Writing Focus: Plot Planning

Although many of us will ‘wing’ a story – write without any solid notion of plot or ending – it can be beneficial to plan how you want your story to pan out. Not only does it give you a solid plan to work from, but it can also show the weak areas of your idea; the areas that could potentially harbour plot holes and tangents. In this week’s Writing Focus, we’ll be taking a look at why planning can be a lifesaver!

What Is Plot Planning?

It’s as simple as it sounds – plot planning is the action of planning out the plot for your story. This can be done in several ways and for every person, the planning process will change. Some prefer to write out what they want to happen at the beginning, in the middle and at the end. Others like to make a timeline of events. Whatever the style you want to choose, a good idea for planning is to write down a list of everything you already know about your story. This will allow you to create a solid plan based around these.

Tips

Planning can sometimes take a lot of time, so ensure you’ve got a few spare hours when you start. The easiest way to begin planning is to think about the three key areas of your piece: the beginning, the middle and the end. What are you trying to achieve with all of these, and what events take place in each? Do you want the beginning of your piece to showcase the characters? Write it down! Want the middle to feature some explosive action that further develops your characters? Get that down too! Do you know how you want the story to end, or what moral you want to show by the final sentence? Get it all down on paper so you don’t forget! It doesn’t have to be detailed or make sense to anyone but you – remember that you’ll probably be the only person to see the planning, so don’t bother fancying it up for others. Your planning should be a list of notes and reminders that will keep you on track throughout your writing process.

There is plenty of computer software out there that you can use to keep all of your planning together as well. Programmes like Scrivener and StoryBook integrate areas for all of your planning and can be a vital tool for those that like to have everything organised into the one area.

Sometimes, plans aren’t as straightforward as they may seem, though. If the ideas are flowing more than the structure, it may be a good idea to write first and then go back to the planning stage if you feel you need to clarify what you are trying to achieve. Some people just don’t need a plan to write, others do. You’ll get a feel for what type of person you are the more you write.

Prompts

Looking to improve your plot planning skills? Check out these prompts to help you along the way!

1. Your character is trapped in the school overnight with a few friends. Plan out the events of the evening in timeline form, starting from the moment they were locked in and finishing with the faculty staff realising they were locked in the next morning.
2. Take the basic plot of a story you have not finished writing and flesh it out – detail what happens in the beginning section of the story, the middle section and how you would want the story to end.
3. Using mind-map form, plan out a story in which the main character is battling a disease and only has months left to live.

Although planning can be difficult and sometimes seem like a complete waste of time, it can be the backbone that gets you through a difficult and bumpy section of your story and is always worth investing a little of your day into! So why not try it today and see if it makes a difference to your writing life?

Special thanks to silent hearts. and sheepcat; for editing!