outline does not have to be detailed. It may only include a beginning, middle, and end to your story. If anything, an outline helps you remember what has already happened, so you can avoid major holes in your plot.
  

Don't know what to write in your outline? Write your answers to these questions down and you'll probably see a rough outline begin to form. Heck, you might even get a story summary while you are it.

• What is the main feeling or idea you want the reader to experience after having read your story?
  
• What is the conflict (internal or external) the character(s) is trying to overcome or solve? Or, what is the character trying to accomplish?
  
• What events lead the character(s) to experience this conflict? In order words, what is necessary for the reader to know in order for them to understand your characters feelings and actions.
  
• What are the consequences of the conflict and the character's actions?
  
• What is your end goal for this story? In other words, if you only had time to write the last page of your story, what would you write about?
  

So, the first story we will read will be the prelude and chapter one of Sailor Moon 4200. What I really want you to pay attention to, however, is the four appendices at the bottom of the page (of the link I provided to you). In particular, Appendix Three and Appendix Four are two examples of detailed items for an even more detailed outline. Appendix Three, a timeline of events, can be particularly useful when there is a lot of activity in your story. Appendix Four, a description of the characters, can be useful to establish OCs and canon characters within your story. It's a great way to provide context for your character's behaviors and feelings.

You have one week to read the Prelude and Chapter One of Sailor Moon 4200, and then we'll read a different story that was recommended for plot-building. I would highly recommend browsing through the appendices, too.

Wow...that is some major world building for the distant future. Those appendices are very detailed and thought out.

I could probably do such a thing, but I'm afraid I'd lose the motivation to actually tell the story while my mind gets lost in world building.

Lol, yeah, you can ignore the appendices for world building, because that's a different theme for another time. Appendix 3 and Appendix 4 are better for what we are talking about here, plot building.

And, these are detailed examples (because most fanfiction authors don't post this sort of stuff online and when they do, it's very detailed). But, in reality, plot building tools are for you and not your reader. The best plot building tool has the amount of detail you are comfortable with, because if you never write one because they are too detailed and quell your passion for your story... Well, it isn't a very good tool, then is it?

But if you use a plot building tool to organize your thoughts loosely and to remember what should happen when and the tools happens to be only a few sentences or bullet points long, then you have a much better tool if you'll use it and get value from it.

Here is my own example for a one shot I could potentially turn into a multi-chapter story. What would I do if it was a multi-chapter story? Let's find out by using a plot-building tool!
Example:
The Beginning - Usagi, a cat guardian, needs to find Princess Serenity and her sailor senshi, but she doesn't remember who Princess Serenity is, much less her guardians.
The Middle - Yay! Usagi found Sailor Moon, a young schoolgirl named Luna. Together, they find Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. Also, the villain finds them.
The End - Epic battle! At this point, the Inner Senshi have been found, but not Sailor Saturn or Sailor Pluto. The villain captures Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask (Artemis) tries to save her on his own, but fails and asks the sailor senshi for help. Epic battle! Love! Drama! Princess Serenity is revealed. The End.

Characters:
I want all the main senshi, but not Sailor Pluto or Sailor Saturn. Luna is Sailor Moon/ Princess Serenity. Artemis is Tuxedo Mask. Mamoru is a white cat and Minako's guardian. Same villains, same evil goal.

This only took me a few minutes, but I actually never thought about what the ending would be if I turned this one-shot into a multi-chapter story. I was going to just write and hope it resolved itself in the end, but I know I would have stopped writing long before then, because I would have written myself into a corner and burned out. Now, I can write toward an end goal and, probably, finish the story.

Bump! Have ya'll enjoyed the fan-fiction so far? What are your thoughts on plot-building? Feel free to share. (:

The author sets up all of the plot threads organically. The simple argument between Artemis and Bendis catalyzes a great many things to start happening, so nothing feels forced or out of place. I feel that this is a good technique, as it is more like real life of how one's actions and choices are never in a vacuum.

I wish the fic were complete, as the author seems to be going for a very long game kind of plot from only reading the prologue and first chapter.

Hi! Just a reminder I am putting up the next fanfiction sometime today. Of course, you can discuss either fanfiction and plot building in general at anytime.

I hope to see some great discussion, soon. Ya'll have been quiet lately, but OuterHarmonie is on fire. (: