Card: She Marries Him; Card: She's Arrested for His Murder…

My current favorite method for planning involves notecards. These can be the 3 by 5 or 4 by 6. I prefer 3 by 5, myself, since those can nicely fit in one of those little envelopes that I can label.

Like all the methods I've mentioned, the notecard method can be used for planning a bit of writing at the outset, for destroying writer's block, and for character development and other worldbuilding elements. The corkboard method is related to this in that you usually start with the notecards then tack them up. Without the corkboard, notecards can be arranged in a stack, on the floor, or whatever.

To use the notecards, buy a few stacks. Then jot down one scene per card in the order that you think of them. Don't worry about the order or the gaps. Just jot down scenes. (Even ones you're not sure about including, though you might want to mark those in the upper side margin.)

When you can't think of any more, start arranging the notecards in chronological order, even if your novel won't be written that way. Start looking till you find a gap. What are the scenes on either side of the gap? What will get those characters from point A to point B?

The ideas often start flooding at that point, at least for plots. Take the title of this post. There's quite a gap between the heroine marrying a man and her being arrested for his murder. The murder scene strikes me immediately as one missing. Even if it's not going to end up as a scene in the final work, the how, when, why and all of the murder will obviously affect the rest of the book. What was she doing while he was being murdered, if she wasn't the murderer? What do the police find at the scene to make them arrest her?

I find this method best for plot planning; free association helps me better for worldbuilding. If you don't like those little envelopes or prefer 4 by 6 cards, try using file clips to keep your notecards together.

One downside to this method is its cost. (And all those envelopes of 3 by 5 cards you'll have lying around.) It's not much, but it's more than many of the others can be if you refuse to buy any aids and stick to a free word processor that you already own. I've found it more than worth it.

Announcement: Family Emergency

Due to a family emergency, I likely won't be posting this week.

I'd appreciate it if my Christian readers would pray for my family, though. It's a tough situation.

Thank you.

Corkboard-ing Software for Mac: Scrivener

Disclaimer: I've not (yet) tried this software.

But a nice little Google search turned it up. It's a Mac-only program for system 10.4 and up (Intel or PPC). (And drat, I have 10.3.)

From the info on the home page, Scrivener offers writers a way to electronically manage their products. It looks it does outlining and several other things writers might find useful, too. (There's even a basic screen/scriptwriting formatting section.) It looks immensely useful.

There's a free 30-day trial for the program, but after that it costs about $35 to buy.

Has anyone used this software and want to offer some input on what it's like? (Hint: "yes" to the first one means "yes" to the second!)

Ouch! There's That Tack!

Here's a method I've wanted to try for awhile but haven't had the means to get the supplies: the corkboard.

The premise simply works that you have a bunch of notes and tack them on the board as you need them about your work. Some people make these notes their goals (possibly on 3 X 5 cards). You tack them up in logical order. You organize your goals and points on the board in logical and chronological order, and you can easily move them around.

Technically, good sticky notes or notecards and sticky tack on a blank wall could substitute for the board, notes, and tacks. (I say this while looking at my bookshelf with its blank back facing me.) That might work nicely.

Instead of sitting down staring at a list of notes, all the notes are nicely arranged on the corkboard with blank spaces where you need more. I suspect visual learners in particular would benefit from this method.

And yes, I know I'm also talking about myself with that one.

Hannah and Football Connect to Charles…

Remember back in gradeschool, when you were given a book and told to draw one circle with some main thing inside it, then to connect that to other related ideas in their own bubbles, which were connected to their own bubbles, and so on outward almost like a snowflake? Yep, that pesky little spiderweb can be used for a work not yet written, too.

Get a stack of paper. Write one area of your story at the top—a job, a character's name, an area. Write the central one in the middle of your paper, and start branching outwards! (I would think printing paper would work best for this, but you may prefer lined.) When you describe places or things, you may want to include a possessive (like "Charles's football jersey" instead of just "football jersey.")

If you're feeling adventurous, you could try to map out all the connecting elements of your story or article or paper or whatever on one sheet of paper. If you try that, make sure the actual thing you're writing is pretty short. You may find a posterboard better. Hanging the paper or poster on a wall to look at and write on might also help.

This is not the same process as Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method. His process is a specific method of structured planning, and I'm not going to violate his rights to his plan.

Personally, this bubble method has always made me cringe in disgust, but if you like it, go wild!

Sally Was—Wait, I Don't Like That Name

This next method may not seem much like planning, but it can be used to produce a plan. It's free association, also called "stream-of-consciousness".

Before you sputter your mouthful of caff all over your keyboard, let me explain. Free association involves writing whatever you feel like writing about the idea off-the-cuff. For this to work as a planning method and not merely a way to break writer's block, you do not write the actual story.

You write about the story.

