Plotting

I’ve written eleven books, and in that time, I’ve had a different method for plotting every single one of them. As a writer, I struggle a ton with perfectionism and I also have what I’m guessing is a raging case of undiagnosed ADHD on top of a type-A personality that drives even me crazy.

So, what does that mean for my writing methods? Welllll…. so much work goes into a book before I even begin, but the process has never felt quite right. It’s why I’ve used a different method every single time I’ve started a book.

Now that I’m moving on to Bound Souls and also Twisted Little Games and a new series I’m working on, I’ve actually stumbled onto a couple of methods I’ve used that I am absolutely loving.

Now, when I tell you that every other method I’ve tried has sucked, I’m not exaggerating. It’s sucked my writing mojo right out of me. I’m in this weird place where I need to plot in order to write because I’m not a pantser (someone who can literally fly by the seat of their pants in writing). If I sit down to a blank screen with no idea where I’m going, I’ll get nothing done and get massively frustrated, too.

So, I’d do some semblance of gathering my chaotic thoughts into a plot and then start writing. But this time… I figured out how to organize.

So, here’s what I do now:

1. I do a series of writing exercises as my character to get a better sense of who they are, where they come from, what’s important to them, what they want, what they can’t stand, etc. It’s 99 questions and really intense (aka takes a long time).

2. Every single scene idea, no matter how small, gets written down on a blank index card and tossed aside.

3. I do this over and over until my brain is dry.

4. Then, I transfer those ideas to sticky notes.

5. Finally, I put them in timeline order from start to finish for the book.

6. Then, I look to see where there are gaps. If it seems like something jumps randomly from one scene to the next, then I know I need something in between.

Check it out:

I like to use Finger Paint paper because it’s big and the notes stick on it again and again. I draw a line down the middle so I keep the timeline linear.

Scenes I decide not to use get left behind.

Now, for the character work I’ve started doing (this new series is the first that I’ve done the character work this way. In past blog posts, I’ve shown the old way I’d do things with a whole workup of the characters, but this new way allows me to really get into the character’s head like never before.), here’s a sneak peek of a new character I’m working on and the kind of writing prompts I’m going through for him:

Don’t mind typos, etc. This is not edited in any way and is supposed to be sort of a free for all writing exercise.

I’ll be talking more about this series in the future, but for now, you can see how really digging into a character’s head can be beneficial. I’m excited to see how it changes my writing moving forward (hopefully for the better!).