This week, Marcia Hoehne posted some interesting tips on plotting (To Plot or Not) based on her reading of James Scott Bell. She discusses how it's important to figure out what works for you.
Now that I've made it to Novel #4, I'm finally starting to get a kind of system for plotting. I've always tried to make some kind of outline or summary first. I think it works for me. But it occurs to me that I've never really tried the other approach - the "fly by the seat of your pants" approach.
I have to confess, the whole idea of trying to sustain a story without any kind of outline scares me a little. But I also wonder if I can do it. Then I realized I kind of already am.
As a "warm up" to get myself in a writing mood, I started with just writing whatever comes into my head. But it's turning out to be another story. I have no plot chart, no character chart, no nothing except whatever pops into my head at the moment. And the ideas I record in my notebook as they bubble up at odd moments. I have no idea if it will develop into another novel, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Do you outline or not? Have you ever taken a serious stab at using the other approach?
Showing posts with label outlining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outlining. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Monday, March 28, 2011
Plotting (Part 2): Developing an Outline and Synopsis
After I've spent some time collecting ideas for a novel, my next big step is to organize them into an outline. The more novels I write, the more I learn about my writing process. I've learned that I need an outline to keep me on track. The more thinking I can do up front, the better the novel flows when I'm writing. And the easier it is to revise the novel later.
How do I make my outline? I've tried various methods, including The Snowflake method and the Nine-Step method. For my newest project, I'm following the structure I've read about in Blake Snyder's Save the Cat. Here's what I've created:
Visual Storyboard. Using a piece of cardboard and my ideas on sticky notes (or pieces of paper with sticky tack), I can see the general structure for my novel.
Summary of Plot Elements. I made a simple 3-column table in a word document with the headings: Plot Element, Example, My Story.
Plot elements are things like: Opening Image, Thematic Statement, Set Up, Catalyst, Debate, Break into Act II, etc. They're all listed on Blake Synder's beat sheet.
Example helps me remember what I'm trying to do with each plot element. The examples came from Laura Pauling's excellent plot analysis of the movie How to Train Your Dragon. If you want to learn more about plot structure, I highly recommend you read Laura's plotting posts.
My Story is for the events and ideas I'm developing. As I try to figure out how my ideas related to each plot element, I discover how I want to start and end the story, where I have missing pieces, and roughly where key events will go. I don't spell everything out. For example, I have vague sentences like: They do some wilderness stuff, finding water, building a fire, etc. This leaves me with room to discover while I'm writing. At the same time, I have enough direction so that I'll have a coherent story.
Having used several different methods for outlining, I like the "Save the Cat" method the best. Once I figured out all the plot elements, I had everything I needed to write a story synopsis.
Synopsis. This is a key part of my planning process. It gives me a sense of the whole story and motivates me to get writing! I also use it to create my one-sentence pitch and, later, my query letter. When I copy the My Story column from my table as text only, I have the bare bones of the synopsis already done. I just have to make it sound a little better.
How do I make my outline? I've tried various methods, including The Snowflake method and the Nine-Step method. For my newest project, I'm following the structure I've read about in Blake Snyder's Save the Cat. Here's what I've created:
Visual Storyboard. Using a piece of cardboard and my ideas on sticky notes (or pieces of paper with sticky tack), I can see the general structure for my novel.
Summary of Plot Elements. I made a simple 3-column table in a word document with the headings: Plot Element, Example, My Story.
Plot elements are things like: Opening Image, Thematic Statement, Set Up, Catalyst, Debate, Break into Act II, etc. They're all listed on Blake Synder's beat sheet.
Example helps me remember what I'm trying to do with each plot element. The examples came from Laura Pauling's excellent plot analysis of the movie How to Train Your Dragon. If you want to learn more about plot structure, I highly recommend you read Laura's plotting posts.
My Story is for the events and ideas I'm developing. As I try to figure out how my ideas related to each plot element, I discover how I want to start and end the story, where I have missing pieces, and roughly where key events will go. I don't spell everything out. For example, I have vague sentences like: They do some wilderness stuff, finding water, building a fire, etc. This leaves me with room to discover while I'm writing. At the same time, I have enough direction so that I'll have a coherent story.
Having used several different methods for outlining, I like the "Save the Cat" method the best. Once I figured out all the plot elements, I had everything I needed to write a story synopsis.
Synopsis. This is a key part of my planning process. It gives me a sense of the whole story and motivates me to get writing! I also use it to create my one-sentence pitch and, later, my query letter. When I copy the My Story column from my table as text only, I have the bare bones of the synopsis already done. I just have to make it sound a little better.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
How Does Your Writing Challenge You?
I'm still working on my two novels, but I'm at different places in their progress. With Novel B, which I've been calling "Bubble Story", I'm still working out a rough plot outline. This might be the one that I come back to later. It has some exciting elements, but I still haven't worked out how the story will come together without being too predictable. It might be a story that I need to start writing before I can see the ending.
Novel A, "Cooking Story", is really tugging at my brain. I'm working on Chapter 2, and enjoying getting to know my main character. My progress is slow. I only write part of a chapter or scene each day, but it's hard to break away when my writing time is up. This one is completely outlined, including the ending, because I'm hoping to eliminate many major plot revisions. (Of course, I'm sure I'll still have some.)
Both of these stories are different from the other novels I've written, which is great because I like to be challenged. I think that's why my plots always get too complicated! As if writing a whole novel isn't challenging enough. Both novels involve a MC that is cut off from mainstream society in some way, and both are lacking something that creates an obstacle for them (maybe that's really me, missing something in my writing).
Novel A, "Cooking Story", is really tugging at my brain. I'm working on Chapter 2, and enjoying getting to know my main character. My progress is slow. I only write part of a chapter or scene each day, but it's hard to break away when my writing time is up. This one is completely outlined, including the ending, because I'm hoping to eliminate many major plot revisions. (Of course, I'm sure I'll still have some.)
Both of these stories are different from the other novels I've written, which is great because I like to be challenged. I think that's why my plots always get too complicated! As if writing a whole novel isn't challenging enough. Both novels involve a MC that is cut off from mainstream society in some way, and both are lacking something that creates an obstacle for them (maybe that's really me, missing something in my writing).
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