One
of the biggest issues for writers is keeping all the plots they
construct organized, along with the flow of the story and the way the
characters develop with the plot. For every author it's different,
and I struggled while I was working on my debut novel, Majician's
Journey, “TheProphecy,” and it shows, at least to me. I'm told though, that
people are very critical by nature of their own work, but that's
another matter entirely.
I'd
tried to outline, like we'd been taught in my English classes in high
school, and it always felt too refined, too finite. When I used an
outline, I felt too restricted and often ended up diverting entirely
off topic. The basic plot would rarely change but the details I'd
imagined and jotted down almost always did. I think it was more in part my
initial brainstorming/epiphany being flawed than with the way I was
writing the story. Outlining in the standard sense just wasn't going
to work for me.
Before
I started working on my current book, I had a breakthrough. One day I got the urge to start working and I was curious
as to how some of my favorite authors planned their work, so I
started with the most obvious, Joanne Rowling, whom I respect and
admire greatly. I ended up clicking on a Google search result that
led me to a photo of a page from her notebook laying out her plan for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in which she'd set up a grid, kind of like an Excel sheet (this is
probably what I liken it to most), that laid out the time of year,
the times, the chapters and the individual chapter plots among other
things.
When
I saw it my brain whirred, and started building it's own version,
making changes that began to fit perfectly with how I write and the
way I approach the writing process. I'm use a very free-style way of writing, so-to-speak, preferring to let the words just “come-out,” rather than thinking
too much about them. I I've found that with me, if I think too much about the story while I write, everything begins to feel forced. I
eventually came up with what you see below ruled onto a legal pad:
Month
|
Characters
|
#Days
|
Plot
|
Title
|
Narrator
|
Notes
|
Apr-May
|
Mattes
Kai
Mica
|
Flashback
<1
|
Intro main chars minor back-story; the tattoo; build maerick's
emotional connection for later
|
Gathering
|
Mattes
|
Maybe start with the tat spell? Kinda solemn, serious tone, an
older mattes reflecting
|
With
this, I can keep track of what time of year it is, the characters I'm
working with and where they are, as well as approximately how many
days need to be covered in that chapter, there is a place for me to
write down the gist of the plot, I also know the chapter title (or a
list of contenders at least, although sometimes they're blank (shh!))
and there is a spot for my notes or thoughts about the chapter. In
the above example I used the first chapter of The
Prophecy
for example, because I can't exactly use a current chapter, now can
I?
This
method of outlining keeps me on-track, but allows me the freedom to
create the story more fluidly. I've also used time lines a lot
throughout, mostly to lay out the back-story for events that happened
a long time ago but I still may need to reference because they're
important to what is going on now. I need to keep everything
aligned so that the dates and times are consistent throughout the series. I recommend
time lines enthusiastically to anyone who has similar needs.
Keep
in mind that, as I mentioned in the beginning, there is no de facto method for outlining or planning that works for
everyone. Having a good understanding of how you think and work will
make finding a method that works for you so much easier. The easiest way to
figure out how you're working and thinking and what your “process”
is could be by listing exactly why a standard MLA outline doesn't
work for you, or what's wrong with it, along with other things you
try. Experiment. After all writing is an art-form, and even though art isn't a science
(though science can be art), at the heart of every artist
needs to live a scientist because experimentation is so important in
our work.
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