#I'm a little scatterbrained at the moment. also I'm a fool I know nothing I may sound like a silly clown disclaimer big time.

[golden-stag]

God I still haven't gotten over the gut punch that was Millia saying "God, I hope not."

That ending is seared into my subconscious.

[thejoewholived]

Hi! My name is Jonalyn.

Sometimes, I go with the flow or like a mirror ball, reflecting all sorts of vibes. Other times, I'm all about embracing my inner quietude, wanting nothing more than some alone time. And hey, don't be fooled by my occasional neediness—I ain't looking for attention, guys!

Now, when it comes to socializing, let's just say I have my moments. Meeting new people is a hoot, but keeping those convos going for too long? Well, let's just say it can get a bit awkward. But fear not, my friends! Once I'm in the mood, prepare yourselves for an epic chat that'll have you rolling with laughter or not!

Ah, dreams and impracticality—my two trusty sidekicks! Reality isn't always my cup of tea, which is probably why I adore diving into books. They transport me to magical realms where daydreaming knows no bounds. I mean, who needs reality when you have the marvelous Harry Potter Series, the delightfully unfortunate A Series of Unfortunate Events, the sparkling Twilight Saga, the captivating Narnia Series, and the mind-bending Delirium Series? These literary wonders keep me happily lost in a whirlwind of imagination!

But wait, there's more! Stars, moon, and all things space—now that's my jam! Space is like a galactic buffet for my curious mind!

Also, imagine what everything looked like a thousand years ago. The smells, the vibes, the flavors of old recipes—oh, it's a sensory feast! And let's not forget the captivating history that accompanies it.

Now, don't be fooled by my shyness—some people mistake it for snobbishness. But hey, once you crack that shell, you'll find a friendly soul ready to rock your world!

Oh, emotions! They're like a rollercoaster ride through a candy store! Over the years, I've learned to tame the wild beast within, keeping those emotions in check. Thank goodness for personal growth and all that jazz! Here's a little secret: I might be guilty of procrastinating through daydreaming. Yep, my mind can be a bit of a scatterbrain, and I'm not too thrilled about it. But hey, we all have our quirks, right?

But let's talk about something truly fantastic—my artistic side! I've got creativity bursting from every pore! Curiosity fuels my insatiable thirst for knowledge, and boy, do I get excited when I stumble upon answers. Deducing, cracking codes and ciphers, and diving into the magical realm of metaphors—oh, it's like a never-ending funhouse of creativity!

Therefore, I'm a delightful mix of randomness, all dependent on my ever-shifting mood. Ciao!

PS: I love Roses.

[imaginedilestrade]

Surreal but nice- Part one

A/N: Okay so it's my birthday this week and to celebrate I've decided to do a 90's marathon! I was born in the 90's and I've incorporated some iconic 90's movies and tv shows into fics! 😁

Kicking off this week is 'Notting Hill' 😊it's a two parter! I hope you enjoy! ❤️

Warnings: Swearing, lil bit of angst.

It was a typical Wednesday for Greg, spending the day in the unsuccessful little travel bookshop that he ran in Notting Hill. His favourite part of the world.

Nothing extraordinary happened to him.

He wasn't successful, he was divorced- his wife left him for a Harrison Ford lookalike, he was living with his mad Irish roommate Jim and he was stuck in a rut.

"Can I get you a cappuccino?" Sherlock sent him a smile as they went over the books. Another month, another loss.

"Sure but make it a half," Greg tried to make light of the situation "Its all I can afford!" His laugh fizzled out. Sherlock nodded and left. Greg pondered over a thought again, a reoccurring one.

Nothing extraordinary happened to him.

That was until the bell above the door rang and he saw someone sneak into his bookshop. "Can I help you at all?" He called out to the person he couldn't see because they were behind a bookcase.

"No thanks..." Greg felt his breath hitch at the softness of the voice that lingered for a moment in his stuffy bookshop. Although, it made the shop a little more refreshing "I'll just have a look around."

Greg noticed that you were wearing a large pair of sunglasses and a dark jacket with the same colour of trousers and a crisp white shirt with shoes to match when you peered your head from around the bookcase.

