Virtual Plotting Board

Posted by Jen on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 @ 2:28 pm

Thanks to Rachel Vincent, author of one of my favorite urban fantasy series, I downloaded the free trial of Post-It Digital Notes a few days ago. Now, I’m not sure this is how they intended this program to be used, but it makes for a GREAT virtual plotting board.

I’ve never used the same process for two novels, and here I am trying yet another new method for this one. The reason is that I find each novel to be its own beast, and I have to figure out the best way to tackle it. You wouldn’t go after a dragon the same way you’d go after a troll so…you know. I’m finding I need to do more plotting with Clash than with any others.

I tried using a live plotting board with one of my mysteries:

It didn’t get much further along than that. Not helpful, really. But as you can see from my virtual plotting board, I’m getting a lot more done.

Here’s how I’m using the Post-It Digital Notes to plot out Clash.

Each color is a different plot thread. Purple is the main plot because purple is my favorite color. I always have a romantic subplot so that’s what I’m using the red for. I also have a couple of other minor subplots, and I’m using green and blue for those. Also, if you look in the top right corner, there’s some yellow Post-It Notes there. I’m using those for notes for research or creating names for certain characters or groups.

I’m lining them up in columns, to be read from from top to bottom. As you can see, I have the beginning fleshed out as well as the very end, with a few plot points in between. The board will actually become a lot bigger than that as I keep developing my plot, and thankfully, I can keep scrolling it out to the right as I add things. Very useful.

I can also make multiple memoboards if I decide to have one each for the beginning, middle and end.

Another thing I really like is how easy it is to just move the notes around to rearrange the plot. I liked trying out the real plotting board, but it’s a lot more cumbersome than a little program where I just have to click and drag.

Anyway, I’m feeling a lot better about my story now. I have some direction, and I’m going to be able to start chugging along once I get the POV question straightened out. It looks like I still have quite a bit of plot left to develop, but I do figure a lot of that out as I go. So, the board will grow as I progress, and it will help keep me on track and help me ensure everything stays consistent. Plus, it will become very useful in the editing phase when I search for inconsistencies, plot holes and things accidentally left out due to book brain melt that can happen when writing that first draft. There’s so much to keep track of, and I think this program is really going to help me out.

That said, I’m almost 100% sure I’ll buy the thing once my trial is up. It’s only $20, and it’s worth that if it helps me improve my writing.

Comments

By Dan on August 30th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

I’ve been messing around with this program for the last few days, since your first tweet about it.

I just fired it up today for actual plotting and, so far, I’m digging it. I’m with you: if it works, it’ll totally be worth the 20 bucks. Although, a part of me will miss my old index card- and paper Post-it-clad cork board.