Plotting - what technique(s) do you use?

sunandshadow · Dec 16, 2014

Sorry pantsers, you guys are cool too but this question is a survey for people who thoroughly plot out their stories, either before writing or in the middle of writing. So please don't answer just to say people shouldn't use any of these things or you don't use any of these things.

Do you use a workbook? There are 6 or 8 novel-plotting workbooks on the market now. None of them really clicked with me (and I've read through most of them, though I may have missed one somewhere). Do they click better for you? Or maybe you use a set of instructions like the Snowflake method? A template like an outline or synopsis of an existing novel you want to emulate? Some particular theorist's version of act structure or plot points? Hero's journey? Dramatica? How, specifically, do you use your chosen reference to go from vague idea to solid outline or synopsis?

Are you fond of notecards, paper or digital? Or do you prefer a giant piece of paper, or a whiteboard? Perhaps you do webbing or use a mind mapping software? Is there color or symbol coding involved? Math? Do you use your chosen tool(s) in any particular way?

How about inspiration cards, dice or generators? Are there any you use regularly? Do you use something specific to writing, an adaptation of something general-purpose like tarot cards or i-ching, or something half-way in between, like storytelling game materials? (Actually I guess some pantsers might use these too?)

Are there any whole types of plotting-related materials I've left out of my list here?

Marlys · Dec 16, 2014

I do it all in my head, mostly before I go to sleep at night. Start with a premise--a main character in a situation, with some idea of what I want to happen. Then I run it as a serial every night until I reach a satisfying ending. It's not quite like a movie in my head, as I think about the words I would use, but that's a good enough analogy.

This might take a few weeks to several months, depending on how many dead ends I run into along the way. Then, once I have a complete story, I usually run it through my head again to make sure it works before I sit down and start writing.

At that point, I often make some notes so I don't forget important plot points (or even little bits of dialogue I like) before I get to them, but once I've imagined the story two or three times, I can remember it pretty well.

Oh, and while I'm figuring out the story, I start the necessary research so I don't, say, end up with a plot device that's a total anachronism. I will make extensive notes about that if I need to.

I virtually never use paper, unless it's to figure out something spatial. Like, I had to diagram out a dinner table for my WIP so I could remember where everyone was sitting.

bearilou · Dec 16, 2014

I'm a list person. I like to follow a checklist of things I need to hit (ala Snowflake). I don't follow it slavishly. It's more a jumping off point because once I get to writing it down, the rest sort of flows.

I like notecards and notebooks (non-digital). The act of writing by hand seems to really help me get my head in order and activates my creative brainmeat juices.

LJD · Dec 16, 2014

I have a notebook, and I make a bunch of notes on what I think needs to happen over the course of the story, then put a number beside each one to indicate which chapter it'll be in. Then I make chapter-by-chapter notes, nothing too detailed. Sometimes I include POV + character's objective. When writing the first draft, I sometimes make additional notes before I start each chapter.

Graz · Dec 16, 2014

notes and scribbling become scenes written on index cards. when I come up w/50+ viable scenes that advance the story from point A to B to C, etc., I know I have something.

Ken · Dec 16, 2014

main action first, though that can undergo change
then, how things got to that point
and finally, what ultimately results
all the other stuff kinda just occurs as a natural consequence...if the three requiems above are managed okay
(no need to plot those in advance)

Lhowling · Dec 16, 2014

I ruminate on the idea first. Sleep on it. Wake up tomorrow to discover that it's a terrible idea... and yet it intrigues me. what is it missing? What do I need to take away? I jot down notes in my notebook. Shower, take a walk, read. Okay, plot is starting to unfold. There are characters... they are motivated to do something. But what? I make my outline of the novel on Scrivener or google docs. Sleep on it. Take a walk. Write out a dialogue or scene. Oh I'm titillated. Work on a scene outline to see the plot as it advances. I begin writing the story. Jot down notes every day for what needs to be tweaked. If I like my tweaks to the plot, then I will revise my scene outline.

phantasy · Dec 16, 2014

I write out the plot in a very sloppy synopsis, trying to hit the major points. Sometimes I imagine the scene first. I do believe in a very loose following of the three act structure for the overall novel.

Although, honestly, it's very hard to know if a plot is any good unless one gets feedback. There's no algorithm to run it through except for the Human mind. Obv, there are books that help guide you, but there's nothing like feedback so you know you're not boring or confusing your audience.

