Transcripts
1. Welcome to Plot Your Novel: The king died, then the queen died is a story. The king died, then the queen died of grief is a plot. A plot shows causality. One event leading to another. As Mark Twain said, tail shall accomplish something and a drive somewhere. Without plot, there's essentially no story. What drives your characters responses to the world around them? It's the sequence of events, the add tension and up the steak fleeting your rate of wondering what happens next. It's the journey that the breeded takes with your characters. Observing how they overcome obstacles and develop as a result, and ultimately learning and the message of your story. Plotting a novel is a challenging task. Many authors feel overwhelmed by the complexities and fought and find consolidating their thoughts into a solid storyline is one of the most difficult things to learn. So how do you get the ideas from your head onto the page in a coherent fashion? Fortunately, well, there's no magic one size fits all answer to this question. There are plenty of tools and tips that you can use to help you create an incredible Paul. Hi, I'm Bonnie virtually, and I'm very happy to have you join me for this course. I'm an author, a marketer, and the founder of Baldwin created a site designed to help all this right and promote their books. In this class, I'm going to be leading you through the basics of plotting. We'll discuss quarters versus panties and how you can make either approach work for you. We'll look at the six key questions you can ask to help flesh out your story idea. Your current methods, discussing the steps of each breaking niche thing down so that you can choose what will work best for you and your story. This is a hands-on class where you'll put what you've learned straining to action. So we'll finish up with a project to get you using your preferred outlining method straight away. I'm excited to have you join me. So let's get started.
2. Plotter or Pantser - Which One Are You?: Office's set fall into one of two groups. The plotters does that outline every step at their novel before they begin. And the pants is those that prefer to fly by the seat of their pants, creating the story as they ride. Both plotting him panting, have their pros and cons. And both can produce fantastic novels. Knowing with the Europe flutter or Panza can help you decide how to best approach they outlining stage of your novel. So let's have a look at both in more detail. Plata. If you feel the need to continuously plan out your story and create outlines before starting your work, then it's likely that your upload a photo, spend a significant amount of time outlining, world-building and creating and developing characters. Plot is like having a series of steps to follow. Planning out this story's means that although they spend longer in the prewriting stage, they're able to write faster with more focus and fewer revisions. Panza, on the other hand, if you fall into the paints account, but then you thrive on discovering your story as you progress. It's likely that you don't spend too much time planning or evaluating writing methods or structures. Writers describe this as letting the characters that lead the way. They lacked the surprise of taking the story in unexpected directions and discovering it as they go. They feel restricted when they have to stick to a rigid riding outline. Plants. Some people have suggested a third category for the many authors that fall somewhere in the middle of these two outlining approaches. These are the plants is they often became with a flexible outline that offers them some guidance. Along the way. Any of these three approaches can work well. Best-selling opens can be plotted as panties or anything in between. Jk Rowling has revealed some of the in-depth planning that went into her Harry Potter series. While Stephen King says he never outlines his books to avoid boredom. Some authors change how they outline as they're writing process develops. No matter your preference, every author, even the most hardcore Panza, can benefit from some pre-planning. As with all things riding, the trick is to find what works for you. Have a think about how you prefer to ride. Do you feel lost if you don't know every detail of your story or do you get bored? If you know the ending before you begin? Which part of the novel writing process to find the most problematic? Do you lose the threads of your plot in the middle? Or do you have difficulty writing a satisfying ending if you're struggling with your plot or finding yourself endlessly editing your work, consider trying a different approach. Developing your own style of writing and finding no place can require some trial and error. So don't be afraid to experiment.
