Webinar: How to outline your story
For some, the concept of an outline can be quite daunting. But here at Wattpad, we believe they can be incredibly helpful. So, we developed an outlining method that even the most ardent of Pantsers will find useful for keeping their story on track and moving forward. Join Wattpad Content Expert Harry Hanson as he walks you through the Tentpole Method, our flexible, step-by-step approach to outlining.
Crafting stories from start to finish
We’ve talked a lot about the importance of putting the hook in the first chapter in order to entice your readers and of building and releasing conflict in order to keep them. In order to effectively build a long-running web novel, it helps to think about how you are going to structure your reader experience over the long term of the story. Thinking about structure can feel intimidating, but you don’t need to have a spreadsheet to write a good story. All you need to do is think about your story as having Beginning, Middle, and End phases.Each phase of the story has a unique function and builds successively on the ones before it.
Building powerful character arcs
Learn how to use positive and negative change to build a compelling character arc that ties into the plot and keeps readers hooked!
Effective outlining methods for writers
Though plotters vs pantsers is a well-worn dichotomy in writing circles, here at Wattpad, we like to think about it as more of a spectrum than a binary. Pantsers excel at improvisation and creative verve, while planners have meticulous structure and long-range thinking. Learning to outline doesn’t mean turning a pantser into a planner; it means giving yourself enough structure as a writer in order to allow your improvisation to bloom.
Essential tips for worldbuilding
When you hear the world “worldbuilding,” you probably think of complex maps, made up languages, and alien species. That is a type of worldbuilding that is common in science fiction and fantasy, but it’s not the only kind. Worldbuilding is something every author engages in, even those writing contemporary romances set in the real world. Approaching your worldbuilding deliberately, no matter your genre, can help your story feel more real and keep your readers hooked.
Discover types of worlds for your story
Worldbuilding can be broken down into four main types, depending on how complex the world is. “Normal world” worldbuilding is the kind of worldbuilding we see in contemporary romance, contemporary Young Adult, New Adult, and college stories. These stories are set in the everyday, regular world that does not require specialized knowledge to understand. In this kind of worldbuilding, we want to get a sense of the distinct details that give this place its character, because we basically already know how the world works.
What is serial storytelling?
A serial or series is a long-running narrative set in the same world, featuring the same characters. Sometimes these have a set end point, sometimes they don’t. Effective serial storytelling requires moving your reader through Beginning, Middle, and End phases of your story in the form of season arcs.
