5 Tips To Begin Plotting Your Novel

This week my focus is on PLOTTING -- one of the most critical parts of writing any novel. In addition to having my latest book on plotting published, (more on that later) I also have another reason for thinking about how to plot this week. I am beginning work on a new book based on an idea that's been rolling around in my head. How can you go from idea to story? I've taught this class numerous times and I always come away from the classes with new ideas from students. Here are five good ways to begin plotting:

Start with the 5 Ws.   Over the years, as a TV news writer, I quickly learned that starting with the 5 Ws  was always a good place to begin work on any story I needed to write, whether it was a :15 headline or a 5-minute long series piece or even an hour long documentary. What are the basics?

1. Who?
2. What?
3. When?
4. Where?
5. Why?

Most of these are self explanatory, but let's run why they are so critical and how they can help you get started with your plot.

1. Who is the main character or characters, and that is always a good place to start. Even if you are starting with an idea of an event, someone is going to need to react or be part of it. Knowing WHO that character is can send the story in many directions.  A policeman might be expected to start to solve a crime, but a taxi driver wouldn't care, unless someone was killed in his cab and he's suspected of it, or the grandmother stumbles across a body in her backyard and her grand child is being accused of burying it. Then those last two people might want to get involved and become part of the story.

2. What is the event that sets everything in motion?  Does a space ship land on a farm and begin to burrow underground? The teenage son of the farmer sees it but when he brings the sheriff and his dad out to show them, all is looking normal. But suddenly his friends are acting strange and so are some of the other towns people. Now your story is started and you can get your plot moving.

3. When is the time the story takes place. The story of a  mail order bride from Ireland arriving in 1860s Colorado is going to be a very different tale than one about today's mail order bride who might meet her husband on the internet. And she probably wasn't ordered via mail -- the two met from different countries online, but she is still may face culture shock.

4. Where is the setting for the story, whether it's 1860s Colorado, a farm in the South, or New York City in the summer. Determining the setting for your story will help to figure out what your plot is going to entail. You might still have car chases running from the bad guys, but will it be on city streets, or over bumpy country roads?

5.  Why is the real question you need to answer and that is what will get your plot moving and then keep it moving. Why is that space ship in the cornfield? What do those strange people want and can your hero or heroine prove what is going on?  We may not find out until the very end. Why was that person murdered in the cab? And why did that mail order bride decide to come to Colorado and can she survive?  Why is a question that you can keep asking with each event in your book and before long the plot is coming together. In writing novels I always put the Why at the end because that basically is what begins the story. If I can figure out the why then the plot will begin to flow.

But if you're still confused about plotting, you might want to look into the new book just published on Amazon for Kindle and ereaders -- Seven Ways to Plot.  It is the first entry in the Let's Write a Story Series I am co-authoring with Sue Viders, who was one of the co-authors of the popular writing book, Heroes and Heroines, 16 Master Archetypes. In this book we look at seven different ways to plot and help you decide what method can work best for you.

Seven Ways to Plot is currently available at Amazon.com.
Our next book in the Let's Write a Story series will be on creating characters, one of my favorite parts of writing a book.

5 Tips to Increasing Writing Output

On Saturday I attended a workshop on increasing artistic creativity, and it spurred some wonderful creative thinking on my part. We were told that writers should work on developing the more visually artistic side of their brains to increase output on the writing side. That got me to thinking, not just of ways to increase that visual side, and I will be working on that, and writing about it once I try it, but it also made me think of other ways to increase your fiction writing output overall and how sometimes just plain writing can help us over dry spots or when we think we're plagued by writer's block.

For instance:

1.      Try journal writing.  Many writers started using and demonstrating their writing skills by keeping diaries or journals when they were young. Do you still keep a journal?  I don’t, but I have plenty of them when I was young. However, off and on I find that it just feels good to sit down and write down thoughts or ideas that only I will ever see. It is often good to go back and look at those writings later because they can give you more perspective on who you are now and how you might have coped with a problem in the past, some little thing that you might have forgotten. The best thing about writing a journal is that you can do it in any form, type it, write in long hand, and say anything since you are the only one who will read it.

2.      Try writing a non-fiction story.  I saw on facebook recently that a published fiction author friend was going to write a non fiction story about a well known historical figure.  Her ideas was to learn all about that person and write an article about the person. Eventually she would then write and publish a fiction book based on that person. I thought that was a great idea. Writing non fiction is a wonderful way to spur thinking creatively. I know that when I was writing news stories every day, I was always thinking about my writing. It was my job, I had to do it, and that carried over into my fiction work.

3.      Write a blog.  This sort of combines those first two ideas. Write a non-fiction story and a journal entry all in one – and do it in a blog form. I have heard some fiction writers say this blogs can be a waste of time because it takes time away from fiction. But just like I said before about non-fiction can stimulate fiction writing, the same is true of blogs. And when you wonder what you want to write about, well, go back to that historical figure and look at yourself. You have lots of experiences and ideas you can write about.

4.      Write an article for a local paper. Small neighborhood newspapers are always looking for content and you could either volunteer to write a weekly column or do a story and submit it. How can this help? Well, besides giving you a chance to write about something other than your thoughts, it can also spur new story ideas for future books. You might meet someone fascinating that you want to base a character on, or you might find a profession you want to use for a story.  And again, this doesn’t need to be a wasted effort. Write a story on that police detective you interviewed as research for your story. How about a story on glass sculpting or owning a business? Again, this might be something you did as research, but find out more about the person behind your research. Several years ago when I was working as a public information officer for a city, one of my jobs was putting out the monthly newsletter. Instead of just doing stories on whatever project the city manager wanted me to feature, I started visiting all the city departments and doing feature stories on the people there and on their jobs. It livened up the newsletter and it also had some of those city employees appreciating their jobs more. I remember visiting the public yard where they had they city signs and fixed the police cars and everyone was excited to talk. They’d never had a representative from the city manager’s office come to visit them, much less give them space in the city newsletter.  It was great fun!

5.      Write what you see!  Even if it isn’t a journal of your thoughts, or an interview or a visit

to some special place, think about writing something descriptive. Look around wherever you normally write and try writing a description of your work area. Write about the sights and sounds of the coffee shop where you’re working. Look around the restaurant where you're dining and get the picture in your head and go home and write about. Again, this may be work you don’t ever put out anywhere, but it can help you next time you go to write a setting. If you can describe what you’re seeing around you, you will have a better handle on writing descriptions for your book of the picture in your head.

So just write!  In any form. Keep it as long or short as you want. But you might find that once you’ve warmed up with those other words, you’re more than ready to dig back into your book.