First Draft Plotting and Structure
A couple of posts ago, Jaekaebee asked a question in the comments section on whether or not I have an end point in mind for my WIP and how I have the book planned. I thought the answer to that question would be a good idea for a post so I’m going to answer that here.
For my current WIP, I’m using something similar to the four act structure discussed on author Diana Peterfreund’s blog. Before beginning the novel, I knew some major plot points in the story and how I wanted it to end. I was able to divide this into four sections aka acts.
Currently, I’m in Act Two. Act One took up almost the first 25% of my book, but they don’t always have to be evenly distributed. In my case, I have a feeling the acts will turn out that way just because there is so much that needs to happen in each act.
When I began, I had just a few plot points, events and notes listed for each act. As I go along and the story better develops in my mind, I add more scenes and plot points to my act list. For example, right now I have all the plot points and scenes listed for Act One. It’s a pretty long list. I have about half of that listed for Act Two and then only about three notes listed for both Act Three and Four. I know the ending and the major events that need to happen to get there, but I leave myself enough room for the story to morph and develop as I go.
Why do I use this method? Well, I’ve learned the hard way that, for me, I need to do a little plotting and know how the story will end or else I run the story into a corner or it just fizzles away. Some writers use three act structures rather than four acts, but I like having four parts to make sure I keep things interesting. I started out this story at a pretty fast pace, and I needed a way to keep the middle from sagging which I’ve done in the past. Granted, in the past I didn’t use any sort of structure so I don’t know if the three act structure would work for me or not.
I also have more than just these four acts in my mind because my story is a little larger than one novel. There are at least two more novels to this before the story can be completely told. That said, I’m wrapping up what I need to for this one to work as a standalone novel. Why? Because I’m going to query it as a standalone with the option for a series. This is how Agent Nathan Bransford suggests querying the first in a series. And yes, mine can work as a standalone, but it would be a much more amazing story if I was able to turn it into a series. I’ll probably at least write a sequel even if I don’t find an agent or editor for the book because I love the story so much. Why not fit the whole thing into one book then? Because it really can’t fit unless I want it to be a monster-sized novel. And even then, it would still work best to split it up into separate books.
Anyway, on that note, I am putting certain things into the novel that will be important later on in the series, but I am making sure that it will make sense as a standalone. So, I have an extra step added into the planning and plotting of the novel.
So, that is my method so far. When I’m ready for revisions, I plan on using a plotting board to review the various plot threads in different scenes and acts to check for consistency and to make sure I haven’t forgotten about anything.
The Name Game| My First Writers’ Conference! » »
Leave a Comment