Get this!
Today I spent all day mapping out a six-page story plan for last year's NaNoWriMo book!
I don't know how it happened...it just like...I sat down, and got my brain out, and said, "Ana, you are going to plan this book out if it's the last thing you do. Understand?"
"yes me."
"Good. Now. Go do it."
So I sat there and scribbled down a very basic storyline for my entire novel. In six pages. In one afternoon. Now it's over and I don't even have to worry about outlining anymore. :')
I think I'm gonna cry...
I wish I could say that I used some new planning/outlining technique, and tell you my masterful and genius way of planning books, but it just didn't happen that way. I sat down and wrote what came to my mind. But I do have a bit of a technique when it comes to planning novels...but rarely do I do it in an afternoon.
(This is all written assuming you have a basic story idea in mind.)
1. Character Profiles
The first thing I do when planning a novel is write out character profiles. At first, I usually don't get too deep, and only do the profiles of the people I'm either sure or pretty sure are going to stay. To make a character profile, I just make a form asking questions like
- Name (full name)
- Age
- Race
- Basic appearance
- Basic personality traits
- Some history, family members, or special skills
- Any weaknesses or fears that come to mind
This is my foolproof character profile. I always learn stuff about my character while filling these out for the first time.
2. Story Idea Scribble Page
This is where you take a page and throw up any idea that you find appealing on there. One of my post-apocalyptic story scribble pages reads as follows:
- apocalypse happens during book
- NO GOVERNMENT BADDIES I do that too much...
- Terrorists?
- some sort of dangerous "game" baddies put them through
- adopted kids in a family
- parents are captured
- travel the world
- maybe aliens?
As you can see this follows a slight pattern, keeping to my basic theme of post-apocalypse, but I am throwing random ideas out that don't really connect. That's okay. This is the time for creating, not planning. You just want to get some inspiration. If you have a scene in your head between two characters, write it on the list. It doesn't matter if it doesn't get in the book.
3. Plan Chapters/Plan Story
I let stuff simmer in my head a while before I start to plan my novels. Sometimes I like to free write a bit just to get a feel of what my story will be like. Either way, when I feel ready to start really planning, I do it chapter by chapter. Some people like to write one or two sentences describing basically what happens in that chapter, and some people like to write every little detail down. I like to think I'm somewhere in-between. My chapter plannings go something like this:
Bob goes to school / gets beat up by bully / bathroom / meets bf / convinces him to gang up on bully / runs into sandra instead and talks
etc.
You get the idea. I just scribble down whatever comes to my head. Think of it like making a skeleton of your story, and then filling in the flesh with the actual writing. This makes outlining mandatory for the structure of your novel.
Today, though, I admit I went a different route than my usual plan-by-chapter adventure (mainly because though effective, that tactic takes a REALLY LOOONG TIME). Today, I sat down and just wrote out my whole storyline a bit like I did with my chapter thing, except obviously not as detailed.
Bob goes to the store. Steals something. Gets arrested. Goes to jail; is bailed out by Jessie. Jessie takes him to her house and feeds him rotten stinky awful dinner. He gets food poisoning and goes to hospital where meets Gabby the nurse. etc.
Something like that. Just very fast and keeping it tight and only the big events on the page. The rest I will fill in with the actual writing.
So, I hope this little blurby post about outlining helps you in some way. If you have any questions, please comment and I will always reply.
Thanks for reading!
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