PLOTTING AND OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL
By Simon Wood
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© 2004 Simon Wood. All rights reserved.
For more information about the author and his work, please visit www.simonwood.net
Cover art: Julie Wood © 2009
PLOT THICKENERS
By Simon Wood
Recently I was on a panel of judges for a locally run short story competition. We were asked to rate the stories based on style and originality. In some cases, we were treated to great dialogue and narrative, but a large number of the tales lacked one aspect—a plot. The stories were merely a slice in the life of a particular character. The trend continued in the writer’s group I currently hosted. During the first session, we probed everyone about their current project. During the discussion, several people professed that their work was purely character driven and a plot wasn’t required. These are hard words for someone like me. I’m a plotter. I believe any story, regardless whether it’s a short story or novel, should have a plot.
I believe the phrase “character driven” has been misused in most fiction guidelines. Stories are character, plot and conflict driven in equal strengths. No one component should be dominant over any other. Take a gritty TV cop show. These shows have great leading characters, but if a case never landed on these people’s desks, then what would these great characters do? Sit around drinking coffee and reading the newspaper…
Actually, TV cop shows are great examples of story plotting. The ad breaks punctuate the story perfectly.
The show begins, the crime is presented and the opening credits roll. First ad break.
The detectives are assigned to the case and the suspects are established. Quarter hour ad break.
The investigation progresses, but just before the break, there’s a story twist that turns the investigation on its head. Half hour ad break.
The investigation follows a new lead, but again, just before the break, there’s another story twist. Three-quarter hour ad break.
The story intensifies, the detectives crack the case, the criminals are busted and the public saved. Five minutes to the hour, final ad break.
Finally, there’s the story wrap up, end credits and a preview of next week’s show.
This is classic story structure with initial conflict presented at the beginning, a middle developing the story and the resolution at the end. A story, long or short, should follow that simple structure, regardless of genre.
Plotting shouldn’t be viewed as a passion killer that destroys any chance of spontaneity and creativity. Plotting is a very creative process. You’re creating the whole story in short form, providing a skeleton framework that will have the flesh put on during the writing. What can be more motivating than when you have a complete outline for your novel to guide you from “once upon a time…” to “…and they lived happily ever after”? And what can be more demotivating than coming to a grinding halt on a manuscript 30,000 words shy of your target with nothing left to say?
There’s a lot to be said for plotting and why it is a great help to the writing process:
1. Plotting ensures a story has a balanced beginning, middle and end. I’m not being facetious here. Its fine to say the story has a beginning, middle and an end, but how many times have you read a book that had a long rambling beginning that never seemed to end or a story that suddenly seemed to end without warning? A story has to be evenly balanced. The rule of thumb is that the beginning accounts for 25% of the length of the story, as does the end, with the middle making up the bulk at 50%.
2. False starts become averted. A writer’s worst moment is suddenly discovering he or she has run out of things to say well before the end of the story. At this point you either have to trash the piece, rethink the piece, hope inspiration strikes or the worst of worst options, just slap an ending on the thing and just hope no one notices. If you have planned your story through, the “what happens now?” scenario is eliminated.
3. A well-planned plot ensures smooth transitions. This is especially applicable to novel length fiction where there are the main storyline, subplots, and multiple point-of-view characters. When switching between plotlines, you don’t want that upstart subplot becoming the main focus of the story or want the main plot working in isolation. When juggling changes in point of view, the protagonist and antagonist’s point of view should be the main voices the reader hears, so keep the voices of secondary and tertiary characters in check. Again, maintain the balance. Don’t let the main story or subplots take over for long sections and don’t let point-of-view characters dominate the voice of the book while others go into hibernation. Follow this advice and your story’s transitions will seem effortless and you’ll be heading for “page turner” country where your reader will never have a chance to draw a breath.
4. Consistence pace can be insured. If you’re conscious of the story’s development and have made a plan, it’s easy for you to see where the story is headed. Lulls in the story can be eliminated. If the subplot or a certain character’s point-of-view is dominating the storyline, then it can be trimmed back. If you do a good plotting job then the story will build in tension from its initial conflict to its eventual climax.
5. Plotting is motivational. Writing a novel is a daunting task and it’s easy to lose heart when there seems to be no clear path ahead. But confidence becomes second nature when you have your trusty plot notes guiding you from beginning to end. Personally, I get a great sense of achievement as a write “done” next to each scene on my checklist and move on to the next, watching the pile of completed scenes get bigger as the pile of unfinished scenes gets smaller.