Plotting Novels

[traumerei]

I'm making my first attempt at something. As you might have guessed, I've never plotted a novel before. I'm hoping that some of you more experience writers out there might be able to give me some hints about how to do so. I've got a general idea of the novel and a good understanding of the characters, I just don't know how to write any of it down or how to set it up. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :D

[Julian]

The fundamental mistakes writers make is the way they thread out the events of their novel. My guess is that you probably only think of the defining idea and which settings and characters coalesce with this. While this is not necessarily wrong, the flaw here is that you don't really think of the chronological aspect of the story.

My advice is to create multiple settings. Instead of thinking about characters, this is ultimately the easiest thing to do. Do concrete settings, such as a hospital, a hotel. That way, you can easily form out the events, and thus envelope the plot alongside them. It's very simple to think of a setting you know.

Once you've thought out of multiple settings, visualising them in your head, create what I'd like to call as 'transitions'. These are events which lead to another action or setting. Transitions are everything in writing novels and maintaining a stead flow.


Now that you've made the plot and settings, flesh out your characters. The story does not have to be linear. Make them have flashbacks (e.g nostalgia strikes after they revisit a place, an object evokes a memory).


Good luck~~

[Dabs]

I like to start by writing down the broader ideas I have. What are the themes of the story? Where are the characters right now (point A)? Where do I want them to end up (point B)? What is the main conflict/plot of the story?

Then I get smaller. Give a summary of how the characters get from point A to point B. What are the main physical conflicts in the story? How do those physical conflicts effect the characters?

Then I get even smaller. I write out some plot arcs that detail how the physical events link in with the characters and how the characters start to grow and develop. After that I'll probably start making little chapter summaries detailing what each one will accomplish. Each chapter summary can either be specific or unspecific. It depends on what's happening, whether it's more plot or character, or just how much inspiration you're feeling when you write the summary.

I personally work better with vague summaries for character driven chapters and specific summaries for plot driven chapters. If you have a lot of action then you should thoroughly map out what's going to happen beforehand since you don't want the scene/chapter to get out of control. If you have a lot of character development then you can kinda let it grow organically since, I feel, it's better to let the characters take control in a more emotional situation--let them have a life of their own.

This usually all goes into one or two Word documents. Beyond that, I'll have some character info/bios, setting info/world info (if I'm writing fantasy), and any other essential information spread into other documents.

This can be a bit tedious, I suppose, but it's just how my brain works and it's always helped me.

[Gale_of_Hades]

The others gave good advice, so I thought I'd toss in something to think about. Once you have a plot figured out you should find away to bring it to life, don't just tell me what the characters feel but make me feel what they feel, get inside my head and instead of describing what the characters look like, Paint a masterpeice, show me what it is you want me to see. The way I see it, writeing a novel is like playing music, you have to feel the rythem and beat, let it come alive and dance around our heads. Not sure if you'll understand what I'm trying to say, but if you do I hope it helps.

[Dabs]

The others gave good advice, so I thought I'd toss in something to think about. Once you have a plot figured out you should find away to bring it to life, don't just tell me what the characters feel but make me feel what they feel, get inside my head and instead of describing what the characters look like, Paint a masterpeice, show me what it is you want me to see. The way I see it, writeing a novel is like playing music, you have to feel the rythem and beat, let it come alive and dance around our heads. Not sure if you'll understand what I'm trying to say, but if you do I hope it helps.

Not that I disagree with what you've written, but that doesn't really relate to plotting the novel so much as it relates to actually writing it. Also, that advice can be applied to any kind of story. :P

[traumerei]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm sure that this will be helpful. Now to just sit down and stop procrastinating.