Greg couldn't shift his gaze from you or form a sentence that was more than one word.

You walked around and grabbed a book, opening it and skimming over the page "That book isn't that great, but if it's Turkey you want to read about," he called out and you looked over your shoulder, noticing he was grabbing a yellowish book "I recommend this one." He cleared his throat and glanced between you and the book "I think the man has actually been to Turkey, which always helps. There is also an amusing incident with a kebab," you felt the corners of your mouth twitch upwards "One of many amusing incidents!"

"I'll think about it..." you hummed and turned around. Greg looked around to the monitor and let out a sigh, you watched as he went to the back of the shop and confront a man trying to steal a book by stuffing it into his trousers. When Greg returned you walked up to the desk with your book "I was going to steal a book but now I've changed my mind," you joked and Greg let it a small, nervous laugh "Signed by the author I see."

Greg glanced at the book "If you can find an unsigned one it would be worth a bloody fortune!" His remark made you chuckle. A moment later the same man who attempted to get away with a book down his trousers walked up to you.

"Can I have an autograph?"

You glanced up to Greg briefly before looking down at the desk and then to the man "Sure..." you sighed out. Greg could visibly see you stiffen and noticed the nerves in your eyes when you looked at him again to take the pen he was handing you. "What's your name?"

"Phillip, Phillip Anderson." You quickly scribbled on the piece of paper and handed it over to him with a thin smile. He read over it "What does it say?"

"Well that's my signature and above it, it says: 'Dear Phillip, you belong in jail."

"Good one," he uttered "Do you-do you want my phone number?"

You had to physically restrain yourself from laughing "Tempting, but no." He left after that and you handed the book over to Greg "I'll take this one." He rang it up for you and tossed in another for free. You took the bag off him with a smile and a thanks before leaving. Greg watched you exit the shop and disappear, he couldn't comprehend what had just happened. It was simply...extraordinary.

---

After downing the cappuccino Sherlock had got him, Greg popped out to the coffee shop to pick up a bite to eat as well as an orange juice for Sherlock. He left the cafe with a smile on his face as the sun shone down on him. It was a lovely day, made even better by seeing-

"Shit!"

He had collided into someone whilst daydreaming and spilled the orange juice all over someone's top. Your top. Although some did end up over him. He tried to wipe it off you but you jumped back "Get your hands off me! God!" You whined and looked down at the bright orange patch on your shirt. Greg offered for you to clean up at his house that was just across the road. With a defeated sigh, you accepted his offer.

He lead you over to the flat and pointed upstairs, explaining where everything was. As you want to change, he attempted to clean the flat a little bit. When Greg looked up a few minutes later you had changed into a completely different set of clothes and no one could have guessed that you were soaked in orange juice not even five minutes prior. Greg, being nervous yet hospitable, offered you a multitude of drinks and snacks, including the odd combination of apricots and honey. You said no to it all. "Do you say no to everything?" He asked.

You were about to answer almost instantly before your voiced hitched, a small smile played on your face as you replied "No." You watched him lean against the fridge "Thank you for your help."

"Not a problem and if I may," you raised a brow slightly "Can I just say that I think you are...heavenly. I probably won't get the chance to tell you ever again because you'll never return to my bookshop because those ones you got today are awful!" You couldn't help but lightly laugh as you made your way towards his front door. "It was nice to meet you...surreal but nice!" You sent him a small smile before he opened the door again and you left, disappearing out a door once again. "What was I thinking?" Greg muttered to himself as he walked away from the door. Seconds later, it rang. He opened it back up and you were standing there, you had forgot your books. Greg let you back in again and fetched your books.

"Thank you," you took them from him and then faced him, staring into those big brown eyes of his. You were drawn to them and gravitated towards them and his lips. Greg was taken by surprise feeling your soft, warm lips on his. He never expected anything like this to happen to him of all people. You both slowly pulled back and were left looking at each other again, burning your eyes into one another's. But your eyes diverted to the door when it suddenly opened and Greg's roommate walked in, completely passing the two of you and acting like there wasn't a thing out of place.

"I uh..." you watched as Greg's roommate vanished around the corner "I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about this."

