Saturday, October 28, 2017

5 Abi-Invented Plotting Methods to Try

In the true spirit of NaNo, I shall try to win you all over to the plotter side today!!! Just kidding, I'm really more of plantser, but I almost always end up using all five of these plotting methods per story. Only then am I confident enough to begin the first draft.


(These are in the order I usually do them, but it doesn't actually matter!)
Okay, so I have this adorable little notebook that I got from T J Maxx a while back (obviously, where else?). It was like $3 and I loved it. It's tan with rounded edges and says "Shakespeare never tweeted a sonnet" on the front. *heart eyes* It has become my official jot down place for new story ideas and developments. Whenever something brilliant comes to me about an undeveloped story idea, I create a new little entry. Nothing fancy, but I love having it in one little place.

So it's got Kansas research for Martin Hospitality and stories from my grandfather for the book I'd like to someday write on his ancestors. Name lists and random new plot twists corresponding with my many Pinterest boards.
Okay, so this isn't a real method, nor is it strictly mine haha xD But yes, Pinterest storyboards! They are the best. And no they are not girly. Even guys can do this. I suggest you make your storyboards public if you care a thing about followers, because that doubled my following pretty quickly. And who doesn't want to see what I will someday write about ... right? Don't be selfish and do this just for you; share the love ;)


Anyway, you should have a place for any serious story idea/WIP in you have so that as pins drift across your feed, you can save them to your boards! Some people go all aesthetic, but I'm a mix of character faces, sayings that fit the story, settings, and aesthetic images. :P And I'm enough of a maniac that when I first get a story idea ... I actually hunt for pins through a gazillion different searches to get me started. It's like having all your inspiration in one little place.
I'm not the only one who does this either, but I decided to do this all on my own! In short, I use a shortcut to personality type my main characters so that I understand them better. Do not use the actual test (it will take you hours to do this). I use this chart from Pinterest instead ;)

If you're anti-Myers-Briggs, move along. But if you want to know my entire process for this step, I wrote an article about it on Project Canvas that you can read here. :) #selfpromotion
This is a new thing for me! I've only done it with my WIP Matinee Regulars. 

It's all organized because I put some categories up in a blank Google Doc and go to town rambling about anything I've thought up that falls under that heading. The point is to have all my thoughts and ideas on paper, but under headers that categorize the themes and flow of the plot. Having all of that in the back of my head gives me stronger writing, and I often have to look back at it to remember what big point I had coming next.

(Sorry, I feel like this is really hard to explain without showing you one of my pages, but #spoilers.)

The first header I use is PLOT. I decide which type of plot I have using Step 2 of this pin and make their breakdown mine. Then I commence rambling under each so I can see the flow of events, but also throw out all the details in my head. This narrative arc pin is also helpful, but I have a hard time combining the two ... so I usually check to make sure the flow of this is woven in. I usually have an "other details" section, too just to make sure everything floating around in my head lands on paper.

CHARACTERS is my other main header. Using the same pin, I choose my hero type (Step 3) and make a list of which characters might fit which type listed in Step 4. Then I have a romantic relationship section where I pull the 5 steps from this pin. I go ahead and consider points for each step, although the pin is really designed to help you think about different options with relationships.

It's kind of hard to explain rambling in an orderly fashion, but ... there you go! Definitely take a look at those pins and see how you can use them to your own purposes. They're the best I've found!
If you are super anti-plot and don't care about anything I've said so far ... this is the method for you. It has saved me so many times! And it's super simple. Before you start drafting a chapter, make a quick bullet point list of things you think should happen in that chapter. This helps me keep threads going and gives me a general pattern to follow throughout the chapter. Sometimes I need to write more than that, and sometimes I don't get that far because ... pantsing :P

For Martin Hospitality my lists would have looked something like this:

  • feed/mention the cat
  • include Farris development
  • mention apartment noises
  • go to church (sermon on forgiveness)
  • nursery with Clair
  • lunch with Bradley
  • have Hollie's car break down

The first three are things to weave in so the themes keep running through, and the others are actual plot points to keep the story going. A simple key to sanity. ;)
Okay, so are you a plotter (plot things), pantser (fly by the seat of your pants), or plantser (mix)? What methods do you use to plot? Which one of these appeals to you the most?

