How to Plan a Book
As a follow-up from last week's article, I thought I'd share some helpful steps and tricks that I've utilized while planning my stories!
Again, keep in mind that I only began using this strategy this year, but I do believe that in that time, I have gathered some useful knowledge.
1. Separate your planning from your actual story. Basically, keep your planning in a different area than the book itself. For example, I have two notebooks for my current novel (being released next year): one composition notebook for the story itself, and one small notebook for all of my notes. If your story is digital, you could have two documents, or put them in subsections.
2. Dedicate at least two pages to every character and write down important (and some not-so-important) information. I only have two pages on each character, but if a character in my story has a name and more than a quarter page of read time, I have that amount of my planning notebook dedicated to them. Even the most minor of repeating characters influences the other members of the story, so in order to form good character arcs, jotting down all the information you can think of - about their parents, siblings, clothing choices, personality, and more - is beneficial.
3. Diagram out important settings. If a setting repeatedly appears, you might want to consider drawing out a floor plan of the area in your planning notebook. If you're such a poor artist that this would not prove helpful, however, then don't feel pressured to - as long as you can visualize the settings clearly in your mind so you know how to write each scene.
4. Explain important organizations or concepts in vivid detail. The story I'm currently writing is a futuristic novel, so whenever I invent a science fiction-like device, I fill out a page or two in my planning notebook about it so that I can remember the specific details of its purpose and how it works. I would reccomend doing the same with any devices, organizations, or social concepts that you invent.
5. Plan out your book to a degree that makes you comfortable. I like to have a lot of fluidity in my books, so I only outline the broad plot points. I know, however, that there are plenty of people who love to plan out every single plot point, even down to specific conversations.
6. Don't force yourself into one type of planning. You have to experiment a little to find out what types of planning are truly comfortable for you. Don't dedicate yourself to one method because you heard that one of your favorite authors is doing it. In fact, from listening to many author interviews and attending writing panels, the authors themselves will encourage you not to just copy them in an attempt to improve your writing.
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To recap:
1. Separate your planning from your actual story.
2. Dedicate at least two pages to every character and write down important (and some not-so-important) information.
3. Diagram out important settings.
4. Explain important organizations or concepts in vivid detail.
5. Plan out your book to a degree that makes you comfortable.
6. Don't force yourself into one type of planning.
Every story is different, and some require no planning. Feel free to use whatever strategy you want to. That's the beauty of writing - there's no "right" way to do it!
