Struggling Writers discussion
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What Kind Of Plotter Are You? (Full Plot Templates Inside!)
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Let me know what you all have done (either from this list or on your own) that helps you keep in the zone!:)
I'll take a look at templates and outlines. My current method for thrillers appears to be to write then end then figure out how to get there. Often the end turns out not to be the original one.
To help out, I found this link very useful... and comically spot on. http://www.secretgeek.net/nonwriter# i think it helps. I especially favor the
Golden Rule # 4: “Golden rule: the bigger the vocabulary, the better the book. Every now and then you should beflabbergastimate your reader with a shimmerglitzering showray of innovational superlatative cogitations.”
So you want to write a novel.
Well, you’ve come to the right place! NaNoWriMo (a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing.
It's for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
Now, we know that 50k words in 30 days is sounds intimidating, but
if you're not sure where to start, or need some extra help, there are tons of NaNo Prep resources here to inspire, challenge, and help prepare you to start writing.
Method 1: The “Jot, Bin, Pants” Method.
You’ve got the seed of an idea—a character that calls to you, a world to discover, maybe a few plot ideas. Now it’s time to explore that idea, but not on the page… in your head! Okay, that sounded weird. Here’s what we mean. Instead of writing a whole novel to find out which twists end up getting you stuck, or to realize that it would’ve been a more interesting choice for your character to do A instead of B way back in the beginning, we’re going to do all that story imagining at the level of scene instead of sentence.
Here's your plot outlining template, pantser!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17...
Method 2: Give Me the Basics; The Plot Rollercoaster.
You're all about the essentials—nothing too complicated or specific. The Plot Rollercoaster is a good outlining structure to start with. You might even remember learning about it in school! Whether you stop here or use it as a starting point for more in-depth planning, it’s a good tool to have in your writing bag (box? knapsack? treasure chest?).
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I...
I <3 Plot! The 9-Step Plot Dot.
“Beginning, middle, and end” just doesn’t cut it for you - you want more! You’re not making any 100-point outlines, but you do appreciate a well-structured, well-planned plot. Why not try the elegant yet simple, detailed yet accessible 9-Step Plot Dot (adapted from the Hero’s Journey model)? As NaNoWriMo participant Derek Murphy said in his Plot Dot blog post: “Nearly all fiction follows some version of the classical hero’s journey: a character has an experience, learns something, and is consequently improved. There are turning points and scenes that need to be included in your story—if they are missing it won’t connect with readers in an emotionally powerful way. And it’s a thousand times easier to map them out before you write your book.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Follow this 9-Step structure to discover the tentpoles of your story, and
read the whole blog post here for more details and guidance.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14...
Method 4: More Structure, Please: Save the Cat! Beat Sheet.
Some people like to write their way through the wilds of a first draft and then figure out where
the story is later. You are not one of these people! You enjoy figuring out how the pieces of a story work together, and planning out the specific plot beats of your story ahead of time make you feel confident and ready to write.
The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet was originally developed by Blake Snyder to help screenwriters plot movies, but it works just as well with graphic novels and, of course, novels!
Here's the full Save a Cat! Plot Outline Structure Below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f...
Method 5: I <3 Outlining SO MUCH! Katytastic’s 3 Act/9 Block/27 Chapter Outline.
GIVE ME ALL THE PLANS! GIVE THEM TO ME! For those of us who love spreadsheets, who enjoy step-by-steps, who like to understand all the nitty, gritty little pieces of how something works, or who just feel like they could use some detailed and specific support around how to plot, enjoy! 3 Acts, 9 Blocks, 27 Chapters...one well-structured story.
Here's the full spreadsheet, here!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Well there you have it! All 5 methods of organizing your plot that NaNo recommends! We know there's millions of methods out there, but we hope you find one of them to your fancy. Enjoy!
Comments? Opinions? Drop one below!