So here's the thing -- I have my trilogy all planned out (characters, themes, etc.) and the first book I know pretty well what needs to happen (and enough of a plan on the rest of the trilogy to know the overall arc plot line) -- but I can't quite figure out how to tie EVERYTHING that I want to have present in it in a way that makes it coherent and not read too messily.
It's a fantasy world of elemental magic, deities (in which the deities are tied to the elements), with the main characters being a mirror/parallel to one of the main founding relationships between the deities, with the enemies-to-lovers trope highlighted. (Vague/general overview.) But I'm struggling with how to get that overall plot line coherent with the political/religious corruption that plays its part into WHY the world works in the way that it does--which affects the characters & the reasons their actions end up as they are...
Basically, when you have a LOT of "this needs to happen" threads, and you know the story-- I need advice on how to tie everything together, I guess.
A lot of the things that "need to happen" don't really need to happen.
At a high level, your plot will look like:
Once upon a time, there was [Character]. Every day, they [lived their regular life]. One day, [Inciting incident]. Because of that, [Problem or challenge]. So they [plot point], which mean that [next plot points] until finally [climax]. After that, [return to regular life].
Those are the things that need to happen in the story. Anything outside of that is nice but not required.
If you are having trouble fitting it all together, ask yourself if the problem is that you have too much going on.
There are tons of world building and mind map websites that are built exactly for that. It seems like you need to take every event that you know you want to be happening with each character, organise them in a chronological timeline, and think about the things that need to happen first that chain of events to happen. Chances are if you can’t think of a way to connect those events coherently there are some contradictories or things you’re just going to have to give up, but an organised, visual timeline is a very good way of figuring that out for yourself.
What are some ones that you would recommend as “better than others” for this? Because I really do need to VISUALLY see them all, and I think that is definitely part of my problem. (I know how they might/should connect, but I need it laid out in a way that I can really see “does this work or am I trying to do something that is too much/doesn’t fit or need to be there”)
It’s a general world building site more than it’s a specifically a timeline one but campfire is really great and it also has a timeline feature. I generally really like to use worldbuilding sites cause I think it helps you organise your mind a lot. For general world building, organisations and story planning sites there’s also vvd.sh which is great and has a really cool mind map feature. Good luck!
You need to work the political/religious corruption into the main story. Otherwise, leave it out. What you’re doing now is like saying that world is corrupted, but it has nothing to do with my story. So think how does this corruption affect the enemies-to-lovers trope? Could they have been lovers sooner or enemies longer if it wasn’t for the corruption? Did corruption bring them together to fight it?
Yes it’s definitely a key aspect of what made them in enemies to start with, what keeps them separated / on opposite sides for a good chuck, and it’s the whole “they find out the truth of the corruption/the truth of the religious hypocrisy/etc.” that has them coming together, and the core of the plot of the story.
The main villain/antagonist for them (together) is basically this corrupted world, expressed and shown in the leaders and the council of it.
Then why did you say “But I'm struggling with how to get that overall plot line coherent with the political/religious corruption that plays its part into WHY the world works in the way that it does”? How exactly are you struggling?