Plotting a Novel: The Big Picture vs. Single Scenes

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Plotting a novel (or a short story) seems like it ought to be an easy thing to do, because you’re just describing what happens in the book. But “How do I plot a novel?” is also the number one question I get asked, so clearly, plotting is harder than it looks.

When I first started writing, I too struggled with plotting. I didn’t fully understand what it was, so I wound up explaining how my characters explored whatever cool idea I’d come up with. I had no actual plots, even though I’d thought I did. All my novels sounded like this (and yes, these are manuscripts I’ve written):
A fantasy novel about a group of pirates who get caught up in an ancient prophecy and have to fight an evil god A science fiction novel about a group of teens who get stranded on a new colony world and have to survive until help comes A middle grade novel about a group of outcasts at a school for monsters Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com