The Many Faces of a Plotter

In my newsletter, I do a lot of case studies on writers. I like to study the writing process of other writers. Even though we’re all unique and we have our own unique process for writing, there is sometimes overlap.

For example, I prefer to outline my plot before I write. So do a lot of other writers.

But we don’t outline exactly the same and that’s the fun part. What technique or tip can I pick up from another writer that makes my plotting better? I’m always looking for what I can steal and incorporate into my own process.

Here are some interesting variations on plotting.

Robert Crais

Robert starts a book with approximately three months of outlining and general notes. He uses the time to develop the characters and then the story line. “The story requires the most work. I have to live with the story for months. I’m not one of those writers who can just begin typing on paper. I couldn’t keep all the clues straight if I didn’t plan it all out.”

Janet Evanovich

Janet generally creates a brief outline before beginning a new book, with one or two sentences about what will happen in each chapter.

She also uses storyboarding to map out the action in her stories. “I have a huge white dry-erase board that hangs on the wall in my office. I’ve already decided who the villain is going to be; I’ve decided what the crime is, and how the book is going to end. So now I map out in a couple of sentences what the physical action is going to be– that is, the action that is going to promote the crime line of the book. Every now and then, I’ll add what is going to happen in Stephanie’s romantic relationship and sketch in the secondary plot information as well.”

Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois makes a broad section outline, what she calls “the event horizon”, which is how far she can see to write until she has to stop and make up some more. This is usually between one and three chapters. She gets mental pictures of what scenes should go in the next chapter and she pushes them around until they slot into sequence. She then pulls out the next scene and outlines it closely, as a kind of messy first draft. She choreographs dialogue especially carefully.

She takes her notes to the computer and types up the actual scene. She continues this process until she gets to the end of the chapter and her brain is out of ideas. Then it is back to the outlining for the next scene. Each scene she writes has the potential of changing what comes next in the story, so she re-outlines constantly.

It’s All Plotting, But…

Robert outlines meticulously so that every clue and detail is known before he starts writing.

Janet jots down a couple of sentences for each chapter, using a storyboard to track the action.

Lois plots just enough for a couple of chapters at a time.

Three successful writers. Three different variations on outlining and plotting.

Your Turn

Do you outline your novel before you start writing? What’s your process like?

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