I wish I could say the plotting brilliance referred to in this post's title is my own. It's not.
I'm one of those people who doesn't know the details of the manuscript I'm writing until I type The End.
Don't get me wrong! I know HOW it will end, just not quite how I'm going to get my characters there. Example: the fastest way from point A to point B is a straight line, right? Not in my writing! If point A is page one, then point B is page 300. And there are about 5,000 different routs between the two.
So I found a couple of really helpful articles, and since I figure (hope?) I'm not the only plot-challenged person out there, thought I'd share.
Ironically, the first is an awesome article my sister, Suzette Saxton, wrote for the Querytracker blog, all about how to more-or-less connect the dots of your plot. That one's right here.
And the other article is a piece of brilliance by Cheryl Klein, and it is right here. (Thanks B.J. Anderson for sending me this one!)
Another spectacular post--Do you ever feel like you're trapped on the outside of the writing world, looking in? Check out Elana's blog.
And that's all for now. Be safe! I hear the weather is CRAZY all over the place!
14 comments:
Thanks for the links. I had read Elana's but not the others...going to read them now...:)
I'm definitely a pantser. After I had to start thinking ahead, turning in outlines to my agent, I became a much better plotter. I use a white board, poster board, and many different colored sticky notes. I'm not a pro yet, but I'm getting there! ;)
Yay! Thanks for the links. You're definitely not alone :)
Yes, I'm very similar. I know where I want to end, but the road there is paved with surprises. It's kind of fun that way.
Definitely a pantser here, I let the story unfold as I'm writing... have an idea of how the story is ending, but the trip there is a surprise.
Dottie :)
I'm a mix. I have all the main points, the big events in a plot. I have an idea of how it ends and how to get there. But beyond that, the word-by-word details are pretty fuzzy when I start writing.
A-ha! This is exactly what I needed for my new project! Thanks, Bethany. :-)
Thanks for the links! Plotting has always been one of the tougher things for me too. :)
Thanks for the links! Plotting is not my strong point, either. Glad to know I'm not alone!
Oooh...thank you for the lovely links! I'm a plotter, but I like to shake things up, too.
Great advice! I need all the plot help I can get :)
Oh, I'm one of the 5000 roads people. I'm all over the place, taking a different path here, deleting that and taking another one.
It's what's fun about writing.
And thanks for the shout-out!
Plotting is SO hard--but it makes ALL the difference. Nice post--thanks for the links!
Actually plotting is one of my few strong points. Characterizations and conveying the emotion of a scene is where I struggle. Thanks for the links though, I know several writing friends who will find them very useful! :)
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