The Place For My Writers Notes

Writers Digest, October 2004, pages 45 to 47 had an article by Martha Alderson describing how she organizes her historical novels. The same idea really applies to any kind of novel. Here's how Martha describes it. "Trying to keep track of plots, subplots, characters and themes in a novel you're writing can be difficult. . . . How do you track and interweave all the threads of a successful historical novel -- the dates, history and research; the action plot line; the character development and the thematic significance -- without the whole becoming a tangled mess? The approach I take is to create a visual representation of my story: a historical timeline."

Martha describes using a 6 foot piece of butcher paper with post-it notes, but the same basic approach seems to work with a spreadsheet or even a Word table. One of the nice things about a spreadsheet is that it is designed to allow you to insert new rows or even new columns. However you keep track of it, you might want to start with Martha's columns.

Column 1: Dates/Historical Plot. This is the frame of the story. It needs to start with the date that your story begins. Add events and issues that occur during that time period. Martha points out that even if you aren't basing your story on history, having a background of at least one major and one minor event and maybe a trivial event gives your story a little more richness or depth. What's going on around your story?

Column 2: Summaries. This is where Martha keeps summaries of longer periods that may not even show up in the scenes of the story. That way when a scene starts "seven years later . . ." this column shows what's happened during those seven years.

Column 3: Scene/Action Plot. This is the column for the scenes that actually make up the story. The conflicts, confrontations and turning points show up here. Martha suggests that the notes you put here should focus on the conflict, tension or suspense -- the pivot in the scene.

Column 4: Character Development. Even short stories usually have some growth or change in the characters. You may need to divide this column into several parts, but at the very least you need to record the main character's achievements. You can also keep important character background information in this column.

Column 5: Thematic Details. The theme is why -- what you want readers to realize or take away story. You can use this column to collect plot details that contribute to the theme and meaning , the sights and sounds, smells and tastes, slang  and vocabulary choice, all the little stuff that gives your story texture. This

The trick of course is to fill in the timeline or table working down and across, going back and revising where necessary, and making it a real working document that makes writing the scenes easier.

An exercise you might try is to take a story or working on or story you like and try making up a table like this. Or ask yourself what other column you might like to see to describe your own writing?

In any case, feel free to use the tool to help yourself get organized, but don't forget to write.