Coming from Black Cat Sachiko:

Very soon I am going to turn to my last resort. Plot webbing. Because I am stuck, but at least I can admit that. ^_^ I hate to do it. Admit that I’m stuck, I mean. And I hate plot webbing too. Does anyone on here hate plot webbing also? Or do you love it and wish to marry it as soon as it is legal?

I looked quickly for an explanation on plot webbing for those not in the know, but couldn’t find one on the web.

Anyways, it differs from person to person how you do it, but essentially what you do is you start off with a central circle, in which you write the name of the story or theme or something like that. Then you take branches off that. Usually, the branches at least consist of:

  1. Main Characters
  2. Secondary Characters
  3. Settings
  4. Events

Then off each of those you have more branches. For example, under ‘Main Characters’ you would first draw a branch with one of the characters’ name. Off that, you might put:

  1. Physical Characteristics
  2. Favorite things
  3. General Attitude

If done right, the entire thing can get very complex very quickly. However, it is also very easy to do and enables you to easily visualize your story, which is why a lot of students learn it in third or fourth grade. Essentially, it’s the same thing as outlining, but done in a visual way. So if you’re a visual person, plot webbing is the way to go.

If you check out the link below, you’ll see an example of a plot web that I quickly put together (note: it’s a very simple one!):

plotwebbing.jpg

And don’t forget to check out Sachiko’s topic on it!