Planning

I am very good at planning my time, well I’m reasonably good at it. I like to know what I have to do and by when I should have it done by. Recently I have been detailing my writing projects in a work plan, like I do my day job tasks. But when it comes to planning out a story I have never employed the same tools.

I may have mentioned that I’m not so good at planning novels. I just start to write from an idea and see what happens. My current work is following this process quite clearly. I just write and although I have an idea of what I would like to happen, I’m not sure where and how it is going to get there until the words are on the page.

I have been reading about different planning techniques and was struck by one so I am giving it a go for my next novel. I am hoping the story will cover three books and I have mapped out most of the main characters and some of the minor characters. I have recently given up the kitchen door to map this out on an old white board. This way I can add to it and not worry about having to rub it off...at least for a while.

The planning technique that I am trialling takes the main characters viewpoints that the story will follow, an idea of how long the work is to be and how long an average scene is. Then taking this, divide the total length by the length of a scene to work out roughly how many scenes I will need. Then decide which characters get the majority of scenes. For example, my story is about three sisters so I want at least half of the book to be from their point of view, the rest will be split up amongst minor characters.

Then using index cards, count out the number of scenes for each character required. Starting with the minor characters viewpoints write out a one sentence idea for a scene do this for the number of scenes you have. Then start mapping out the plot, moving the cards around to work out the right order for the story.

This idea was given as a quick way of plotting for when you’re in a hurry and a bit stuck. But so far it is actually helping me a lot. I only had the first scene in my head for this story, now I have an idea of characters and as I map out the workings of the world more and more characters are coming to me. I haven’t started to put down all the scenes yet but as I think of one interaction between characters, it leads to others and more ideas of what could happen.

I am looking forward to the playing stage, where I can move the cards around and work out how the story fits together. I even have a blank canvas in the study door (pictured) where I plan to stick the cards when they are filled out.

I have found in the past that my characters run away with their own ideas and as they start to develop they don’t always agree with me as to how they should behave or act. So although this series will be well mapped out before I actually start to write it, I am sure that it may not necessarily follow that path, or they may be some changes, or deviations. And I’m ok with that. That, for me, is the joy of writing fiction.

Happy Scribbling