The Quickster’s Guide to Novel Plotting
Tips and Tricks for Novel Plotting
by
Sara Harricharan
SMASHWORDS EDITION
The Quickster’s Guide to Novel Plotting
Tips and Tricks for Novel Plotting
Copyright © 2011 Sara Harricharan
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Smashwords Edition License Notes
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Disclaimer: This is a collection of practical tips and suggestions learned from trial and error, research and writing until the words write themselves.
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to my family who continues to encourage me and my ‘jewelly sisters’ who help me sparkle.
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. Hi! Welcome to the Quickster’s Guide to Novel plotting! The basis of this guide operates on the premise that you are attempting to write a novel in 30 days or more. It is meant to be quick, light and informative.
For those of you participating in the novel writing phenomenon known as—NaNoWriMo—which stands for National Novel Writing Month, this should help you get a good headstart. If you don’t know about Nano, I’d suggest visiting their website and checking it out. It is worth trying at least once and I’m not going to get stuck on the little details of this writing adventure. If you are a Nano participant, I’ll assume that you know enough about it that you’re reading this in hopes of getting a jump on your fellow Wrimos. (Or that you’d just like to know what on earth to do to go about jumpstarting your novel-writing career!)
I can’t promise you that you’ll be an instant plotting genius—because you’ll only get out of this guide exactly what you put into it. It is meant to be a quick guide for writing a novel-length project in any given timeframe. I’m sticking with thirty-days, because months are easy to keep track of. I also participate in Nano and I developed this system after a few years of crazy writing. You can use it for Nano, you can use it for writing a novel in a month, a year or whenever for anything that you like. If you want to try writing a longer piece, but haven’t got the slightest clue where to start, this is for you. Follow the suggestions in here and the results may surprise you. If you don’t, well, that’s entirely your choice.
I want this guide to be sweet and short. I want you to be able to skim-through the pages, jot down notes, jumpstart your novel—and finish it!
There will be notes on character development, a few tricks I use for plotting, outlining and how I keep my writing notes straight all the way through the month. You will need to have a word count goal, an idea and a willingness to try some of my suggestions. I will be referencing the amazing writing experience (known as National Novel Writing Month) throughout this guide, but the building blocks are solid and can be applied to any novel-length project regardless of time or space.
In the past three years, I have written 100,000+ words for Nano consistently every time and I’d like to share what I’ve learned about that in this guide. This is my process and what works for me. I use it for Nano, I use it for short stories, I use it for writing just about anything. You’re welcome to modify it and experiment to find what works for you. If this sounds like what you’re looking for, read on!
First off, here’s a little background about me—so you know where I’m coming from.
My name is Sara Harricharan and I have been writing stuff for nearly a decade. I am currently a full-time student in university. I work part-time. The holiday season is filled with family traditions and warm-fuzzies for me, so I tend to make more room for my folks once October rolls around. I write virtually everywhere and I’d like to share some of my tips and tricks, using my Nano plotting process as an example.
So how did the madness start?
I discovered Nano in 2006 on November 1st. I had no clue what Nano really was or what on earth I was going to do about it, but the friend that suggested it, had a bit of a challenging gleam in their eye. I couldn’t resist. I signed up. The title took me a while to come up with and so did the story and characters. But I didn’t spend a lot of time on plotting, planning and all of that good stuff, I charged straight in from a blank wordperfect document and as much time as I could squeeze out of my homework study afternoons.
Somehow, I made it. I remember panicking, fretting, fussing and trying to explain to everyone around me, what I was doing, why I was doing it and that no, I didn’t care if it never became much of anything. Not surprisingly, I didn’t finish the novel. However, I did reach the 50,000 words. I rounded up at 55k and some couple hundred. But I didn’t finish the story. I knew how it would end, I had the ending all ready to go, but then November was over and life had to hurry and get back to normal.
But that first win, that first frantic rush—that month of clueless inspired writing was pure magic. I was hooked—for life.
2007
By the time the shock wore off, I decided it was worth it enough to try again next year—on time, mind you—and that maybe it’d be easier and less of a headache.
Who on earth was I kidding?
It was worse, if not twice the headache.
This time around, I was obsessed with finishing the story. My only goal was to have a beginning and an end. The middle was welcome to happen somewhere around in there and I figured I could always fix it up later. Yes. Brilliant, don’t you think? Except for I did finish. I did win that year. I clocked in at 87k words and I actually finished the story. I thought it was so brilliant, I couldn’t wait to write the sequel.
Then of course, I set it aside and dived right back into my busy life.
Notes for said sequel are still inside a certain composition notebook eagerly waiting for the day when I’ll pull it from the bookshelf and dive into that wonderful world.
Someday.
2008
Then the third year came around. By now, I was adjusted enough to realize that this wasn’t going to go smoothly if I didn’t legitimately devote some time to figuring things out beforehand.
So I did.
That’s when I discovered a problem.
