Story Planning for Outworld Ranger & Other Tales - An Example

A no-spoilers glimpse at my process as I go about working on the next book in the Outworld Ranger series

Hiya, readers.

This is the third post in my no-spoilers glimpse at my planning process as I go about working on the next Outworld Ranger book. (If you aren’t familiar with the series, you can grab a collection of the first three novels on sale at Amazon for $0.99.)

As promised, here is an example of how I start planning a story.

This is a small spoiler for an upcoming Mitsuki Reel story currently titled Three for the Price of Two. I’m not giving all of the plot and twists away. I can’t because I simply don’t know them yet.

In the first image you will see the short synopsis I wrote so that I’d have a clue what I am going to be writing. I didn’t cut out any reveals. That’s really all there is to it. This is basically me pitching a story concept to myself.

The second image shows you how I planned the first two chapters in the spreadsheet.

I don’t know how any of Three for the Price of Two will play out yet. The bad guys and their motives may very well change as I get further into planning. Events may spin out of control. The characters may do things I would never expect. And if they do, then I will follow along with them. (This is Mitsuki, so it’s likely things may go into crazy, unexpected directions.) This is simply my jumping off point.

Be well, everyone!

David Alastair Hayden