Introduction
I’ve talked about planning before and for many people you may already have your own personal methods. And that’s the beauty of it, you’ll learn as you go what works for you. Here are just a couple of starting ideas:
Draft zero, or the pantser’s compromise
You know it may be shocking, but you don’t actually need to plan. I know it’s odd but for some not planning is much better than trying to.
You can write a rough draft zero, it won’t be as coherent as a first draft as you’ll be doing it blind, but it will be more extensive and detailed than any plan could be.
You should try to write it quickly and in as few sitting as possible so you are less likely to forget the subplots and ideas you have branching off. Of course, given it isn’t an actual draft, ideas can be written only in notes if this helps you plan it out better.
Beat Sheet
Write down each beat of your story in every scene. This is a very in-depth way of planning: it’s essentially writing your story out without writing it.
Character Arcs
We focused on scenes, chapters and structure plans but planning by your main character’s arc almost helps to plot your story, (the main events should surround them). They go from A to Z and you need to plot what happens in between.
Story Bible
This…this is a long one. I would never trust myself to write a story bible as I’d probably would procrastinate by planning it forever. If you feel the same, then this isn’t for you. But a story bible contains everything from the plot to character descriptions and worldbuilding. It can become larger than your own novel, but with it at your side you’ll be properly prepared.
The synopsis
The synopsis is essentially a mini first draft. If you don’t feel confident to separate your story plan into scenes or even chapters, then this is the planning method for you.
Now some say you just need to do the synopsis that you would send off to any agent or publisher (which of course you will need). However, I believe you need much more than this, you need the little in-betweens and the subplots that are not important enough to mention in a query letter but are very important for planning out your story.
And remember, with any of these planning methods it is perfectly fine, to leave plotlines half finished with notes to come back to later and to try out little experiments in your plan that you are unsure if you’ll keep or not.
Index Cards
My dad uses index cards for everything when it comes to planning books. Everything from listing characters to pinning scenes to corkboards and identifying emotional shifts. It is why my childhood was spent finding random index cards saying things like blended elf smoothie and attic accordion death.
Plan As You Go
You don’t have to plan everything before you write everything. You can write a scene and then plan the next.
Further Reading
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/09/14/25-ways-to-plot-plan-and-prep-your-story/
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/7-ways-write-plot-outline/
Cafe Reading 