Thread: How to plan effectively?

Hi everyone,
My writing head has been a bit muddled lately. I want to get back into writing properly. I have the first half of a novel, 140,000 words, that I wrote years ago but its badly written and not mature enough. The plot is too sketchy and jumps about too much.

I had planned on rewriting the whole thing, but the more I read it, the more I see that the raw material has promise. Its essentially a first draft, when ideas spilled out of my hands onto the keyboard and covered the white screen with black letters.

I wouldn't mind working from that first draft rather than starting over. I do think I will have to be ruthless and will end up cutting tens of thousands of words and replacing them with probably far fewer.

I want everything to flow properly, and for the plot and characters to be thorough and robust. I know the characters like the back of my hand. I know what I want to happen in the book, I just don't know how to make it happen. And I think it is because I never planned anything properly. I just let the words flow and left it at that.

I have read loads about planning. People say to write down everything you can about your characters but I already know it all in my head. How do I plan the plot effectively, and when to intergrate character development? Do I do a chunk at a time, or a timeline with major events and fillers in between? I am aware that the answer may differ from individual to individual, but some general tips on how to get the plot down properly would be appreciated! Otherwise I can just see myself of walking into the trap or rewriting and rewriting into eternity lol!

I think you've already figured out two alternatives; you don't need us telling you what you already know. What I will say is this: you're dead right about the need to cut tens of thousands of words. The average novel is somewhere around 100,000 words; if you've written only half the story and are already at 140,000, you have some massive pruning ahead.

A frightening task, one which I have attempted myself although not on the scale you are attempting.

I cut 38,000 words from a completed novel and I started by typing - WHAT IS THE *%#*ING STORY ABOUT - and sticking it on the monitor.

I cannot tell you the pain as, one by one, I murdered my babies...

It's taken me a year.

Lol its going to be a fantasy - I had always planned to have a couple of books out of it. But yes, I do intend to shear off an awful lot. I am hoping the two books will total around 200,000 words combined.

For fantasy, I like to have several tools:

1. a short plot summary, a paragraph or so which shouldn't change much as I write.
2. a chronology, which I adjust as I write
3. A list of chapters with a 1-2 sentence description of what happens in each and a word count for that specific chapter.

This is helpful to me because I don't write start to finish. I write the first few chapters, jump to the end, then fill up the middle. Sometimes I move chapters around.

aesir22, that made my laugh! I have written three books. Two short childrens' books (illustrated) and one long novel... all residing under my bed for years. I wrote the novel the same way you did, putting pencil to paper and just going at it. But it quickly gets out of hand, not having a list of my characters and what they were about, to refer to. I would have to go back and read to find out who I married off to whom.
I tried over the years to rewrite it and ran into the same overwhelming problems. I think like alanmt has suggested, I will make an outline and a summary, then try to fill in the meat. When I wrote this novel there were no computers so it is all in longhand, rather hard to push through to reread. A word count at this point would be impossible and I don't want to type it in the condition it is in, so I'll take what I learn here and try again. Thanks!

Just a caution. I had a problem for a while finishing writing projects, so I decided that before starting another novel I would outline and plan it thoroughly. I plotted, did character outlines, planned...and never actually started the novel. Finally, one day, I said, "Bugger this," and just started writing. I finished that one.

Some writers work well with a lot of pre-planning and outlining, some just have to jump in and thrash it out as they go. If one method isn't working for you, you'll only hurt yourself trying to force it.

Once I have found myself in such a dilemma but I was able to got through that by carefully thinking and planning about what I want. So I related it to the events that takes place in the world.

I don't always know how the story will go at the beginning. It comes to me as I write. I have found though, that I have to keep a list of names and things because I can not remember what has happened or who did it.

I write with my word processor open on one screen and a text editor open on another. The text editor has the character list, ideas on what's going to happen next, or edits to come back to, and my progress log. It's not as fancy as some of the new integrated story writing environments, but it works for me.

aesir, try this--

On a blank sheet or blank document, answer these questions:
--Who is the story about (this will be your main character)?
--What is the problem this person is facing? What event turns my main character's world upside down and prompts him/her to resolve the situation?
--What solution does my main character decide on to resolve the situation?

Now, determine the following:
--As your main character moves toward the solution, what obstacles, each "bigger" than the previous, get in his way and what does he/she do to get past them?
--When your main character seems to be almost within reach of the solution, some event occurs than knocks them almost all the way back to the beginning of their struggles, and all hope seems lost. What is this event?
--Shortly after that blackest event, another event takes place that spur the main character forward to the solution. What is that event?
--How does the main character resolve the problem? In short, how does the story end?

Now, you don't need to have all these answers down to the smallest detail. Just know the broad strokes. That should at least provide you with a framework to build from.

That tackles the plot part.

For character development, do the same thing, but on a smaller, inner level.

You main character has a strength and a flaw. The strength moves him forward, the flaw holds him back. He struggles with this. The flaw is the problem the main character is trying to resolve.

As with the plot, the main character moves toward the resolution of the flaw but obstacles get in their way and they must figure out how to get past them. A black event takes place, followed by the spur forward event.

Remember that all this will be the character's inner, emotional journey. It may tie into the outer journey; the flaw keeps the character from properly seeing the right solution and the strength helps them see it right afte the black event, for instance.

Again, know the broad strokes so that you have a framework to build from.

I don't know if this will help or not, but a technique I'm trying from a website I just found can be found here: How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method

It tackles character development and plot development in one fell swoop. I have gotten to step four already, and from what I've observed it's a fairly solid technique for planning development in a fairly simple way. I hope this helps?

The mighty Lois Mcmaster Bujold, Creates a character you can believe in, with a history and a place in the universe, with flaws and foibles. Then thinks up the worst situation you can imagine, and sticks them together. The written novel is just the tip of the iceberg. The background is huge, detailed, and ready to be lived in.
You can write as a stream of consciousness, or plan in detail, or do a bit of both.
Whatever gets the job done.
live long and prosper
bazz

Have you read Jean Auel? Talk about detail!!! I liked it in "Clan of the Cave Bear" but the rest of the series was more than I could read. Too much detail. I started skipping over the details.

Originally Posted by Shirley S. Bracken

Have you read Jean Auel? Talk about detail!!! I liked it in "Clan of the Cave Bear" but the rest of the series was more than I could read. Too much detail. I started skipping over the details.

I, on the other hand, ate up the detail and was transported. There are as many different techniques for writing as there are authors writing the story. I use parts of the outline, parts of the snowflake method and several other techniques. It is working great at the moment. I am starting to make process on the book I am currently working on.