NaNoWriMo: How I Plot My Novel

Days till NaNoWriMo: 9

Money raised for Equal Writes if I finish: at least $250

NaNoWriMo is coming so close and I’m quickly become obsessed with it, as I should be. I’m trying as hard as I can to complete my October writing goals but the main focus is to get a coherent plan together for Barbarism.

Today I wanted to explain how I’m going about plotting the novel, partly based on the Snowflake method.

1. Notes and Everything Goes.

I admit I’m obsessed with notes. I try to take down everything I can, wherever I am. Previously, I’ve been obsessed with working out plots in a linear way so haven’t bothered when an idea for a scene in the middle of the novel has come to me if the beginning hasn’t been worked out yet. It’s frustrating to then later work out the end and forget that awesome scene in the middle because you didn’t write it down.

2. One Sentence and One Paragraph

The core of the snowflake method is to take your idea for your novel and simplify it down, and then expand from there. Plotting a whole novel, with so many words, scenes, characters and events can seem overwhelming so it’s useful, I think, to summarise it down to one sentence. What exactly is your story about? I sometimes find this hard, and make this complex composite sentence.

For example, Stephen King’s It could be summarised down to “A group of old friends return to their hometown to defeat, once and for all, their childhood demon.”

Sure, there’s sub-plots and back story and other things you’re sure are essential – and they probably are – but they can be added in later. It’s best so put it down to one overarching aim that’s at the core and anything else can be surrounded around that.

Now expand that into a paragraph. The original snowflake method suggests five sentences; one to set up the story, one for three disasters and another sentence for your ending. I tend to cheat and play with this a bit, but I like the idea of various disasters happening in attempts to fix the initial problem, and then the final resolution.

3. Synopses

From a sentence to a paragraph, and now to a page. Can you see the trend? I find here that I’m tempted to be as detailed as I want, but with some scenes more worked out in my head, it’s not good to ramble on for paragraphs about some inane detail to the plot, only to explain the climax with a sentence or two. Try to condense it further.

Now, write another synopses for the point of view of each of the characters including some of the major supporting ones. What do they want? What are their goals and motivations in the story? This is a good way to create conflict and for sub plots to emerge because often secondary characters aren’t after the same things the main character, so they push in another direction.

4. List the scenes.

Now I try to list the scenes one after the other to try to make some chronological order. Feel free to edit and move these around as it becomes apparent that things need to be changed. You can use index cards to write the scenes and shuffle them around if you want. Scrivener for Mac has a cool index card feature for this purpose!

If you want, list the scenes for the key plot first and then insert sub plot scenes at an even rate throughout. I haven’t tried this throughout a whole list of scenes, but have gone back and added introductory sub plot scenes at the start when I got up to listing a part when the subplot was needed to advance the plot. Feel free to play around because these things aren’t really rigid in what works and what doesn’t.

Things to include with the general explanation of what happens in the scene might be who’s point-of-view it’s from, how many words you might estimate it to be, the main conflict in each scene or mini-conflict if you like. Another thing you could add might be what song you might play in the background whilst writing it, as if it’s your own personal soundtrack. Some scenes and some songs automatically seem to fit together.

5. Blabbing to someone

Seriously. If you have a supportive ear, try telling them about your story. Try explaining it in as little time as possible and try blabbing until early hours, if you’re not going to piss the other person off. And you can do this at any point in the process, from the initial idea right down to after you’ve written your outline.

It’s a bonus if you find someone who, in the middle of your rants, tells you, “Bullshit, that makes no sense.” You then have to rethink it or explain it better. And when you finish your novel, buy them something nice to thank them for putting up with your endless rambling.

6. Plotting the Ending?

Whether or not you plot right through to the ending is a question you have to consider. Will it ruin the fun for you? Will you lose direction without it?

I personally think that you should at least have an ending in mind or the way your main character might like it to end, but leaving it open for either victory or failure. It’s also important to leave it flexible. What you outline might not seem feasible after discovering your characters in the process of writing the novel. Either it’s too far-fetched or your character can’t or won’t do what you want it to. Don’t try and push it.

I’m personally a pretty exhaustive planner and this is what has worked for me. Not outline at all might work better for others. I’d love to hear people’s other suggestions about how they go about outlining and planning their novels, if that’s what they choose to do.

The Snowflake Method is the original brilliant idea of Randy Ingermanson, so he should be given due credit. My ideas are based on that with modifications to suit my own personal writing style.