How do you plan your episodes?

[courtana]

Back when I was obsessed with episode I used to try to write stories left and right 24/7.
I would always write down my character ideas and their personality’s. Then I’d write down scenes that could happen. I never fully planned out my episodes because I was always excited and wanted to hurry and start coding. Long story short I never published a story lol

@Episodians ~ How do you plan your episodes if you write any?

[lollipoplady]

Ooh, good question!
I usually start by writing down a vague outline of my characters and the plot. Then, I work on their traits and characteristics with mood boards and character cards, like this:

These are for my upcoming story, which I plan to publish in two weeks:

Mood boards and 'meet the character' cards

After I have a good idea of who the main characters are, I start thinking about their families, friends, and those who they will interact with often in the story. Sometimes, I make a rough list of the events I want to happen in a specific episode, but often, a random scene idea pops into my head while I’m working or doing something else, and I just write down that idea before I forget it, and save it for coding. If a scene I want to write requires a very specific background/overlay, I go on an intense BG/overlay hunt before writing the scene.

[courtana]

omg you are so organizedddd

And those mood boards and character cards are so well put together a beautiful omg

What’s your story? I’d love to read it when it’s published.

[lollipoplady]

Thanks! It’s called ‘There’s No Accounting for Taste’. I’m already halfway through the third episode, so I think it’ll be ready to publish in two weeks.

[courtana]

Omg okay I’m bookmarking this post so I don’t forget

[Nil]

Changed category~

Although I love the storytelling in Episode, I’m a very unorganized person and I actually “plan” as I go. I know that you have to plan in Episode because of the branches and stuff which I think I can do but just too lazy to, so I just try to stay away from things like this xDDD

[lollipoplady]

Does anyone want to share how they plan the individual episodes of their stories?

[WritingWithStars]

I don’t lol. Well, usually I have a plan of what I think needs to happen and then just constantly re-write if it doesn’t go together.

[liyahsdiamond]

Definitely planning roles, then picking out names, then creating outfits while choosing their “colors”, colors that represent them.

Once I finish with the main cast, I start writing. Often with a flash-forward scene or an intro about the story and its morals, narrated by someone (the MC or someone that died), that ends with a question or final statement.

Then, the beginning. It often takes place years before the present (for example, Fairest Of Them All began in 2007) and introduces the main characters scene-by-scene. First reveal at the villain/villains. Cliffhanger.

Second episode (which takes me so long to code/write) is when all the drama starts. The villain/s start their plan. Loved one of the main character finds out about the villain OR finds out a secret. They either die or turn evil. Most of the time, someone dies or there’s a huge reveal. Main character gets hurt or leaves.

Third episode, more secrets come out and the villain gets stronger. Last parts before a time-skip. New mysterious characters are introduced. Time-skip of 4-7 years happens. MC comes back and the game begins.

This is real basic, but I actually switch it up or do something different. Mysterious Northview doesn’t follow this outline, since it’s a fantasy-mystery story. Deadly Nightshade also has no large time-skips (yet.)

But there are some things you must know:

Tips

• The villain is often greedy
• There’s a class difference (except for Fairest of Them All, where the MC was already rich, it’s based on Snow White)
• There’s often more than 1 actual MC: the protagonist, the villain/s, the protagonist/villain’s family, a friend, and a mysterious outsider who’s tied to the villain/s or MC somehow. Deadly Nightshade has 8 MCs in total, Perfection has at least 6, Fairest Of Them All also has 6. The protagonist is the only customizable one
• There’s always a birth secret
• Someone’s parent is dead or dies
• The MC “rises” and returns after the time-skip to face the villain
• My stories are diverse but often have the same type of cast
• After Deadly Nightshade, I started incorporating ghosts/spirits for a “thriller” element
• There’s often a quest or a goal for revenge
• There’s almost never any kids in my story lol, most of the time it’s teenagers and young adults, as well as older adults
• Sometimes my stories intertwine, like how Nubeno was mentioned in Fairest of Them All. Nubeno is the fashion corporation in Queer: Flowers Have Thorns, and the company in Fairest of Them All is a hotel chain called Elysium. Other characters know each other. Elysium was also referenced in Perfection. 3 of my stories take place in the same area, Clifton, Toronto (a made-up city in Canada), minus Mysterious Northview, Perfection (it takes place in New York City), and Fairest of Them All (which is set in Las Vegas.)
• Some characters have the same name. Rosemary is the name of the protagonist in Queer: Flowers Have Thorns (Rosemary Hawthorne), and the second villain in Deadly Nightshade (Rosemary Clermont.)

In other words, I’m the Kim Soon-Ok (she’s a famous Korean drama writer) of Episode and no one can take my crown.

[lollipoplady]

Wow, I love how you have a formula for all of your stories!

[liyahsdiamond]

Thank you! It works all the time. But of course I switch it up so it isn’t this cut-and-dry. Those are just a few cliches.

[Some_Kid]

I usually write an ouline first and for each episode I write a written script so I can plan it out. For each important character, I use character profiles.

[liyahsdiamond]

Do you have other ways of planning your episodes?