"Oh no of course not!" Greg assured "I'll tell myself sometimes but I won't believe it!" You couldn't help but smile at his disbelief and the way his cheeks had flushed a light pink colour. You left once again, leaving Greg in a hazy cloud of different emotions.

---

Over the next few days Greg ground himself thinking about you constantly. There wasn't a single second where he didn't think about you or that kiss.

Jim, being unbelievingly scatterbrained, told Greg that you had phoned-three days ago-under a fake name. Greg made his way to the Ritz with a bunch on sunflowers but when he arrived at your hotel room, someone was behind him. "Are you sure this is the right room?" He asked the man who nodded. Seconds later the door opened and a blonde woman invited them both in. With confusion riddled over his face he followed her into the room and found a multitude of other people waiting.

"What magazine are you from?" The woman asked.

"Uh..." Greg glanced about and said the first one he spotted on a table "'Horse and Hound'."

"Right..." she wrote it down on her notepad "Well she's waiting for you, I'll take you through Mr..."

"Lestrade, Greg Lestrade."

Greg entered another room and felt the air drain from his lungs seeing you by the window with a smile on your face. "You have five minutes," your agent made Greg jump, suddenly appearing behind the bookseller. You awkwardly smiled and extended an arm to the seat beside you, your agent kept walking in and out of the room.

"These are for you but," Greg glanced around the room, it was already engulfed in flowers "But I suspect you already have enough!"

"No!" You took them from Greg "They're lovely thank you." You placed them down and let out a small sigh "I'm sorry it has to be like this. I thought the press tour would be over. I'm also sorry I had to give you a fake name, I do it all the time when I'm in hotels. People know how to hunt you down!" You forced a laugh.

Greg opened his mouth to speak when your agent came in and raised a brow at him "Uhh so do you have many horses in this film?"

"Well..." you glanced over to your agent and noticed him lightly shaking his head "Not any at all, no."

"Why is that?"

"Because the movie is set in space..." the corner of your lip twitched upwards.

Your agent left again and Greg let out a sigh of relief "I'm absolutely balls at this!" As your agent appeared and reappeared, he kept asking you horse related questions, eventually Greg's time was up.

"It was nice to meet you," you shook Greg's hand, keeping up appearances "Surreal but nice."

Greg felt his lips curve into a smile. Your agent left again and Greg squeezed in one final question before he came back "Are you free tonight?"

You sadly smiled "No...sorry." You pulled your hand back and cleared your throat, your agent came back and led Greg away where he was unexpectedly taken away to interview other cast members. He didn't have a clue was he was doing at was making a fool out of himself in the process. The blonde haired woman Greg had met before called out his name again and he uttered out a protest under his breath, he really didn't want to interview another movie star. But he didn't. Instead he was lead to your room again "I'm not busy tonight."

"Y-you're not? But I thought you had plans?" Greg's brow crinkled with confusion.

"I cancelled them."

Greg widely smiled "Oh shit! It's my sisters birthday! I totally forgot!"

"That's okay," you reassured "I don't mind going."

"You want to go?" He pointed at his chest "With me?" He then pointed in a westward direction "To my sisters birthday?"

"Yes." You nodded with a growing smile "I'll be your date."

---

"Uh Y/N," Greg nervously introduced you to his friends and family "This is John and Mary. Dear friends of mine."

"Hello!" Mary smiled "It's funny you are the spitting image of-"

Greg cut her off "Y/N, this is Y/N..." Greg sent Mary a knowing glare. She shook your hand with a gaping smile. Greg lead you over to John who was in the kitchen "John this is Y/N."

"Well it's nice to meet you Y/N," he went to shake your hand before freezing, instantly recognising who you were "Y/L/N!"

"Nice to meet you too," you moved your hand forward and shook his hand before he pulled away to get the door. Greg's sister entered and as soon as she did, she gasped.

"Oh holy fuck!"

"Y/N, this is my little sister, Honey. Honey, this is Y/N." Greg formally intoduved the two of you. Honey was in a starstruck haze.

