Plotting (And a sorta Book Review)

Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success

Alright, So I'm not a plotter. At all. I tried to plan my NaNoWriMo novel this year, and got sick and tired of it 8,000-some odd words in. Now, I don't know that I can blame that all on the plotting aspect because I was writing in a setting I usually don't. (Modern-ish Times)

I've been trolling Amazon recently, mostly downloading free books of about anything that catches my fancy. I bought this one awhile ago (it was not one of those free books, but cheap enough I didn't feel guilty buying it.) 

Two days ago, I got stuck on my novel. I knew what had just happened (obviously) and I knew what I wanted to happen about a month down the timeline, but I didn't know what happened in between. 

Instead of just going off on random tangents that would have meant nothing, I followed the advice in Outlining. 

As I said, I'm not a Plotter. 

But I pulled out a brand new notebook and a pencil, sat down and plotted as K.M Weiland advises you do. Guess what? IT WORKED! I didn't go into any detail, I just talked to myself through my pencil and figured it all out. I won't say anymore about the process except to tell you to go buy the book. It's 3.99 on Amazon here. Seriously, click the link. Buy the book. 

It's even an ebook, so you don't have to wait two weeks to get it, you can get it instantly on your Kindle. If you don't have a Kindle (as I don't), there is a free Kindle Desktop App. It's what I use. Or you can just read it in your browser through Amazon's Cloud Reader. 

Really, it's less than $4. What excuse do you have not to?

Even if you're a skeptic as I was, or a tried and true pantser, you WILL become stuck, and if nothing works, follow what Weiland suggests. What can it hurt? It worked for me.

Ah, the book. ***** stars, definitely. (That's 5 stars, people, not profanity.)