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It’s confirmed: I am not a character writer, able to start with a character and “see where the character takes me.” Nope. I need to plot first. Now here’s the thing. I can tell you about 29 different plot paradigms. There’s the hero’s quest, especially as it plays out in Bridge to Terabithia. But it [...]
Weaving Plot and Subplot Together I am working on my new novel’s plot and subplot. The subplot is a secondary goal, in this case a love story: Boy meets Girl, Boy and Girl hate each other, Boy and Girl love each other. I’ve written a short synopsis of each plot and am working at this [...]
How to End a Story Well 30 Days to a Stronger Scene Table of Contents Featured Today in Fiction Notes Stores There’s a last special scene to consider and that’s the last scene in your book. This may or may not coincide with the climax of the story; traditionally there’s a denouement, a French word [...]
I’ve done enough prewriting work on my new novel to know a lot about it. But today, as I worked, I realized that I know the main plot, but not the subplots. This is a complex story, with about
OK, you’ve narrowed down your story to a plot template and you know what characters, events, settings are implied by the story you are thinking about and the plot template. You know some of the pitfalls of plots. Now what? It think this is the hardest part of plotting a novel, going from generalities to [...]
UnBlinded: Revising the Second Draft 419 Specific Comments I’ve just gotten back two critiques on the second draft of my WIP novel. 419 specific comments. I’m excited. Larger concerns. Each critique was accompanied by a letter with larger concerns. Both are still concerned that the characterization needs work. One would like a stronger opening and [...]
Every Novel Needs a Scene In my WIP, I need to write a big scene: cast of dozens, culmination of major plot threads, emotional high for major characters. Big scenes should be a part of every novel, because there should be places where characters, plot events, outer and inner narratives arcs, and subplots intersect. The [...]
My problem is that the subplot was conceived as a mirror or parallel plot, but now, it’s too similar. And that makes this first draft boring. . .
When do you start revising your novel? I start by revising the first draft of my novel’s plot outline, synopsis or treatment. Revise Early and Late As soon as I’ve written the first sketchy outlines of a novel, I’m revising. I’m looking for many things: Does the climax resolve the setup? Are the main characters [...]
Need help on the first draft of your novel? Here are some great resources. Planning or Outlining: Many revision techniques found here can also be invention techniques for those first drafts. As I’m working on my first draft of a new novel, I’m finding that many of the same techniques are helpful. For example, spreadsheet [...]
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