Cathy C · Dec 16, 2014

I write a synopsis for my editor and do my best to stick to it (as much as possible.) Sometimes, what sounds good in a synopsis doesn't really work within the page count, so I have to go off-script.

As for individual scenes, they're all in my head. I work up the full scene, including emotions, movements and the five senses and blorp it out onto the page. Then I work on the next scene and then write it down.

Not much help, I know.

Lillith1991 · Dec 16, 2014

Oh boy! You don't know what you're getting yourself into. I've come prepared. There's a list, separated by story length and the type of story as well.

Short stories:

I ruminate on the story until I have enough scenes prepped mentally to start writing.
I write a little one or two sentence desciption of what happens in each scene.

Novellas & novels:

I outline as I go along, so I can change things as I need.
I write a little one or two sentence desciption of what happens in each chapter, sometimes each scene or both.
I also have something that I call a Q&A outline, where I ask myself questions about the events of the story including the character's feelings and thoughts.
Then there's something sort of a hybrid method. I write down the complete character arc including themes for any important characters during the story. Make a list of key points I want to hit in each characters arc, and note where they intertwine.

I don't use all these methods all the time. It depends on the story really, I have one novel where I just wrote a list of plot points. Haven't started work yet, but I think it will work for the novel.

Michael Steven · Dec 16, 2014

I don't think in terms of plot -- I think in terms of story. I do outline, but with that I'm more concerned with events and characters involved. When I begin I have an idea where the characters are, and where I want them to end up. More of a who, what, where. I then add in places/things they have to do as well as impediments to overcome, and then I fill in high level details on that framework. The "plot" never enters my focus, it just happens as things unfold in the story.

Of course when I write, the characters take on a life of their own and how they get to places or overcome the impediments often surprises me. Their character development arcs occur as parts of the story and often don't have anything to do with the main plot ... until later down the line when a learned skill from way back when becomes important to the story.

onesecondglance · Dec 16, 2014

I have a file of ideas that I carry around pretty much the whole time, and record stuff as I go. Sometimes fragments of plot ideas or sequences will go down in there, sometimes characters, scenarios, or background info.

When it's time to begin working on a story, I write a 3-4 page "treatment". It's a bit like a synopsis, but uneven in detail - some bits not fleshed out, others pretty detailed. Lots of "something happens here", "why?", and "for some reason" in there.

Next stage is to write down what happens in every chapter. One or two lines, detailing what needs to be going on. This is very rough at this stage, but helps me reduce the time I spent stuck on plot points when actually writing. To a small extent, I look at three act structure a la Save The Cat, but I'm generally thinking about "this happens, which means this happens, which means this happens next" as opposed to arcs or beats. This becomes the living outline of the story - the next step is to write the first draft.

I generally sit on the chapter outline for a good few weeks, making sure it hangs together before I start writing (often it needs work, or what feels right one night doesn't the next). Then I crack on with the first draft. I keep the chapter outline open as I write, and will make notes of things that crop up as I go. If I find something is totally broken when I come to writing, I'll stop and adjust the chapter outline, but generally I try not to stop the first draft.

Once that's done, the first part of revising is to revisit the chapter outline and re-do it based on what I actually wrote / what I actually understand the story to be having written it. The outline is now as much a map as anything - a way to look at the story at high level and alter pacing and what happens when and where.

Just my process. Works for me... so far at least.

Chasing the Horizon · Dec 16, 2014

I never use any of the plotting tools listed in the OP. To me anything other than a blank document to type in is just a distraction.

Having said that, I don't always use exactly the same methods to outline each book, because different stories have different needs. For instance, the last novel I completed had a very simple, linear plot without sub-plots, so the outline consisted of synopses of the complications the characters encountered at each step of the journey, and because of its relative simplicity was done all at once. The novel I'm writing now has a much more complicated structure where a large number of individual conflicts and sub-plots slowly converge, so I outlined completely differently. For this project I started with summaries of each of the conflicts then went through multiple drafts of a scene-by-scene outline trying to string them all together in an entertaining way.