"I am such a huge fan! Massive fan! You are utterly amazing and I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world!" You bashfully smiled at her comment "I genuinely believe, and I have for some time now, that we are destined to be best friends. What do you think?"

You were a little taken aback but sent her a smile "Lucky me!"

The doorbell rang again amd John answered it "Mycroft's here!" Greg introduced you to Mycroft, he was oblivious to who you were. You spoke with him while Greg chatted with John and Mary.

"So what do you do?" He asked.

"I'm an actor, films mainly..." you replied with a small smile gracing your face.

"Must be tough, I know people who barely get seven thousand a year! How much did you make on your last movie?" Mycroft sipped on his wine.

"Fifteen million."

He choked on his Chardonnay "Well that's," he coughed "Fairly good..."

John announced that dinner was ready but before you sat, you wondered where the bathroom was. Honey happily lead you through. "I can't believe the girl you mentioned was Y/N Y/L/N!" Mary squeaked.

"Y/N Y/L/N?!" Mycroft repeated back and placed a hand on his head "Ohh god. Oh god I feel so stupid."

"I can't believe it," Honey returned "I just followed Y/N into the bathroom. She had to tell me to leave! I was still chatting to her as she was pulling down her zipper!" She giggled. You returned a few moments later and enjoyed the company of Greg and his friends and family over dinner.

---

You and Greg walked side by side down the streets of London "Do you want to uh..." Greg spoke up, you could hear the nerves in his voice "My place is just..." he trailed off and nodded towards the end of the street.

"Too complicated..." you sadly smiled and continued walking. You stopped when you noticed a gate "What's this?" Greg explained that it was a garden that the residents in the surrounding houses shared. It was locked and Greg didn't have a key. "Lets go in!" You couldn't help but bit down on your lip to control your smile as you climbed over the bars. Greg struggled whereas you jumped over with ease.

"Now what in the world in this garden could make that ordeal worth while!" Greg jogged up to you, catching his breath.

He was caught off guard when you crashed your lips against his, sharing a passionate kiss under the moonlight.

He shook his head and his lips curved into a smile "Nice garden."

You silently walked through the park, every so often Greg would say something that made you laugh or smile. He was enamouring to you, he truely was like no one you had ever met. And you liked that.

A few days later you had dinner with him, it was ruined by a group of men sitting behind the small partition wall who were making remarks about you. At first you tried to smile and laugh their comments away but they got worse and soon Greg couldn't take any more of it and stormed up to the table. You felt your heart swell as he attempted to fight for you, to stand up for you. The men were too ignorant and rowdy so you pulled Greg back and headed to the exit "Thank you for sticking up for me, I love that you tried. Someone had to put them in their place...in fact..." you stopped and turned around, making a beeline for the table. All the men gasped and quickly uttered out apologies "My friend is a little sensitive," you shot them all a fake smile. "I'm sure it was all banter and I'm sure you guys all have dicks the size of peanuts, anyway, have a good night!"

You turned and walked away, Greg hot on your heels. "That was amazing!"

"Ohh I shouldn't have said that! I should not have said that..." you mumbled. Greg walked you to your hotel and you both stood outside for a moment "What am I doing with you...?" Your head cocked to the side a little.

"I'm afraid I don't know..." Greg shrugged a shoulder with a half smile.

"Do you want to come up?" You rashly asked. Greg didn't know what to say at first but after a few minutes of internal deliberation, he agreed. "Give me five minutes!" You walked into the hotel and made your way to your room with a smile. It fell very quickly when you saw who was waiting for you.

Greg made his way to your room five minutes later and knocked on the door, you opened it and felt your stomach sink. "Hello again," he kiss your cheek.

"You have to leave..." you whispered with tears prickling your eyes. Before Greg could open his mouth to ask what was wrong, your boyfriend appeared.

"Finally, some room service!" He bellowed and your gaze fell to the ground "I wanted to be the best boyfriend ever and order some fruit or somethin' for Y/N. Only fruit though!" He laughed and jabbed your side. He always degraded and you hated it, you hated it even more that Greg was standing in front of you. You didn't want to drag him into this mess. "And take that trash when you leave!"

You squeezed your eyes shut and let out a watery sigh "Greg, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say..."

