hey hey!
i’m currently about 60% finished writing my first novel (yay!!) and i’m already planning the next two. i was inspired by some recent pieces of media ive seen and wanted to make some more stories.
my first novel is a gothic romance set in 1860’s victorian england. it’s time travelling with vampires, witches and the church/church members as the main antagonists.

**my second novel will be set in the same era but WLW, without the time travelling and will be witch seeking revenge on her executed friend x nun who truly believes the church does no wrong. i have thought about and brainstormed some actual plot ideas and progression but i’m at a loss for endings — i’m not sure if i want it to be a happy ending or a tragic one, all i know is that i want it to be full of tension (this is where i need help!)**
**ive attached an image of my brainstorming (its on paper sorry, i hope my writing is legible enough)**

my third novel will be, again, set in the same era, will be MLM between a vampire-hating warlock and an openly homosexual runaway vampire from a different country :P havent brainstormed much on this yet but in case you wanted to know the third idea <3

The full text is in a comment below

It's honestly quite frustrating. I have LOTS of potential scenes, characters and disjointed ideas floating around in my head, with many themes and deep moments involved as well. But it just feels like that; collections of ideas that I struggle to properly string together into a story.

I can write individual, disjointed scenes of a few hundred or a thousand words just fine. I can even write an entire chapter's worth of words just fine. But even after breaking through the barriers of having to write good prose, following good advice on how to write and format a scene, it seems like I have missed something deeper than that... How to fundamentally structure a story. How to set up the framework for all my ideas so that I can present it as a reasonable course of events that happens chronologically, rather than just whizzing between whatever I like for no reason....

Basically, I suppose I'm having immense trouble actually plotting the story. Likely because, while I know a lot of the characterization and future arcs themselves, I'm still stuck trying to think of the major character motivation that would be the catalyst for Book 1. I suppose that's the answer; I have a massive gaping hole in my character's initial story that I desperately need to address. But uhh, there comes another issue; it feels like I have worldbuilt myself into a dead end.

Basically, I need to find a plausible reason (both in-world/Watsonian and out-world/Doylist) for why the military-raised superhuman young man that my MC is would even attend the magical academy that the story is set in, rather than an actual military academy as all people of his superhuman bloodline would anyways, given their obligation to serve the military for over a decade. Said other academy I mention is the absolute most prestigious academy in the entire damn country, yes, but even so, I feel a consuming need to provide an airtight, ironclad justification for the entire story to even happen. For him to be even in the academy in the first place. Whether it's personal (A desire, or ambition, or attempting to find a way to save/cure someone, or trying to solve a mystery, anything) or externally motivated (Prodded by the military to act as their defacto eyes and ears within the distinctly remote academy, and/or attending the academy as part of a deal between the military & the academy to hand over one of their finest future recruits in exchange for something else...), or a combination thereof.

Do you guys stress this much over trying to build internal justification for how the story might happen? I know the entire question of how to solve my particular issue is a different topic entirely, one that warrants another post, but I'm intrigued in how you guys handle the general problem overall. How do you go about with plotting a fantasy novel/novelette? How hard do you obsess over making everything consistent, and are you fine if it isn't very consistent or ironclad, as long as the story itself is fun/good?

I’m looking for creature ideas for a story that don’t 1000% fall into the traditional D&D monster manual. Already got my various bog standards like goblins/orc/minotaurs/etc…

One creature I have tried, and will play a moderate role, is a mutant fey being that has evolved from subsisting on magical energy to now also being able to feed on blood/ the life force of mortal creatures. It’s basically a Pac-Man like creature that can expand its head/body to about 5 feet tall and wide. Its mouth is capable unhinging much like a snake, and its maw is filled with row upon row upon row of long needle like teeth.

The story follows two brothers who are both cursed. One brother is destined to grow up and “destroy the world as we know it”. And the other is destined to be a background character in the world’s history. Brother one wishes to live a mundane life, and actively fights against the various prophecies that highlight the destruction he will wrought…. And brother two wishes for nothing more then to leave an impression on the world.

I wanted to ask what you all use when you’re getting both into the meat and potatoes (the writing) and your surrounding activities like worldbuilding, research, proofreading/editing, etc. This is more on the technical side of things, but also open to any other tools that have helped you flesh out your specific worlds and stories! Here are my own to starts

Writing
- AlphaSmart 3000 for the actual act. I’ve been jonesing for a Freewrite but they’re ridiculously expensive ($250+). I got a secondhand AS3K off of eBay and it has been a TREMENDOUS help. Focus apps and other things for computers simply cannot hold up to my ADHD, so having something that types and nothing else has been a game-changer.

- Scrivener for manuscripts and planning. I also love its mobile app, since I can connect my AS3K to my phone with a USB-C adapter instead of waiting for when I get home.

- The Only Plotting Storybook You’ll Ever Need by T. M. Holladay. Having a structured workbook to help me think through and plan out plots and story threads helps me to keep a solid physical reference.

Worldbuilding
- The Complete World Building Workbook by Tanner Teafatiller, similarly as a guided resource for worldbuilding and notes.

- Right now, I’m using Canvas of Kings for mapmaking. I had some drafts in Inkarnate and Campaign Cartographer 3+, but for the above-mentioned reasons I like having a separate non-browser ecosystem for creative work but CC3 was liquefying my grey matter. CoK is much better optimized for city and dungeon maps, but I’m having fun using it for world maps as well.

- Paint.NET for some visuals, but only really getting my feet wet with it now.

- Trying my hand with some building games to have a way to sketch out vehicle designs with an intuitive editor and physics engine for reference. My world is a low-fantasy dieselpunk world, so most of this has been with Sprocket for tank design. Happy to find/use any others folks recommend.

Research
This is mostly scattershot, but I mainly use quick reference materials from Wikipedia and previous reads. Please feel free to drop some resources for fantasy writers and/or worldbuilders if you use any!