It's not unusual for me to go through 3-6 drafts of a lot of outlines, actually. I go through and look for places where I can make things happen more dramatically, extra conflicts I can introduce, places I can give characters stronger motivations. I think it actually resembles a lot peoples' editing process, except I do it on the front end so that when I actually write all the events happen in the best possible way on the first try.

sunandshadow · Dec 16, 2014

Michael Steven said:
I don't think in terms of plot -- I think in terms of story. I do outline, but with that I'm more concerned with events and characters involved. When I begin I have an idea where the characters are, and where I want them to end up. More of a who, what, where. I then add in places/things they have to do as well as impediments to overcome, and then I fill in high level details on that framework. The "plot" never enters my focus, it just happens as things unfold in the story.

Of course when I write, the characters take on a life of their own and how they get to places or overcome the impediments often surprises me. Their character development arcs occur as parts of the story and often don't have anything to do with the main plot ... until later down the line when a learned skill from way back when becomes important to the story.

Not sure how you are defining plot, but one common definition is the events that take place and things characters do in a story.

Michael Steven · Dec 16, 2014

sunandshadow said:
Not sure how you are defining plot, but one common definition is the events that take place and things characters do in a story.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what most folks mean by "plot." No one ever defined it in a way that gave me an "oh, I get it" moment. I look at a story and see the characters as they go places and do things while after some main goal. Whatever the plot is in all that is well camouflaged, and I guarantee different people will point to different aspects and say "that's plot right there."

That's why I don't focus on plot. It's a word that has a variety of meanings that is tossed around in an authoritative manner, but never really settles into any one mold. The story is the most important thing, so I focus on that and let others plant their banner and call this that or other element of the story "the plot."

C. Eldon Gammon · Dec 16, 2014

I have a lengthy excel document for each of my books, detailing the main plot line of each chapter, any motifs that appear, character development, foreshadowing, specific details, etc. I'm a little obsessive when it comes to planning because I'm paranoid I'll leave something out or forget things. I also have a lot of things going on at once, so it's really hard to keep track of my plots in my head.

I'm so fascinated by people who don't plan or outline or anything. I think Stephen King is of this strange breed of people, but I'm not certain. I remember watching an interview of him and I'm pretty sure he said that he just churns the book out from the first page to the last. Just thinking about that makes me shudder.

The Package · Dec 16, 2014

I used to use programs and stuff, but now I just use excel and notepad. Notepad for all my sudden ideas and whatnot, and excel for the actual plotting/scene organization etc. The structure looks like: Box for 'Stimuli', in which I write what happens around the POV (Kevin entered the bathroom), and then a box for 'Reaction', in which I write a few sentences about how the POV reacted to the stimuli (John glared at Kevin and said, "Dude, I'm pooping.")

If I had a bigger apartment, maybe my own writing room, I'd have whiteboards and super cool stuff like that, but until then...

I've read the Snowflake method in a few places, and honestly, I tried it, but it becomes to mechanical. I get better results when I go in with no structure when it comes to plotting. I get random inspiration, and then throughout the process I get more, or an idea just suddenly pops into my head, and I add it. It's a mess up there.

And my plotting takes a long, long time. I came up with the idea for my novel sometime in December 2011. It's now Dec 2014 and I've still not nailed it all down. (It's my first novel though so I've left a wake of crumpled papers.)

sunandshadow · Dec 17, 2014

Michael Steven said:
To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what most folks mean by "plot." No one ever defined it in a way that gave me an "oh, I get it" moment. I look at a story and see the characters as they go places and do things while after some main goal. Whatever the plot is in all that is well camouflaged, and I guarantee different people will point to different aspects and say "that's plot right there."

That's why I don't focus on plot. It's a word that has a variety of meanings that is tossed around in an authoritative manner, but never really settles into any one mold. The story is the most important thing, so I focus on that and let others plant their banner and call this that or other element of the story "the plot."

An interesting perspective. Personally I see "story" as an amorphous and mostly useless word because story is "the whole thing". You can classify stories into types, but other than that you have to break that monolithic "story" up into smaller components (e.g. plot, theme, characters) in order to do any useful analysis about how stories are constructed. But again, that's just how I've interpreted the various bits of theory I've read; they definitely don't all use terms the same way, so I had to decide what definition I preferred to stick with for each term.

