We're going to talk about this a bit at the Plot Planning Party this Sunday, which you should all attend, but the Edmonton as a setting thread got me to thinking that some of you are already working on your outlines!
In the time left leading up to November, it might be useful to have an 'assignment' of sorts (see also the 'Charlie's Challenge' thread). Once the clock strikes midnight on November 1st, we're all going to have to find time in our lives to write - why not get a head start on that by devoting 30 minutes a day to outlining and planning? Set a timer, jot down a few emergency plot twists or maybe flesh out a character! It could make all the difference in November!
Are you planning? Got anything going? What's your outlining strategy? What do you do in advance?
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-=-=-=-=-=- Earth. Air. Fire. Water. Write! -=-=-=-=-=-
44,001 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 12 57
http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=120;t=1990...
This is my plan and strategy. I did one NaNo with, one without. One got 50k, one did not. Guess which one? =p
51,761 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 17 12
Right now my planning strategy involves a timer and lots of post its. I started general, and paired up with a friend to generate more ideas. I'm planning a novel with vampires, so we set the timer for 5 minutes and each wrote as many words as we could; whatever words came to our minds when we thought of vampires. One word per post it. These post its were then organized into topics such as "appearance," "personality," "abilities," etc.
I then created a web (I used the free download Free Mind) with vampires in the center and each of the categories and words coming off of it. From there some general plot points were decided and I stemmed those off of the web, and put them into ywriter to organize my scenes.
I've been using the timer and post-it method for all of my main characters (working by myself for the actual novel-specific characters), and I now have page long character bios for 4 of the 7 main characters. Once the main characters are done I'm moving on to setting.
All that said, of my previous 3 nano novels, the most planned one was the most epic fail novel. The one I wrote last year with no plan whatsoever turned out to be the only readable novel. So, I'm not exactly sure if this planning thing is a good idea for me. We shall see.
----------NaNo '06: Fallout - 50,013
NaNo '07: Dark State - 55, 133
NaNo '08: Living in the After (awaiting a better title) - 50,088 (and readable!)
NaNo '09: Hunger - ???
51,531 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 17 44
I'm using the same link as Opal. Last year was the first time I had outlined a novel (and I'd written four others before it) and my first 10k went amazingly smoothly. Then I hit the end of the outline and got totally stuck. As a result, I didn't finish my story. So I'm trying outlining this year.
----------The one, the only, the amazing, the I-can't-believe-it's-not-butter Crystalkins!
@livejournal
37,110 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 18 32
I'm close to a point where more planning would be redundant, and only serve to block me from writing the actual story. So far I have done:
- The reference document, describing the universe, history, technology, and politics (still, unfortunately, a work in progress, but close to finished).
- A character interview for all 18 characters.
- A detailed character summary (bio) for all 4 main characters, and a shorter one for the other 14.
- A plot summary (~700 words)
- A ****load of so-called 'brainstorm notes' - compiled from various notepads including those at work, on my bedside table, and from a digital audio recorder that's always in my truck.
Right now I'm working on index card summaries of each scene, color-coded for the viewpoint character... should be fun!!!
Good luck to everyone else in their planning. Looking forward to meeting some of you on the 18th.
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"You are God in this universe you create, so act like one. BAM! There I said it."
Athlaos
162,432 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 20 52
Wow, Athlaos! That is some deep planning! Good job!
As for me, I don't plan as much. I started after January, and finally in July was when I started writing things down. I have a few character bios, just the main ones and I have a few major plot points written out. I'll definitely have to look over my outline by next week for last minute details. :)
45,604 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 20 54
I have never done Nano before, nor written a novel, so I am winging it a bit. So far, I have made a brief plot outline (started with a 20 word sentence and went from there as suggested here at Nano somewhere). Now I am working on fleshing out my characters a bit to see if that might help me add more to the plot. I did a "character sentences" task from the Reaching 50000 board that I thought helped a lot and later today, I plan to create a little table with 20 questions about my 4 main characters and then complete it to see what that leaves me with. The next step I will take after that....????
Tracey
----------I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down. - Chumbawamba
23,045 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2009 - 22 55
My first NaNo I figured it would be really hard, I didn't think I really had it in me to do a whole novel so I planned the crap out of it. By the end I had a super detailed outline, I think it clocked in around 15,000 words all by itself. From there it turned out to be a bit of a struggle to get 50,000 words out of it.
The next year I started the same way with an outline, turned out my story was crap so I started a new novel 3 days in with a single word (Zombies!) and managed 75,000 words. I guess I find an outline too constraining. I get all my ideas down on an outline and I can't think past it. I have to stick to my outline even if I can't get any more words out of it. So this year I'm going with the same approach I used last year and just winging it. It may end in disaster, it may not. We'll see.
65,309 / 50,000
Okt 17, 2009 - 09 12
Normally I would just get an idea in my head, enough of one to start NaNo and let the characters go from there. However, when I reached the point where I didn't have an antagonist, and when it finally showed up, one of my characters actually spouted the line "Well, I guess we have our antagonist", I knew something had to change.
