A friend of mine has been working on his novel for years
but has yet to complete it. “I just get bogged down,” he told me recently. “I
don’t know where the story is going.”
Does this sound familiar?
Too many potential writers have partial manuscripts lying
around, and I say potential because an unfinished manuscript is nothing more
than a good idea—and unless you’re Nora Roberts or Tom Clancy, all a good idea
is good for is collecting dust. It will never sell.
We all have good ideas. The question is how to turn that
brilliant concept for the next bestselling novel into a complete manuscript?
Some writers manage to get their novels down by writing as
they go, a process called pantsing (referring to writing by the seat of their
pants). But this doesn’t work for
everyone. If it did, there would be no such thing as writers’ block and no
partial manuscripts cluttering our hard drives.
The other popular method of writing is called plotting or
roadmapping—planning a story in detail from beginning to end before the actual
process of writing begins. I’ve written novels using both methods, and each has
positive and not so positive aspects. However, for writers who have hit a brick
wall, plotting might be just the ticket to put you back on track.
KNOW
YOUR DESTINATION
Writing is like driving a car. If you were to get behind
the wheel without knowing where you want to go, you may very well wander
aimlessly around town. You could end up on the same roads you drove down
before. Without a destination in mind, you might never leave your driveway at
all.
Most of us, however, know before we ever get in the car
where we plan to go. We look up the address and get directions. We may print a
map, or even check the traffic before we head out. Without proper planning, our
journey would waste time and cause frustration.
Writing a novel is no different. Every story is a journey
with a specific destination. Writers can avoid common obstacles such as writers’
block and meandering storylines by knowing their destination and planning the
route before they start writing. I call
this planning process ROAD MAPPING.
ROADMAPPING
Road Mapping requires patience on the part of the writer.
Like the traveler who wouldn’t just jump in his car and take off without
knowing where he’s going, so the writer ought not to rush into writing before
she’s good and ready. There are four simple steps to Road Mapping. They are:
brainstorm, outline, summarize, and chapter breakdown.
Brainstorm
When I get a good idea for a novel, I never rush over to
the computer and start writing. I may jot down a sentence or two so that I will
remember it later, but after that, I let the idea mull around in my brain for
awhile. I spend as much time as I need to develop the characters and plot
details, often writing my thoughts on sticky notes. I like sticky notes because
I can move them around at will, organizing all those seemingly random ideas
into a linear storyline across my bedroom wall. This is the time to work out
the entire story from beginning to end. Knowing how the story will end is
vital. Only once I am certain of my destination will I move on to step number
two.
Outline
I earned my degree in English eons ago, and I often joke
that my diploma has done nothing for me but line the bottom of my hope chest. However,
I did glean one very useful skill from all those years of study. I know how to
write an outline. In high school and college, I had to write outlines for countless
essays. (You probably did, too.) Later, as a newspaper and magazine columnist,
I wrote outlines for the articles I published. An outline is perhaps the
easiest way to visualize an entire novel from start to finish on a single piece
of paper. Just as with any 5 paragraph essay, I break the story down into 5
sections: the hook (how my story begins), 3 plot points (these are the three
biggest moments of conflict in a story—much like you’d find in a movie
screenplay), and the conclusion (how the story ends—the destination).
Synopsis
Once my outline is finished—what I refer to as a story’s
skeleton—I am ready to flesh it out in my synopsis. This is where the actual
writing process begins. I describe the characters and storyline using complete
sentences and paragraphs and plenty of detail. It is almost like writing a
short story version of my novel. This can take anywhere from three to twenty
pages, and can be used later when submitting to agents and publishers.
Summarize
The final step is to breakdown the entire novel into individual
chapters or scenes. Each chapter is assigned a number and a title that reflects
what occurs in that chapter. The titles are for quick reference while writing
and revising the manuscript and are eventually deleted from my completed
manuscripts. I include a brief (no more than a paragraph) description of the
setting, events and conflict for each chapter.
LET
THE WRITING BEGIN
Once these four steps are complete, I am ready to write my
novel. I like to write at least 500 words per day, but I don’t always write scenes
in order. By referring to the chapter summaries, I can choose any chapter I
like and write that one. I save each chapter as a separate file using the
chapter number and title as the file name. (ie. 01-Exile; 02-Found; ect.)
Later, if I need to rearrange the chapter order, all I need to do is rename the
files.
IN
CONCLUSION
Getting to the end of a story is not as daunting a task as
it may seem. All it takes is a little pre-planning. Know your destination. Take
the time to plan your route. Then pull out that incomplete manuscript, blow off
the dust, and GET IT DONE.
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