How to Plan your Novel... beginner tips!

You want to write something.  You've tried flying by the seat of your pants before, and it works in its own way, but you keep hearing people tell you to PLAN and PLOT ahead of time.  But it's hard to know where to start if you've never done it before!

Some of this you've probably done already.  Some of it you may have thought about doing but didn't do it or didn't know how to go about doing it...  so here is my really simplistic view on it all.  I figure we all need somewhere to start, and this can work from short stories to novels to epic trilogies.  Heck, you could plan out a whole trilogy, plot-wise, before writing it!  Wouldn't you be awesome with your interwoven plot themes and all that?  Yeah you would!!!

OK, so here we go!

First off, figure out who your main character is, and anyone else who is important to them.  If you don't know, off the bat, who the "bad guy"(antagonist) is, that's OK!  It will come to you.


Write it down.  Names.  How do they look?  How old?  Interests?  Dislikes?  Pet peeves?  How do they dress?  How do they act?  What kinds of people are they friends with?


Do this for every person you create.  If you come up with a new person in the middle of your book, when it's a natural stopping point, take a minute to write them one of these character sketches too.


Where does your story take place?  If it is a fictional world entirely, are there any rules you need to tell us about?  Magic,  (how does it work?) creatures (tell yourself about them!), space-time continuum stuff needs to be explained, at least to yourself.  YOU need to know the rules so the audience knows there ARE rules.  This is easier to do if you make them up ahead of time!  Really!


Once you're done with your character and world sketches, get started on your outline.  This doesn't have to be a big drawn out thing up front.  Start small.


Figure out the basics:  Beginning, middle, end.  Write down the big points.  Then expand on it.


What happens in the beginning, maybe 3 points you want to hit on. 
What happens in the middle, maybe 3 points you want to hit on.
What happens in the end, maybe 3 more points. 


Then go in and add transition points. What happens between beginning and middle to GET you to the middle? Middle to end?


It doesn't have to be super long or drawn out, but basics. Start slow for your outline and grow it from there.


You are allowed to change your mind, of course.  And you're allowed to bend the rules or the order, etc, but this will help you along if you get stuck while you're writing.  You get stuck?  You look at your outline.  What comes next?  Write toward it.  


Just try it! See how it works for you! 

I have officially done it.

I've lost my mind.  Wait, no, that's not it.  I've finished the first draft of my NaNo Novel:  Through a Mirror, Darkly.  This is the first long work I've actually come up with an ending for and made happen.  I have lots of open ended pieces I need to close out, but this is the first novel-length thing I've FINISHED.

That was my real goal during NaNoWriMo 2011:  finish what you start.

So I've done just that, and I know it needs crazy amounts of revision, and that's okay.  Really!  I don't mind!  I need to go back through it, make sure I'm consistent throughout with details and dates and all that, and fix the errors...  I need to decide what my themes are, since I seem to have a couple, and see if I can play that up.  I need to let it sit on a shelf and collect dust once I'm done with the minor edits.  I might even re-write it, but I'm not sure about THAT one yet.  I do like most of it.  A rewrite is kind of a drastic thing, but I do need to hack it to bits with a machete.  And I can't do that while it's so near and dear to my heart.  Oh, pretty little first novel draft of mine....  *Swoon!*

Anyway, so off we send National Novel Writing Month.  In comes personal editing month.  Back to my fantasy novel month, and with my success (small as it may be to some), I bring my faux wisdom:

• Small steps, but don't get behind.  1-3,000 words every day.  Do more on the days you don't work the "real job".
• Have a PLAN.  Figure out where this thing is going, and take it there.  Ride the waves as they come, sure, but you steer that boat your own self!  
• Make yourself notes!  Character sketches, plot outlines, ideas for later, write them down in a separate file.
• Speaking of files, SAVE SAVE SAVE!  And not just in one place.  Send yourself email, save on your own private blog, something.  But save!!!  The worst thing is losing all your hard work!  Don't let it happen!
• Keep at it.  If you are having a not-writing day, set a timer for 15 minutes and do nothing else for a little while.  It's just like anything else (yoga!), once you get moving, you'll probably want to keep moving.  Work in spurts if you have to, but keep at it.
• Take breaks!  Don't just work until your eyes bleed or you're delirious.  That doesn't make for good writing.  Take a break, take a walk, read a book, play a game, hang out with your kids, your spouse, your dog.  You'll come back to it with a new perspective, even if you don't realize it.
• If you are on a roll, make yourself notes so you can come back and fill in blanks later.  If you can't remember what color hair your love interest has, don't stop and look.  You'll get distracted.  Type "so and so's (hair color?) locks waved in the wind," and keep going.  Fill it in later when you are editing.
• And finally, write first, edit later.  You have permission to re-read, but leave it alone!  Edit later.  If you can't stand to look at something, change the font to white, so it is still there if you decide to look at it again.

Okay, there I go pretending I know what I'm talking about again.  But I've just come off of it.  I do know.  I'm in your shoes.  *nod*

So, let's get back to it, NaNo or no NaNo!  I'll be starting up the flash fiction challenges again on Friday!  I'll give us all a day off to decompress first.  :)

And just for fun, my final draft Word Cloud, from Tagxedo!

Planning Your Plot, the basics

Wrote this in answer to a question on the NaNoWriMo forum on Facebook.  How do you go about planning?  This is pretty simplified, but should get you started!  :)


Character sketches: Names, brief background, defining features, quirks. Add to them as you go and come upon them. Helps if you can't remember which person had shoulder length brown hair and which one had cropped black, etc, or which person chews their nails when something is going wrong. Handy and helps you keep it all straight. :)

Treat your locations as characters too. If you're making up your setting, write as much as you can about each place. Names, pronunciations, part of the world, weather, types of trees/plants/buildings/people/clothing/accents, etc. All of it. Get it out there and put it in the same place as your character sketches.

For "outline", unless you have a very clear idea of what you're doing already, don't go straight to it. Start with a synopsis. Break it into three parts:

Beginning, middle, end.

Then expand on that. What happens in the beginning? What happens in the middle? What happens to resolve everything in the end?

Then expand on THAT. What has to happen to make the beginning go that way? And the middle? And the end?

When you've planned it that far, you should be able to get it into something of an outline form.

But the big thing is to write it down. Save it in more than one place, just in case. Print it out if you must. Write it into a spreadsheet if that will help you see it.

But plan. I've done it both ways, and planning is by far easier in the end than just running with it. If you get stuck, you look at your outline/synopsis/spreadsheet. You know what happens next. Make it happen.

Good luck!! :)