How I Use Scapple to Plot a Novel (Spoilers!)

Scapple is a fantastic way to plan out what you want to write before you write it. It’s designed as an old-fashioned brain mapping program. It has bubbles with lines connecting them and that is about all. The best part about doing that kind of work on a computer and not on a piece of paper is that if you want to move an idea around in the story and reconnect it somewhere else, you don’t have to erase anything and start over.

I found Scapple particularly useful on the chapter level, where it really helped me map out step-by-step what would take place in each scene. Sometimes I followed it to the letter. Other times I didn’t. Here are a few examples from The Far Bank of the Rubicon. (WARNING SPOILERS!)