PLOTTING (Planning) VS PANTSING (Flying by the seat of your writerly pants)
The debate rages on. There are those who plot and those who do not. I won't lie to you, I advocate plotting but it's because you're more likely to finish the book with a plan, it's not because I like it. If I'm being honest here, I hate it. To me, plotting feels like work, writing does not. I truly feel like it's homework and in a perfect world I want to write what comes and let my artist self take over... but... I can tell you from experience, having a plot for your book pays off in the end game. It minimizes pesky writers block and gives a clear direction of where you need to go.
That's not to say that you MUST STICK to your plot POINT BY POINT if you don't want to because let's face it, sometimes, characters do whatever the heck they want to do anyway, but as a general rule, your writing life will flow much more smoothly with a plot. I'm about to start one myself for my next book, and I'm avoiding it like it's the plague, but I know it needs to be done.
A quick google search will yield thousands of results, insight and advice from some major authors and even lesser known ones. The methods are many. You can choose one you love, (or in my case moderately like) or you can mish mash a bunch together and find something that works well for you personally.
Do what works for you. Period. Whether than means simply understanding the structure of a story and hoping for the best or plotting something so detailed, you can tell us what your character is wearing to her birthday party in chapter seven before you've written a word.
I'm going to cover three different plotting methods in the next few weeks, here but remember there are many and you can tweak and change them for what works best for you.
I think plotting takes time, which is why I decided to post these methods over three week period instead of all at once because plotting a story can be overwhelming. Good luck!
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Big Book of Writing Tips
RandomTips for writing and crafting your story into being the best it can be. Everything from the very basic structure of a story through to understanding deep point of view, perhaps you can find something here that is useful for your journey as a writer!