You start writing whatever you're thinking about the story, either by hand or by typing. Even if all you can think of is "I don't know where to start," start with that. I once was finally able to finish planning one element of a story when I started out by writing, "I'm stuck. Why am I stuck? I'm not sure…" And it continued from there.

Always be asking questions about the statements you ask, like my own "Why am I stuck?" If you write that there are two sisters and Suzie's the elder, ask yourself what that means for Suzie that she's the elder. Remember to ask yourself what happened because there were two sisters and not only to the two sisters.

Fluff will quickly fill your pages, but you'll find gems mixed with the dross. After writing off-the-cuff about your story idea until you're dry, leave it for a few days or a week, then reread it. This may spur more writing about the idea. If not, then you start pulling the useful tidbits out of the mess you wrote. Highlight them or write them separately as you want, but if you attack this method and stick to it, you should be able to form a solid story idea (or to soon realize this story idea isn't going anywhere and needs to stew for another four years).

The free association method takes time and can be a pain if you're a slow writer or typer. I find it most useful when I'm first struck with a story idea to jot it down for me to return to later, or for when I'm stuck.

Writers hate throwing away their words. That's probably why many see this technique and grimace—so many words, wasted!

If that's you, you should try this technique. Writers must be willing to dispose of their words when they edit. This method could therefore be particularly good practice for someone with an aversion to changing what he writes.

Pfft, Why Bother?

You're likely looking at the possible organization methods and wondering why you should bother with any of them. You're a hobbyist, not a professional; you write when the urge hits you.

I started my novels the same way. I took a beginning and wrote. It got a bit frustrating whenever I wrote myself into a corner, but hey, it was good practice, right?

Until I kidnapped the wrong character.

My originally rich, intriguing universe with the parallel plot novel flopped there. I realized to my dismay that the plot strands had tangled into a horrid knot and my plot was expressing a message I completely did not want to convey. Now, all those hours of writing it have been practically wasted. I may never return to that novel.

All because I couldn't be bothered to organize what I wanted my story at the start.

Organization makes it easier to write other things, too. Knowing your main points will make writing that article or research paper a whole lot easier, and organizing the chapters (and content) of a tutorial book will make it easier to write coherently.

Does that mean that everyone should plan out their works to the same degree before he sits down to write? No. Some people work best from knowing what will be in each chapter of that book. Others just need a theme.

But either way, you're still planning.

I, A, B, 1, 2; II, A, B, C…

Outlines. (Pardon my grimace, but I hate them.)

Many writers, though, find outlines useful. Schools require them for research papers and even speeches. Outlines provide structure and organization for ideas, complete with an ordering of those thoughts. They can be handwritten or typed, in an electronic or print copy, to cater to each type of person who works best with a specific one of those means.

The downside is some people are mentally stuck in a structure once they see it numbered in some way. Also, some people don't work well with its vertical orientation.

The key with using an outline is not being married to the first order you come up with; be willing to deviate from the outline if you get a better idea during the writing process.

As far as how you outline, it's rather simple. Make it sentences or keywords, whichever helps you best. Use Roman numerals, bullets, or some other numbering order that works for you. What you outline are the chapters, starting with the chapter numbers, then jot down either high points that you want to hit in the chapter, or the sequence of events that will occur in each chapter.

It'll vary with each writer, what he finds himself naturally inclined to work with. That it's hard to write an outline doesn't necessarily mean that this isn't the best method for you; planning should be difficult.

That's assuming, of course, that you plan at all, but we'll talk about that later this month.

Why Learn Novel-Writing Methods?

Writing and finishing a novel takes a lot of time. Believe me, I know. I have several novels going, and my comfort is that, when one reaches completion, I'll have several others near it. And no, it's not a trilogy.

That I work on several at once doesn't mean none get done. I have finished my first novel and the first draft of the second. Others have neared the first draft's end before I realized that my lack of planning made things a bit… messy. I personally have two main problems: a love for complicated plots, and an extremely concise writing style.

In other words, I'm one of those rare writers whose second draft stage is more work than their first draft, since I have to revise and expand my work. I only recently began planning my works and shy away from touching my first writings, written spur-of-the-moment. They're tied into such knots that I'd rather finish one of these that actually has a plot rather than figure out what my plot was going to be to begin with for one of the other ones.

That is why you want to learn different methods for how to plan out your novel. No one method works for everyone. Learning the different methods will help you isolate what works (and doesn't work) for you in writing your novel.

And learning that will save you days. At least.

New Theme for October!

Yep, month three for Cuppa Caff is here, already! Woot!

…I really don't say "woot" in person.

The new theme for October, to be updated Wednesdays and Saturdays is novel-writing methods!

Don't let the title fool you. These methods aren't just for novels, nor when you're sitting down about to write a piece. They can also work for writer's block. Some of them can, anyway.

Enjoy!