A very big problem. I had two ideas. Two wonderfully perfect separate ideas. Oh joys. I just had to do them both. In fact, I was so stuck on that fact, I decided to combine them and make a single, imperfect idea. Ho-hum. How do you suppose that went? Don’t hold your breath. That year, the novel took on a mind of its own.
The good part was reaching 100k words for the first time. The bad part was that I couldn’t really get into the story, even though I managed to splice in an ending. By splice, I mean that I didn’t get to finish the novel the way I intended, so I wrote the ending and about twelve shortened scenes to bring it together. It’s on my to-do list. The big to-do list. I imagine it has conversations with the composition notebook for my 2007 future-sequel.
2009
Fourth year? Oh baby, I was into it.
I planned. I plotted. I scribbled. I made bookcovers, web badges, and acted out the signature line for the FMC to whoever would pay me any mind. It was grand. I literally lived and breathed Nano from November 1st to the end. I also hit 100k again—kind of like clockwork now—and was writing furiously towards a perfect ending. Hmm. The missing keyword here would be ‘intended’. I intended, in all good conscience, to finish this novel. I had specific plans for the perfect end, hints to keep the plot and subplots happy, character arcs sketched out by hand and somehow, I just never got there. The story itself remains rather unfinished. There’s still more to it.
Enough for a sequel.
I was thrilled. I thought it’d be a great idea for the next year. So I let it be.
2010
Fifth year? I started out all excited and organized like the fourth, I was going to do it right.
Yeah. Then I got my idea one day before November 1st. Yep. That was pure genius. Any possible ideas, plotting and whatever, flew straight out the window. It didn’t fit into the new world that my mind had finally thought it was time to show me. Ha. I ended up hitting 100k (as usual…), and like the year before, I didn’t finish the story. By the time I reached the end of November, I had character profiles, I had scene snippets and I knew how that baby was gonna end.
But I didn’t end it.
I worked on it through the summer, I took time to step away from it and I made sure I came back. It’s still not finished, but it is the closest to the end that some of my ‘unfinished’ manuscripts have ever come. It is also the first novel that I have truly enjoyed every minute of hard work I’ve put into it. I am going to finish it—that’s what December is for, (National Novel Finishing Month) and I’m pretty happy with the progress that I’ve made.
This novel will be finished and I do plan to take it into the publishing world.
Guess what? Now my sixth Nano is coming around. I can’t wait.
2011
If I haven’t scared you off, then you’re ready for the good stuff.
So what was all of that drama for? Well, first off, I have to say that I really love writing. I love it. I enjoy it. I practically live for it. If I didn’t, I sure wouldn’t be able to cram in a 100,000+ word novel during one of the busiest months for school, work and family. It just wouldn’t happen. I work as close to full-time as I can, considering that I am currently an honor-student in University, with a full-course load. By full course load, I mean that I max out my hours as much as I can humanely get away with and I still dive headfirst, feet-with-flippers-on into Nanoland every time November comes around.
I can’t help it.
It’s crazy. It’s wild. It is pure insanity, but I do it.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m guessing that you love writing enough to try your hand at Nano—and to read a guide on it.
One of the main reasons I participate in Nano is for the sheer fun of it. The second reason is because I grow several sizes more as a writer. I get something out of this experience that I couldn’t possibly find anywhere else. This makes it more than worthwhile for me and for it, I’d gladly participate every single year.
Now, there are folks who can argue that I’ve wasted time and effort. They point out that I ought to finish things I start, that if I have so many manuscripts I ought to see about publishing them and all of that.
I agree. They’re right. I should finish the novels I start. I need to it before I forget the magic I wanted to put into them, before I lose some of what never made it to paper as my brain overwrites the creative space for newer things. I have publishable ideas and material, I need to sit down, clean them up, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite and submit.
I do and I will.
But in the meantime? I’m not going to skip the chance to churn out another idea and add it to the bookshelf. I know how I work. I know how random my creative process is. I know that NaNo is more than just a tool—it’s the experience. I’m addicted for life. I’d rather have participated and have x amount of words to show for it (another full idea fleshed out and in solid rough draft), then to have two pages in one of my dozens of notebooks sitting in the corner of my backpack. I’d rather do something about it.
Nano lets me do that something. It helps me see it as a possibility instead of an exercise in futility.
Now, if you’ve read this far, then you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a writer because that is what I do. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes it’s kind of in between. I write several hundred or thousand words a day, depending. Some days I don’t write at all. I have notebooks and journals filling bookshelves and desks. I’ve written in pen, pencil and marker. (Pencils are best for chewing, the rest, not so much.) I’ve written in every genre, just for the fun of it and I’ve settled on two specifics that I like to call my own. I’ve learned more about writing by actually writing, than by reading books, reading books on writing and going to workshops. Not to discount the benefits to be gleaned from doing or participating in those things, I do recommend them. But for me, my personal process, I need to do it a little differently.