Young Writers Society

I am in the process of writing a novel and I am looking for a site that has plot charts I could use. I am thinking of something that has columns. Do you know what I'm talking about? If you know of a site that has them, I would like a link.

Also, if you have any advice for developing plot, characters, or anything at all, I would love for you to share it with me! I have gone through the "101 tips for writers" and found it very helpful.

Hey there LauRux. Moved this to Writers Corner since this is talking about your project. Ask an Expert is more for when you want information on specific subjects rather than general writing questions.

As for the plotting help, I'm not sure what you mean by charts, but you might want to give the Snowflake Method a try. It's actually a very simple method, but it can create very complex plots.

If you could clarify what you mean by chart-based, maybe I can find a couple for you.

Oops, sorry for posting it in the wrong place! Thanks for straightening that out for me.

I don't really know how to describe what I'm after, but the link you gave was incredibly useful, so thanks! Problem solved.

My best advice for developing plot, characters, or anything at all, is to write out the whole novel and let it sit for a few months. Then sit down with a stack of paper and a pen next to you and read the novel. Do not use the pen to fix grammar. Use it to write notes about slow spots, spots that need expanding, off character moments, anything you can find that doesn't look right.

Repeat from there.

Also, practice on short stories. They are fantastic for working out that stuff, because you can polish it in a much shorter period of time. By seeing your results a lot faster than a novel, they provide better practice for breaking out of your comfort zone and character interactions than a full-length novel. Pacing for long works, though, is better done in a novel.

And what works for me is writing out each scene on Index cards. Then I can put them in order and figure out where thin spots in the plot are just from how many scenes are in the area (although small transition areas have a really high possibility of turning into a knot of scenes, so it's by no means a definitive guide to thin spots.)

Wow, gosh, thanks so much. I have been doing more practice writing, short stories and such, and I have found that it helps. The index card idea is a new one to me, and I will absolutely try that out!