I personally define plot as something like "The pattern of medium and large scale actions that first build suspense and then relieve that suspense, while conveying a theme." That's a bit overcomplicated for a starter definition though. The "pattern" part is important - you can't have just any events and actions in any order and expected the result to be a coherent story. Plot structure has to do with how the brain processes story: be surprised by a beginning that causes a problem or opportunity, learn how the viewpoint character will attempt to react to this, anticipate difficulties and future satisfying triumphs or anxiety-inducing failures, read on to see what actually happens in reaction to the character's attempts, gain some info that modifies the picture, watch the character go back to the drawing board, identify that there is some underlying main threat (e.g. a big bad guy), watch the character maneuver to set up the battlefield and gearup to fight that main threat, watch the fight on the edge of your seat, then relax back into your chair in satisfaction as everything is resolved (or be annoyed that the sequel isn't out yet because something important isn't resolved). Plot consist of those elements which produce this pattern or structure for the reader's brain to consume. IMO.

onesecondglance · Dec 17, 2014

Michael Steven said:
To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what most folks mean by "plot." No one ever defined it in a way that gave me an "oh, I get it" moment. I look at a story and see the characters as they go places and do things while after some main goal. Whatever the plot is in all that is well camouflaged, and I guarantee different people will point to different aspects and say "that's plot right there."

That's why I don't focus on plot. It's a word that has a variety of meanings that is tossed around in an authoritative manner, but never really settles into any one mold. The story is the most important thing, so I focus on that and let others plant their banner and call this that or other element of the story "the plot."

One way to look at it...

A story is comprised of three parts:
- characters (WHO is in the story and WHY there is a story)
- plot (WHAT HAPPENS in the story and HOW it happens)
- setting (WHERE and WHEN the story takes place)

These things interact to form a story. Without all of those three, you don't really have a story.

owlion · Dec 17, 2014

I tend to find a central theme by mistake (inspiration?), then gradually ideas will build off that central idea. I'll think about them for a while to see if they have the potential to keep on building (and if I remember them later, it means they were good enough), then I'll write a few notes down. Eventually I might write out a list of sequential events so I don't get lost, but I don't like making in-depth plans.

Brandon M Johnson · Dec 17, 2014

For NaNo this year, once I had the story idea, I made a list of characters. First, I came up with some short sketches for them and figured out what they wanted and who the bad guys were. (This was a mystery at heart, killer-hiding-in-plain sight deal, so I had to have that part worked out more than I normally do.) After that, I spent a little bit on setting, and then came up with a list of important events that I needed to check off. I knew who the killer was, but didn't have the actual logistics of the finale worked out when I started. As I went along with the writing, I also made notes of places where I could expand.

I've never actually used a notebook or anything. Lists normally seem to work for me. Weirdly, not outlines.

MakanJuu · Dec 18, 2014

For the basic idea, it's usually just me thinking up interesting characters or scenarios at random & seeing what I get to fit where.

When it comes down to the actual writing, it's usually coming up with an idea for a scene, then pacing around the room trying things out movements & dialogue until I like where it's going. Usually nothing more elaborate than that- of course this is for novel writing. I've tried different things when trying out television that work out better & plays & scripts might have differing methods themselves. Plus, it depends pretty heavily on the person doing the actual writing...

maggi90w1 · Dec 18, 2014

Hardcore-Plotter here.

Right now, my process looks like this:

1. Think about the basic idea for a while
2. Dan Wells 7-Point-Story Structure. I fill out a Excel-Table for every POV-Charakter/Major Plot-Arc. Each "Point" get's a one-sentence-summary.
3. (kinda-snowflake) I extend each one-sentence-summary into a short paragraph. That way I end up with a 7-paragraph-summary for each major Character (from their perspective)
4. I work out the characters (with this tool) and the character arcs (with the help of this article series).
5. I expand the paragraphs into... well longer paragraphs. In the end I usually have 1-2 page story-summary for each POV-Character (form their perspective)
6. I make a scene list. At this point I already have a collection of scenes that entered my mind during the plotting-process. I arrange them in order and then I start to fill the gaps until I have a complete list of every scene in the story.
7. I start writing.

Graz · Dec 18, 2014

Second the synopsis idea.

Plot is the footprints left in the snow. Ray Bradbury (?)

or:

A leads to B which leads to C which leads to D, etc.

Varthikes · Dec 18, 2014

I tried to use a workbook software. It didn't work out for me.

I just use the Notepad software to type down my ideas. I'll use a notebook for this when I travel and don't have access to a computer.

I start with an idea and basic setting, then I think of story/character points to include somewhere along the way. Then, I work out the story chapter by chapter.

Plotting - what technique(s) do you use?

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