The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 27 September 2007

How do I plot?

Or how should I plot?

Let me recount some ways.

Imprimus, perhaps, we have the way of the English teacher. Outlines, character sheets, and more detailing until the words are almost an afterthought. Prepare first is the byword on this path.

Secundus, there are the improvisational players, jazzing it up on the spur of the muses. With a hope and a dream, they whip out the story in rough form, and then revise and tinker their words to fame. Onward, onward, into the teeth of the plot, wrote the seven hundred.

Tertius, if that's the word, there are approaches like the steppingstones. Put down a word or phrase for a starting scene at the top of a sheet of paper, do the same for a climax at the bottom, then sketch in the key scenes to get from one to the other. Rearrange the steppingstones as needed. Then write adding smaller scenes and details as you go. A rough plan, but my own, and then write, write, write.

Let's back up a moment and consider what we mean by plot. I think of it as selecting and ordering the scenes for dramatic impact. You can do it several ways. Some people find it easier to see in bullet points or outlines, others use 3x5 cards tacked to a board, and others make up a sequence in their head. Some simply write, then clean and hack to find the story in the verbiage. No matter how you tackle it, thinking of alternatives and changes is likely to be a part of the process, so relax and work with it. Remember, readers only see the final version, but those cleanups are what make it really good.

There are some clues to help guide your choice of ways to plot. For example, starting with an ending - a climactic scene- often seems to help pull the rest of the menagerie of writing into shape. Having a rich stockpile of bits and pieces - stock plots and dramatic situations - makes it easier, so read widely. Many people find it useful to consider characters and plot separately, but the plot is these characters in action so you can also consider the plot as the expression of the characters - or maybe we see the characters reveal themselves in actions which develop a plot?

One thought from the World Science Fiction Convention. One of the panelists commented that English teachers have taught us all tools for analysis, for taking apart stories that are already written. But what we need are tools for construction, for tackling a blank sheet of paper and generating a story. So perhaps instead of trying so hard to pin down the plot and other pieces, we need to encourage alternatives and growth?

How do I plot? Well, part of it is scanning lists of archtypes - the master plots and other lists like that. E.g., I even find the short summaries of old westerns, kabuki plays, and such evocative. Part of it is putting together characters - a strong character helps define their own actions. And part of it is just mystery, something that sparks while writing, something that catches my attention when I'm reading the news, odds and ends that combine to suggest a story. I do find that scribbling bits and pieces here and there is helpful. I'm not, personally, one of the great outliners, although I like having at least a rough idea of the sequence of major scenes and the climax. I'll often write a version of the climax first, then figure out how to get there.

Not perhaps the best answer or the most complete, but it's an answer.

You might also take a look at some of the web postings about plot. For example, Holly Lisle at http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/plot-outline.html walks through her approach to creating a plot and http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/notecard_plotting.html talks about fast plotting.

A search for "plot outline" nets a bunch of links.
http://www.wendy-wheeler.com/7point.html provides a seven point skeleton.
http://www.atfantasy.com/view/84 yacks about outlining and creativity.
http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/outlining.html has a nice discussion of various approaches.
and so on . . .

Good question. How do you plot?

And how do you use your plot while writing?

Something to contemplate as we look ahead to Halloween Horrors, NaNoWriMo, 6 in 6, and the rest of a writing winter!

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