Greg slumped his shoulders, disappointment clouding his face "I believe it's usually 'goodbye'." He couldn't even crack a sad smile.

He was heartbroken.

---------------------

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PART TWO

@daynaan-black-dawn @the-baby-bookworm @imnottalkingtoyou @theyre-my-divsion @girl-next-door-writes @annkli @wcsteland @heyyou-guys @redgreyandpurple @damnitman-jamlocked-inthetardis @princesspeach212 @disneymarina @imayjustbejamesmoriarty @-waythe- @sherlockedtash88 @fantasticwizardnerd

[nightglider124]

Baby girl

Sup, m’lovely!

Oh-ho-ho… a breakdown?

Absolutely. Actually, chopping it up into an organised answer with paragraphs might help me with my own process. Planning can be such a headache and it only gets worse if everything is a mess and a half.

Ahem.

Please stand by for a long ass but hopefully helpful post.

Physical Planning

By this I mean, when you actually use a pen and paper to bullet point and jot down your idea; whether it be a basic, rough draft or a deeply descriptive plan. But, it’s that very first step after an idea pops into your mind.

When inspiration knocks. Answer the damn door, you fool. Don’t tell yourself, “Oh, I’ll write it down later. I’m sure I’ll remember.” Spoiler! You won’t. I am fairly certain I am not alone when you tell yourself that and merely minutes after, it’s gone without a single trace. Then, you’re left with that pointless frustration at yourself for not remembering and it sucks. So, to combat that, always write an idea down straight away. Whether it’s on paper, a napkin, a sweet wrapper, your hand; it doesn’t matter. Just get the brief idea down somewhere to jog your memory later on when you go to write it up as a proper idea. With this, smartphones can be your best friend because the universal ‘Notes’ feaure that most of them have can come in real handy for this. Have an idea? Note it down in your phone to reference later on. Main point here is, get your idea down somewhere. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t.

Label your ideas. You don’t have to have a solid, concrete title for your story which means you also don’t have to definitively label your quickly written idea. Use a keyword that has some meaning to your idea. If it’s about… watching a sunset for example, just call it, ‘Sunset’ for the time being. This is just another way to keep things a little more set out and organised. It just really helps to label them so you don’t get confused over what you wrote. Many times have I written an idea on a scrap piece of paper at school or work, shoved it in my pocket and pulled it out when I got home, forgetting what it is and seeing no title so I’ve ended up chucking it in the bin. Labels are your pals. Embrace labelling your ideas. 

Keep them separate. It’s just good common sense to keep multiple ideas serparated from each other. Don’t note down a bunch of things about one idea on the same paper as another because odds are, ya’ll gon’ get confused as fuck. Also, it doesn’t hurt to write them in different coloured pen so you know they have nothing to do with each other. Keeping ideas apart is just yet another way of ensuring you are being as organised as you can for your own sake. Messy ideas and confusion are not the ones. 

Write them out properly. So, you’ve got your McDonalds napkin with your idea on it stuffed in your pocket and you’ve just got home. Time to write out on a fresh, normal piece of paper. You don’t have to do this but I prefer to have fresh versions as my phusocal copies of plans rather than whatever shred I wrote it down on in my moment of inspiration. This way, you can pinpoint more parts of your idea and expand and add details and make it more than just a passing thought. This is when you can write it up as an actual plan. 

Keep them neat & tidy. Guys, you’ve worked hard to make up your written draft; the least you could do is keep it nice and tidy. Don’t crumple it, don’t put holes in it, don’t let anything spill on it, don’t let it get ripped. Keep it clean. I recommend using plastic wallets as this is what I do. I pop my paper plans in a plastic wallet and then place a sticky label on the front of the wallet, again, so I am aware of which idea is which. Keeping your written ideas in a wallet will keep them fresh, clean and smooth. Perfect for when you want to go back and read over it or write it up elsewhere but I’ll get to that.

Keep them in a folder. Folders and organisational objects are a godsend. I don’t know why you wouldn’t store ideas in a folder of some description. Mine is red and actually one I used in high school for English class but now it stores any and all, properly labelled, story ideas. Have a gander.

