I realised something recently about my planning process.
For each book I have written so far, I have planned them each with a different technique.
I haven’t done this on purpose 😀 It is just something that has happened naturally as I started to plan.
It was an interesting observation about my planning style that I didn’t really notice until today. Possibly it’s because I write different sub-genres and it works better in my head for certain genres to be planned out certain ways.
– Stolen Bloodline: I didn’t have much of a plan at all, I wrote scenes that I liked and then worked them all together.
– The Queen’s Jester: I made an incredibly detailed bullet point plan that had every single scene and moment detailed on it.
– Heart of the Arena: I did something similar to The Queen‘s Jester, but the bullet point style was loose, only detailing big scenes and not specific moments.
– Prophecy of Stones: I planned out like a map. The characters go on a quest-style journey, so I plotted out the map and the route they would take, then I noted down what happened at each location on the map.
– For my next book (number 5!): I have taken the approach of noting down scenes on notelets and spreading them out on the floor.
Obviously there are a lot more notelets than this! But you get the idea.
The notelets have been brilliant as I have been able to see the gaps where I need to fill in scenes or link scenes together, but I’m not sure it would have suited the way I approached writing my other books. These different ways of planning have certainly showed me how much variety and individuality there is in the writing process, and it makes me wonder how I will plan out book number 6 😀
So my tip for the day is: If you ever feel stuck or get a bit of writer’s block, it might be worth trying out a different method of plotting a scene, short story, book, poem, etc. You never know if looking at it in a different way might just jog something new 🙂
Have you tried out different planning methods? Do you use one method that works for you all the time? Do you have any planning tips or tricks for others?
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Progress Report:
Status of fifth manuscript: Writing first draft.
Word count: 5100 (Total word count: 8863).
Books read: 3/4
Mid-August book review: Written and ready.
A Writer's Life For Me. 