How do y'all plot things?

[thrillingdetectivetales]

I've been poking at this whole "Dick unexpectedly becomes a vampire during the clash on the Island" idea and I keep getting stuck in my head about the plot. I wouldn't consider plot one of my strong suits anyway, but when I sit down and actually try to plot a fic out I wind up trying to do way too much in a story and then never finishing it. Does anyone have suggestions for how to keep a plot simple? Is there such a thing as a plot that's too simple? Does a story about a guy becoming a vampire need cloak and dagger war machinations or is it enough to have him struggle with his new status and figure out that he really wants to bite his friend?

I'm really excited about this story so far, and I've laid down some prose I really like, but I want to actually finish this story someday and I'm so tangled up about this whole "but what is the story ABOUT really" thing that I'm worried it's going to fall by the wayside.

I read plenty of stuff where the only real point is to see the characters kiss or bone or live happily ever after, and I enjoy those stories and never feel them lacking but there's still a method to accomplish that kind of simple tale where it feels meaningful. I don't know. Probably I'm just way too in my head about this.

I don't know that a fanfic really needs an in-depth exploration of how vampires work in a military capacity to be a worthwhile read, and maybe it's enough to just have that knowledge or that general idea in the back of my head, but I can't help but want to put it down on paper. Not everything can be a novel, though, and I'm already planning for a longer-form story that I'd really like to get to. Not to mention all the other fills for H/C Bingo I have waiting in the wings.

For a thing I really love doing, writing can be such a pain in the ass sometimes. :/

(Tangentially relevant question: does anyone know if Nix speaks any languages beyond English and French?)

Comments

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Yeah, I was basically considering that he probably knows a little German at least? I know a lot of the guys seemed to have picked up at least a few useful phrases, and since Nix canonically has something of a ~cosmopolitan background it stands to reason that he might know a tiny bit more than your average G.I.

That sounds about right, haha. It's all that with a side of What Am I Willing to Sacrifice to Keep Him Here with Me Us? Or at least, that's what I'm planning for it to be.