There are original and fanfic story ideas in there so it’s a good little thing to have on hand if you’re trying to be focused and organised. It just keeps everything in it’s place which makes it so much easier for you. Life, for real, save yourself a headache and get yourself a folder. It helps a lot.

Keep them in a notebook. If you don’t like the idea of having a big ol’ bulky folder sitting on your desk or whatever, opt for a notebook that you just keep close to hand. Notebooks are wonderful and can act as both your initial scrap orrr you can write pages and pages of plans. They’re flexible. I use notebooks all the dang time. I keep them in the drawer beside my bed usually so that if I wake up with an idea or something; bam! There’s my notebook. Seriously. I have like 5 active notebooks that I just grab.

See? 

The Harley Quinn one is probably my most frequently used. I love my notebooks and they can be a good alternative to a big folder. But, they can also be great as material for initial ideas. Personally, I will get an idea and grab one of these babies and go to town, writing my ideas and plot points and what I want to create. After, I’ll tear the pages out and staple them together. Then, I’ll tuck them into a plastic wallet and pop that in my red idea folder. It’ll stay in there until later when I have the time to sit at a computer and write it up. Don’t know notebooks. They’re fabulous.

Store the notebook or folder safely. The whole reason you’re writing in a notebook or storing them in a folder is for safekeeping. Don’t ruin that hard work by leaving your stuff around to be thrown out or lost. Pop it in a place that you remember and is some place you look at all the time. Personally, I keep my folder in the drawer beneath my bed so that it’s within reaching distance when I get the urge to write up and/or expand on ideas. I mean, maybe I’m a little on the crazy side but I love things being organised; especially my ideas and stories. There are so many damn ideas; I need to lock them up somewhere other than in my head.

Digital Planning

This is definitely a personal choice but I deeply believe it’s better to have a digital version of plans for quick referencing, rather than shuffling through papers in order to write up a story. 

Now, say you’ve got three story ideas written down on paper. They’re safely stored and tucked away but you want to transfer them onto your laptop.

Word is your friend. It really is and so much better since the olden days with that godforsaken paperclip who always tried to help but was absolutely rubbish. I use Microsoft Word to write out any and all plans and chapters and oneshots. I sometimes use Zenwriter which is a cool and fairly cheap program out there which really aids a writer in forgetting the outside world and focusing on what they’re writing. Unlike Word, Zenwriter gives no distractions. As it is full screen software, it hides any buttons or toolbars for you to do a random Google search about why they’re called socks and not foot gloves. I recommend Zenwriter to all writers. It’s great they do a free trial, I believe so I’d defo tell people to give it a go at the very least.

Anyways, you have three physically written ideas. Get three Word documents open and transfer your papers ideas to each document. This is going somewhere. I promise.

Save each idea as something memorable. Labels, labels and more labels. Just like the paper version, you don’t need to have a concrete title in mind for the story idea yet. But, I usually title my plans as followed, ‘Title - Plan’. Simple yet effective. You can’t just save the file as a bunch of random numbers and letters. If you do that, there’s no point as you’ll most likely forget and lose it, not realising it is right in front of you because you’ve titled it something random.

If you’re organising plans for fanficition in particular, I would also put into a title if it’s an AU story. I do. A normal universe plan will be, ‘Title - Plan’ whereas an aulterante universe story plan will read like, ‘AU - Title - Plan’. Just little things to help yourself out is all it is, really.

Save all files in one location on your computer. So, you’ve copied your 3 paper written ideas to 3 separate Word documents and are in the process of saving them under appropriate titles. Where do you save them? Documents? Pictures? Music?

Personally, I keep everything to do with writing in a folder, accurately titled, ‘~Stories~’. This contains literally everything. Plans, stories; everything to do with writing is in this folder. This folder is also kept within Documents; a local and familiar section of Windows explorer. Please see below:

Good. As I said, for the moment, we’re just keeping all 3 ideas together so that we don’t lose track or anything. Of course, you could title your main folder as something else but this is how I label my folders.

