Welcome back to another Chapter of IWB!! If you’ve joined us from Little Blossoms for Jesus, welcome to part 2 of chapter 3 of the Blogcast! If you’re coming here from my email…hope over to Katja’s blog real quick and read part 1!
And now that you are back, here’s the rest of the blogcast!
Katja: I think you’d really like that. Okay, now let’s (briefly) discuss the Plotting Phase. But first, there’s something we have to confess. Neither Ry nor I are huge plotters. We’re plantsers, a.k.a. we plot some but also go “by the seat of our pants”—but differently! So here’s our disclaimer: we will be discussing a more laid-back approach to outlining/plotting. There are people who are huge outliners and there’s tons of resources about that; we’ll give you some links in the footnotes. But for now, let’s have a little convo about how we, as plantsers, plot!
Ryana: Now, I’m always on a different wavelength then most people. XD I call myself a plotser for one thing because plantser makes me feel like a houseplant. XD
So, it’s important to know that each book is probably gonna change your process a bit. I know it has for me. My first book? My amount of plotting consisted of knowing I wanted each chapter to be ten pages long and I knew about five chapter titles at a time. That was it! I might have written a brief sentence on what I wanted to happen, but most of the time, I was just going where the story took me! How about you, Katja?
Katja: I actually like considering myself a houseplant. XD I think it’s cute! And it reminds me of a good post Abigayle Claire did once. Anyways! Considering I gave up on my first story because I couldn’t figure out what kind of wallpaper one minor character had, you can easily guess plotting wasn’t my strong suit once upon a time. It was more of a harum-scarum attack on an idea and trying to flounder afloat until the story ended or ran dry. I used to rely heavily on character questionnaires for inspiration, which never worked out because the characters ended up changing so that the questionnaire wasn’t any good anymore…! I’m still not a huge plotter, but like Ry, my process changes not only from story to story but from one season to life to another. Do you find yourself doing some plotting steps pretty frequently overall though?
Ryana: I actually do! Now I write down everything I know about the story in bullet points after I write an initial chapter or two. I rely HEAVILY on my character worksheets to help the characters feel unique from each other and make them feel real to me. I rearrange things until I like it and then let my pantsing self make up the rest. Usually my entire plan gets scraped about a fourth of the way in. This will happen about ten times during the first draft, and at least twice with each revision. XD
Katja: That’s a very interesting way to do it. With short stories, my general way is apparently just to have a vague idea + theme and start writing, and see what happens… Or I grab a notebook and write down all my ideas, however vague—plot, theme, characters, etc. Brainstorm happens by hand, or aloud with friends and family, because I struggle to brainstorm without talking things through. With longer work, I often do bullet outlines—sometimes with the NaNoWriMo rollercoaster (I know, I’m a bit of a baby XD but it works!!! Especially just to get unstuck and started off), other times just a basic jot down of what stuff I know will happen/need to happen.
Honestly, most often I plot and research as I write, because the story and characters only come as I write. I often find myself rewriting stuff because the character changed, scrapping old themes and doing a new one, that kind of thing. It’s a little embarrassing how little plotting I do, to be honest… But it’s always a struggle, because I can’t write till I have info, but I don’t have info till I write! My issues aren’t characters, but plots and themes—and those don’t come until I know the character, but I have to find them as I write their story and get into their head. Unfortunately, questionnaires no longer work for me. ;P
Ryana: Yeah, to be honest, a lot of my actual plotting doesn’t happen until I’m nearing the end. Like, with To Save a Life, I didn’t know where the story was going until I wrote the next chapter! I think I had two major brainstorming sessions, but most of the actual plotting didn’t happen until I was in the middle of writing the chapter. XD
I also believe that some stories just require different methods. For my current his-fic, I’m going to start out writing only one character’s POV, then adding in another. My contemporary one will more than likely be written almost like short stories until I’m ready to link them together. My sequel to To Save a Life will probably be written very similarly to its predecessor, lol!
I do try to utilize the Freytag’s Pyramid Method (a.k.a. Five Point Method, Rollercoaster Method, etc.) at times though, and when brainstorming/stuck in a rut, I have pulled out the Snowflake Method to get me thinking again. I would love to try out mind-mapping but it just doesn’t make sense to me. Like at all.
Katja: I’ve used the Snowflake Method… once, I think??? I’ve also given mind-mapping a shot at least two times. I should actually look into more plotting methods and try a few to see if I can make the plotting phase easier for me, haha!
What we really want you to come away with here is the freedom to do what works for you, whenever. There’s no one-size-fits-all, either among writers or stories! Literally every style is valid. If you’re a plotter, plot to your heart’s content. I know folks who plot for years, meticulously, going so far as to write paragraph by paragraph what their chapters will be. On the other extreme, you have my very, very loose ways. XD Both ways work and produce good books. Just don’t get so stuck in one identity that you can’t try a new one if a story requires it. Like children, they have a habit of requiring you to be flexible. 😉
Ryana: Yes, they definitely do! And remember, it’s perfectly okay for you to fix some of these things in future rewrites! It doesn’t have to be (and won’t be) perfect. I’ve had to flesh out characters right before final edits before (I don’t recommend this by the way XD). Give yourself time and grace to figure it all out. It takes time and experience!
Katja: Absolutely. Remember there’s plenty of people out here willing to help, and God’s the best writing partner. ❤
Ryana: Exactly! I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of the blogcast! And tell us, what pre-writing and plotting tips have you tried and proved? We would love to see writers blessing each other with advice in the comments section! Have a question? Drop those too! See you next time for another episode of the Indie Writers’ Blogcast!!
Writing Inspiration
Writer Memes
Book Recs!
This book definitely needs censoring (language), but I honestly believe every American should read this book. Heart-wrenching, eye-opening and a patriotic kick in the pants that I needed to get back into the writing game ❤ Afraid to censor it yourself? If you’re willing to pay shipping costs and $5 for my time, I’ll do it for you!
Can we just talk about this book for a sec? Not only is it an Indie book, it’s a study in author excellence! Ms. Tabby is a passionate and well studied author, making this massive book feel like the blink of an eye and leave you begging for more!
Don’t forget to share your prewriting and plotting questions/suggestions below!
Until Next time!
Ryana Lynn
Jer. 29:11
Life of Heritage 
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