Last year I planned a bit. I used yWriter and joted down characters, interactions between characters and some plot points. I am prone to having my characters lead me in very different directions (they are always so pushy!), and I found it hard to get to the plot points. This year I am planning characters, the end goal of the story, as well as some of the political structure and history (I write fantasy). I have a few plot points along the way, and I actually have a real antagonist this year!
45,604 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2009 - 08 49
Tracey
I made the aforementioned table today and filled it out, and found it surprisingly helpful for fleshing out my characters. I wanted to share it but there is no way (that I know) to add attachments to these posts and I am not tech-savvy enough to get it onto the web and make it a link. Anyone have any ideas?
Tracey
----------I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down. - Chumbawamba
52,363 / 50,000
Okt 25, 2009 - 20 09
Ok, I have been palnning my novel since like July, buy decided to try out Kelley Armstrong's method just to see what it is like. My God, it is super intensive, but on the plus side it is making me fill my numerous plot holes that I was just ignoring for the time being. Definitely worth trying it out.
----------50,004 / 50,000
Okt 25, 2009 - 20 35
Ignore that, I figured it out on my own, I rock.
----------21,695 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 12 52
I use a very rough outline for my novels. It's normally only 10 to 13 bullet points, however I try to make sure that I follow the three act structure. So...
- MC in normal setting
- Something happens (MC removed from setting, setting changed, setting threatened)
- MC enters the "New" (MC forced to address the something that has happened)
- Problem 1
- Group of Allies (and/or antagonist reveal - if not done already)
- Problem 2
- Small win (or defeat)
- Problem 3
- No Turning back (the event that causes the MC to give 110% - examples: an important death/ learn something of value)
- The Show Down (the climax)
- The ending (whether its happy or sad, the MC must either go back to original setting, realize she can't, or realize he doesn't want to)
You can add more or less problems (events that escalate tension and are obstacles for your MC to overcome) depending on your story. Also, remember that this plot structure doesn't work for all stories. It works best for "hero" stories, normally found in genre fiction.
And in case your interested, Act One is "MC in Normal Setting" to "MC enters the New", Act Two is from "Problem 1" to "Problem 3" (the bulk of your story), and Act Three is from "No Turning Back" to "The End".
Hope this helps someone.
----------Website: http://www.TinaHunter.ca
NaNo 2009: Riot Girl
27,273 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 12 54
I don't plan. I have a basic idea (Zombie romantic comedy) and the names of two main characters (Julia and Brian), and a title. From there I don't have a clue where it'll go. My first year I had a basic plot planned and barely got through 50,000. Last year I was at 65,000 words and only half way through my story at the end of the month, and that was just with going with the flow. So this year, I'm just going to write what my characters want me to write, and see what happens.
----------Nano History:
2007 - "In the Blood", historical drama
2008 - "Earth", post apocalyptic fantasy
2009 - "For the Love of Brian", romantic comedy and zombies
3,004 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 20 53
I've been working on my novel outline for essentially the entire month of October. Since I decided to do a non-romance vampire story, I went off and read a lot of actual vampire research books in order to create a background that isn't a copy of every pulp fiction vampire book ever written. Needless to say, since it's Halloween I've been having uneasy thoughts of cannibals and being buried alive. But the main pieces of outlining I did were as follows:
1. Character outlines/sketches/relations
-I chose my main characters names, and made a list of names that I liked for side characters.
-Did "sketches" of my characters; some actual drawings for the main character just to solidify his image, and then a 100~word descriptions of the main characters from at least two viewpoints.
-Figured out the relationships between the majority of characters; who each character feels comfortable confiding secrets to and who they don't trust, etc.
-Background information for the main characters. Everyone is shaped by their history and experiences, and trying to write about a character without knowing exactly who they are is just too much effort.
2.Universe information/outlines
-How the universe differs from our own; discrepancies within the world of the novel is probably the easiest way to identify a poorly planned book.
-Common location sketches. Similar to my character sketches, I do a 100-word description (sometimes more, depending on the area) of the popular places to have stuff happen, like the main character's house, etc. I drew out the basic city map where the majority of the story takes place, so I know what kind of place it is.
-Ideas I have about the abilities of vampires and other mythical creatures.
3, Story Plot(s)/Outlines/Scenes
-General storyline. I probably need to work on this more before I start in a couple hours... but essentially, it contains the main story arcs and a few side arcs that I might add in.
-Particular scenes that I want to write. I try not to actually write the scenes, because I'll try to force it into place during my story, rather than letting the story flow into it. Just a quick description of what happens, so I don't forget about it as I go along, or I get writer's block halfway through and can't think of ideas.
One thing I try not to do is attempt to sneak stuff from my outline into my story for an easy word count addition. The descriptions are there for practice purposes, and I might reuse particular adjectives that fit the character well, but I think trying to slap my outline onto my story will just hinder me. I'll find out in a month if it's true, though.