Be extra and sort them out. You’ve got all 3 documents in your ‘Stories’ folder and you’re that much closer to being an organised genius. You’re not yet finished, however. Once inside of my ‘Stories’ folder, I have 8 folders. I know; you’re probably convinced I’m too into this organising thing but it helps me so, points for Night.

Let’s analyse my folders, shall we?

Counting The Days - Pretty obvious, no? Because I have big plans for this series and I plan more than one story and because it’s my long-time story baby, it gets its own folder. I’m still in the process of cleaning some of these folders up by the way guys so, it does take some time and a lot of patience. Just as a heads up. Anyway, this folder will eventually be moved to that, ‘TT - Stories’ folder which we’ll come back to shortly.

Other - Anything that I’m not sure where to put so it goes in this folder so think of… a miscellaneous folder. Any random bits that you know are connected to stories somehow would go into this one. 

Prompts - These vary to meme types on Tumblr to requested ideas. This folder is literally for any written thing telling me some little ideas to inspire more or to simply give me something to write.

TT - This folder is actually a Night folder. It’s literally a Teen Titans folder full of comic panels, episodes, clips, screen grabs, fan videos etc. It is literally a content folder. This acts as an inspiration folder. It helps me get into the right mind-set to write about my fave hero dorks. This is very, very helpful for me and like I said, you don’t have to make this kind of folder but it’s a nice aid.

TT - Oneshots - This folder is for completed oneshots that have been posted online.

TT - Plans - This folder is where I keep all the story plans.

TT - Stories - This folder is where I store all finished stories that I have written through the years. Inside this folder, there is a folder for each story I have written with all chapters in the correctly labelled folder. 

Writing Help - This folder has pointers for polishing my writing skills. It’s full of piece about grammar and spelling and all that jazz. Very helpful.

Yet more folders. We’ve reached this part; you’re spoilt for choice on the golder front. You’ve got 3 separate ideas. saved under good, memorable titles and inside of your ‘Stories’ folder. You would then drag them all inside of the folder labelled, ‘Plans’ or whatever you decide to title it. I’m a stickler for a range of folders. So, inside my ‘TT - Plans’ folder, there are 4 folders. Again, I’m splitting these up a lot because that’s just how I am but you don’t need to if you don’t want to. Organising stories and plans is completely up to the individual. This is just a guide and reflection of what I personally do.

Here comes the analysis train again.

Additional for ANY plans - So this folder is for any additional documents I’ve written up that help and support my plans for specific stories as in character bios or big events that need to happen or anything like that. This folder goes for all plans; active or not.

Plans - ACTIVE - This folder is for story plans that I am currently focusing on and have a real focus on for the future. They are plans I know 100% that I will turn into a story.

Plans - COMPLETE - This folder is for plans of stories that I have already finished writing. Not necessarily needed but I like to keep them because I’m just a hoarder to be honest. 

Plans - STORAGE - This folder is for plans that I don’t really know if I’m ever going to bother going further with but also plans that I can’t quite part with yet; just in case I get the urge to pursue and expand on some of them. There are some plans that you look back on and think ugh god no’ not doing that and you just delete them but there are a few that remain in the grey are so instead of chucking them or forcing yourself to complete them; make a storage folder. You can always go back to these if you run out of active ideas anyway.

So, this is where you can deviate to how you like but I think having about 3 folders like this really helps you to differentiate between all your wonderful ideas. Then, all you have to do is move your 3 documented files into whichever folders you like.

It’s completely optional for you guys to write up plans like this. As in, it’s up to you whether or not you want to do both a paper version and digital version. I like to simply because I’m extra. I find it really helpful to have a digital version but I keep the paper versions too as backup. As we all know, technology likes to fuck us over from time to time so having a hardcopy is always a smart move.  Before I did this, I can’t tell you how many plans I lost. Like I said though, it’s up to you how you store and organise plans. This is just my process.

Actual Planning

Considering we’re already talking about how I store and organise my plans, I thought why not share my process of actually writing a plan itself?

Title and Summary. This is the very first thing I do. I will usually write my makeshift title or solid one if I’ve already got one in mind from the get go. I will then follow it up below with a brief summary containing multiple keywords; just so from a quick glance, you will remember what this idea is about. It’s a nice way of not having to read through some big fat plan without knowing what the idea itself is. Summary and then in depth version is my way to go, anyway. 

