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how to plot a novel?



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Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:35 pm
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shulchan says...



I have no idea how to plot.

For my first novel, I plotted out everything- every character and every scene down to the last detail. But by the time I was ready to start though, I was bored sick of my novel. I knew what was going to happen so I didn't really feel like writing it anymore.

So then I went to the opposite extreme. For my next attempt at a novel, I just started making things up as I went along. But while I did have something of a plot line going, it was confusing and erratic and I had to keep going back to fix things I had previously written that were being contradicted. Not to mention my writing had something of an empty feel to it- I wasn't really sure what I was writing about and it was obvious through my writing.

So what I want to know is how to plot. I want to know how to plot just enough to know what I'm talking about and have something to say, but not too much or else I'll be bored. And it needs to be an extremely organized system with an order to the way I plot so I can keep track of what's going on.

thank you, any help would be very much appreciated!
  





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Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:47 pm
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NightWolf says...



I would suggest sketching out a very brief plot. For example, just name the problem. Let your characters guide you to that problem. And of course, don't be afraid to stray off the plot a little.
"We're all just stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?" The Eleventh Doctor
  





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Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:54 pm
lostthought says...



Just plot it down to the big scenes. Like your characters jumped off a bridge or met a dragon. Let the little scenes come along naturally.
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Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:37 pm
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Love says...



Yes... What I did personally was just have a few big scenes in mind, as well as the ending, and wrote towards that :)
I was Amareth :)
  





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Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:10 pm
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Tenyo says...



Going back to fix stuff

That's a part of the writing process. Once you've written the first draft you can go in and bridge the caps and fill in the pot holes and all the rest. If you try to keep the plot completely consistent from start to finish you'll exhaust yourself. Especially since you'll still be thinking of chapter one when you're on chapter fifty nine.

Keeping it organised

Sometimes the simplest is always the most organised. If you try to keep track of three different characters on three different journeys and where they all are at what point in time then, again, you'll exhaust yourself.

Personally when I'm struggling I just make note cards (virtual or real ones.) Once you've written a scene you can put a brief summary on the card, and then make a mark on the top with a different colour depending on which characters are in it.

Then you just flip through to find what you need. You might not have everything at hand with the click of a mouse, but that's a good thing. It allows ideas to flow better, instead of having to constantly reference as if you were writing a science journal or something.

Getting bored of your novel

This is probably the most daunting part of editing, and when you've done enough plotting it can almost seem like that. You already know everything that's going to happen, so what else?

Enjoy the creative process. Imagine the plot like the walls of a house. You may know where all the different rooms are and what their purpose will be, but you've still got to decorate them and give them life and character. Then when you're done, you've got to really live in them, you've got to throw a tantrum at the dinner table and kiss on the doorstep and all the other things that make turn it into a home.

It's those extra descriptions, the introspection, fond recollections and brief fascinations that make the writing process fun even when the plot has already been figured out.

Hope this helps!
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Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:47 pm
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Rosendorn says...



For me, I am an A to B writer. So I figure out a start point, and an end point, with a bunch of mini goals to work towards in the middle. Point B can shift around depending on what happens as I write towards it, but it helps give me a rough guide for what to do and where to go.

I try not to plan out every single thing, but I do have goals I want to work towards, if only to keep me interesting! Now, I write in chronological order, so this might not be the best method for you. But it works rather well when you need to know where to go, but don't want to get bored. Since you're making up everything between A and B, it keeps writing pretty fresh.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:50 pm
shulchan says...



thanks, guys! this really helped!
  





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Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:10 am
ssurkho says...



A good plot has a clear motivation. It has a clear structure, an outcome and subplots. It is no small task learning how to plot a novel. Not only do you have a lot of actions to dream up and flesh out into scenes and story line passages, you also have to present them in such a way that the readers keep turning the pages. Plotting is the process of describing your novel in summarized form, usually before you start the actual work of writing it. First, it can be very useful in the writing of your novel, especially when you start to lose your way. Second, it's much quicker to read, revise and rewrite a two page summary than a four hundred page novel. It's easier to spot flaws and it's easier to get an overview of the whole book.
  








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