18 comments:

  1. I'm a plantser. I like to plot enough so I'm not completely lost, but not so much that I'm tired of the story. I didn't plot enough with my first WIP, so I'm doing more with my NaNo novel, The Rose Dagger. Are you doing NaNo, Abi? How's Matinee Regulars going?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! Join the plantser club ;D

      Yes, I did decide to do NaNo! Although I think it will be pretty low key for me. I'm going to co-host a few 5k1day challenges (writing 5,000 words in a day), but who knows if I'll even be able to meet that :P I'll just be continuing Matinee Regulars for that ;) It's going pretty well! I took a break this week. But I've drafted 35/70k so far! So hopefully I'll have a first draft by the end of the year. I haven't lost my interest quite yet, and I've been pleased with the progress.

      Thanks for asking :)

      Delete
    2. *joins the club with the super awesome Abi*

      That's so cool! I love hearing about other peoples' NaNo projects. ;) I'm aiming for 30k because I've never done NaNo before and with school it's gonna be tough.

      Delete
    3. 30k is an awesome goal! My minimum goal is 20k, but obviously it would be awesome if I could just finish the draft in November!! We'll see haha xD I've hit 50k before but it's so hard that my words aren't nearly as quality :/

      Delete
  2. These are interesting methods! I love pinteresting as a form of building on an idea :) That's the best. And the bullet point is how I used to plot before I discovered the Three Act Plot structure. I still do bullet points, but they're a little more structured. (Also, I thought you said "character" instead of "chapter" at first and I was like OHHH A PLOT THAT'S CHARACTER BASED OOOH. I think that would be interesting to try)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Pinterest is just awesome. xD I have tried and tried to follow a narrative arc chart or the three act structure or SOMETHING. And it never quite works for me :/ I don't know if it's too big picture for me or what ... but often my storylines end up following the flow well enough.

      That would be cool!! Honestly because I plan my characters the most (because I love that part), I think my plots are kind of character-based. I need to have a general setting and plot idea. But characters are the MUST for me to get somewhere in my writing!! :)

      Delete
  3. These tips are AWESOME!! <3 Thanks!! I'm probably a plantser. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you find them helpful!! They're SO unique to me, I wasn't sure how applicable they were. xP Yay, join the plantser club!! Don't tell anyone, but we're actually the best ;)

      Delete
  4. THESE ARE SUCH GREAT TIPS WOW BLESS YOU. <3 I'm due for some MAJOR plotting, so this is insanely helpful!!! Happy NaNo season!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahhhhh I'm so glad you think so ^.^ This is totally a "peek into Abi's obscure brain" post, so I'm glad there were takeaways xD Sounds about right!! Good luck with that! Happy NaNo season to you, too <3

      Delete
  5. Thanks for the tips!! I'm heading into a sort-of NaNoWriMo experiment, and so it's been good to read different "veteran"s' advice posts. I'm sure this will be helpful! Thanks again! As Grace Anne said, bless you. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohhhh a NaNo experiment ... that's so intriguing }:D I'm glad you found it useful, Olivia! :)

      Delete
  6. Oh nice! These are great tips! I'll have to try some of them sometime. I'm a plantser myself. ;P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yesss, another plantser!!! <3 I am very curious to see how helpful these methods actually are for other people, or if this is all just how my brain works xD

      Delete
  7. I think I'm a mixture, but my plotting style is messy. I'm hoping to fix that once I finish my WIP. My WIP is already too far in to fix my plotting style. XD These tips will definitely help. Awesome post! <3

    ~Ivie
    iviewrites.blogspot.com
    <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hoorah for messy plotting styles! xD 'Tis precisely why I consider myself a plantser ;) Yes, sometimes stepping back can only do so much good in the middle of a story. I kind of reinvent the plotting wheel every time I start something new! :)

      Delete

Comments are how I know you've been here! I try hard to reply to all the comments in a timely fashion, but regardless, know that if you leave a comment, I will read it and it will make me smile. :) Please no profanity or soliciting.