List your characters. Again, optional. I like to do: Title, summary and characters. I literally write a name, age and small bio just to help me out a little. I does help; believe me. It’s like… are they normal universe characters? Are they AU characters? Are they an OC? I usually place this just after the summary and before I go in depth with the actual plan.

More detail. This is where the real part comes in. This is the point where I usually write a full plan. I usually set it out by pinpointing the main events in my story. I will always plan it in chronological order and insert anything I miss in the right order. I wouldn’t try setting a plan with the main events of your story being all over the place, if I’m honest. Itjust makes it confusing and frustrating. This will normally be done in theformat of bullet points and small headers, but I’m flexible and I don’t do thisevery single time. Like I said; it’s down to the one writing the thing.

Expand. Alright,so you have 10 points that will act as 10 chapters, for example. At this point,expand. Go through each point and write more into it. I’ll admit, sometimes Icould very well copy and paste from my plan into an actual chapter; that’s howmuch detail I put in. Anything memorable you want in a specific chapter;whether it’s a gesture or dialogue or whatever, now would be the time to notethat in. Just expand enough so that you have a thorough understanding of what’sgonna go down in each and every chapter. You don’t want to finish off a plan,without it being very detailed and get completely stumped midway through yourstory because your plan wasn’t prepared enough.

Edit accordingly. Changethe font, colours, size, boldness or italicize until your heart’s content. Thiscan be a really helpful technique for some writers. I personally, don’t reallychange it from standard black coloured font set at default of ‘Calibri (body)’.But, I know some people find it better to work with bright colours etc. Again,do what helps you.

Add in images or short clips or references. I do this a lot with images. If I’m going to bedescribing a dress that one of my female character choices will be wearing, Igather up a bunch of images from google to help when the time comes to write itup. This goes for clips and references too. If there’s something you wanna addin that you’ve been inspired by; paste that in there. Anything that benefitsyou in the writing process, lock that down into your plan. It really will makeyou breathe a sigh of relief later on.

Use available tools. So,if you’re writing on Word - which I suggest as I personally do use Word a hellof a lot to write chapters and plans - make use of the cool features on here.There’s a nifty tool where you use ‘New Comment’ and ‘Reviewing Pane’. This isan absolute life-saver. 

Alrighty, so you’ve got your three chapters.This is just an example, I don’t think I’ve ever written a three chapter story,haha. Anyway, imagine there is more writing and they’re separated a littlemore.

Start by highlighting the first chapter. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and click new comment up the top. Don’t forgetthis tool is found under the review tab of the upper toolbar.

After doing this, you should see it do thismagical thing here. It might not turn it red; if it doesn’t, do not freak out.Word gives you an assortment of colours that you unfortunately cannot changeyourself. The colour is automatically chosen. Anyway, click in the littlecomment box and type ‘Chapter One’.

Then, go ahead and do this for the other twochapters and label them as well. Just like before. After, click that button uptop titled, ‘Reviewing Pane’.

Finally, the ‘Reviewing Pane’ will pop up onthe left hand side of the screen. If you click any one of the red bars, it’lltake you directly to that chapter. This is absolutely amazing when you have asuper longwinded plan. It saves time scrolling and scrolling through the entiredocument. I strongly recommend doing this.

Remember to save. Don’tbe a dummy. Continuously save and don’t always rely on Word’s auto savefunction. As I said, technology can be a bitch so try to be ahead of it at alltimes. As already stated earlier on, you’ll want to title it well. Nothingrandom as you’ll lose track of it. And then, all you’ve gotta do is sort yourplans into your folders.

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So, that is all! This is everything I canpossibly think of that I see during my planning process. I hope you guys findthis helpful and like I said, it’s down to you to find a way to organise yourdocuments in a way you like. If you’re one of those people that find order inchaos and absolute mess, then I salute you as I could never do that. I’m a bitof an organising freak once I get going.

Find your pace and find your process. Thank you @fireflyxrebel for the question. This was actually really fun to breakdown forya’ll.

Much love!