3. Five Essential Questions to Plot Your Novel : Before we look at a few different ways to plot a novel, let's go out with some follow-up questions to flesh out your story idea. Asking yourself paul questions to map out your story will enable you to get clear on the details and avoid many common writing pitfalls. It essentially means less time wise to try to come up with ideas on the fly, less time editing, and more time writing. We're going to run through five essential questions to help you plot out your story. What is your character's situation at the start of the story? Complex relatable characters are essential to a good story. Your character's motivations drive the story. To develop your plot, you need to develop your characters. Start with your protagonist and ask yourself, who are they? What do they want? What is their every day life than normal world? What is missing from their life? Your protagonist must possess traits that make them relatable yet stand out in the reader's mind. Introduce some realism by giving them flaws and weaknesses. A character that's too perfect ends up being merely boring. Read his want to hear about your characters struggles, the intrinsic motivations that drive them to act, and the way that they develop as a result of the difficulties they encounter and overcome. Once you have your main character down, move on to the supporting characters. Consider what their goals and motivations are. How do they interact with your protagonist? How do they interact with each other? Your secondary characters should serve to further bring out aspects of your protagonist personality and the story. What is the inciting incident? The inciting incident is the moment at which your protagonist is forced to act. It's the point at which they encounter a life altering problem, that it disrupts their current status quo and thrust them into action. The inciting incident can occur in stages, the protagonists might resist the call to action, initially, denying the situation or not realizing the scale of the problem until the situation escalates. Grading inciting incident is one that sets the tone for the story. Giving your character a mission that will sustain them throughout the journey. It needs to carry some white. So consider what is at stake, feel character. What do they stand to lose if they don't take action? What obstacles does your character encounter? For a story to be compelling? Your character needs to encounter obstacles as they strive to achieve they go. Obstacles add conflict and tension, propelling your story forward. Overcoming Obstacles requires your character to grow and transform. Consider what external factors threaten to derail the protagonist progress. Is the setting creating difficulties for them? Is there an antagonist standing in their way? Why does the antagonist not one the protagonists to succeed? What internal factors are holding your protagonist back? Often characters can be our own worst enemy, striving to achieve a goal yet struggling with a moral dilemma or conflicting emotions. Fear of abandonment, jealousy, and shame are all powerful motivators. Characters that struggle with their own internal demons give the Raiders someone to cheerful. We want to see the characters struggle, transform, and ultimately drawn out. What happens to make the situation worse. A compelling story is one that escalates as the character tries to resolve their problem. As all the deprecate said, you've got to start with a bang and then just keep on tightening the screw. If there's no sense of increasing tensions throughout the story, your readers interests will Wang create a problem that grows and escalates and forces your character to take drastic action. The moment at which all seems lost female protagonists. It's often referred to as the dark night of the soul. It's at this point that the odds are stacked against them and achieving the goals seems impossible. For them. It's a moment of reckoning, forcing them to confront the demons and find a new solution to the problem. Consider what factors you can include in your story to push your protagonists to this point? How can you tighten the screws for your protagonist and make it more difficult to achieve their goal. How will they respond to this pressure? What is the final resolution? Writing a strong resolution is tricky. A good ending should be one that ties up all the elements of your story in a way that's satisfying for the rate is the big question that breeders had been asking to add. The story must be answered. Does the protagonist to achieve that goal? What is the outcome of the actions and the journey that they found to go on? Is the conclusion natural and fair, especially in crime thrillers? Does its sum up the theme of your story, leaving your reader with a sense of finality. Finally, if you're planning a series, hint that there's more to come.
4. Introducing the 3-Act Structure: Dating back to Aristotle, the classic three-act structure is one of the oldest and most popular outlining methods. These structure divides the story into three distinct acts. The setup, the confrontation, and the resolution. Each of these three axes composed a major plot points to ensure that your story keeps moving and holds the rate is the interest. The three-act structure can be quite detailed, listing every scene that takes place in your novel. Alternatively, you can use a pod back approach. We'll take a look at the core of the three-act structure now so that you can use it in your arm riding. Act 1, the setup. Enact one. The reader is introduced to the main protagonist and the story's setting. Ellie on the inciting incident occurs, propelling the character into action, and kick-starting the story. The three elements of Act 1 include the character introduction, the characters everyday life, the story setting, the character's goals, and the challenges, the inciting incident that begins the story. Let's have a look at the Hunger Games by Susan colon to get in a real life example of how this Paltz structure works. In the Hunger Games act one shows catalysts in everyday environment. Scraping adult living in district 12 catalyses responsible for the survival of the family, and he's very protective of her youngest sister prune. The inciting incident occurs when Prim's name is selected at the briefing and cotton as volunteers, his tribute to protect her sister. Act to confrontation. I2 is generally the longest act and it's at this point that the action begins to rise as the stakes escalate and the characters are pushed into action. The main elements include obstacles. The protagonists in Canada's numerous obstacles as they strive to achieve their goals. Rising action and complications. Things become complicated for our hearer as they endeavor to push through a moment of truth around the midpoint, there's a moment of truth as the protagonists realizes what's at stake. This insight can either move them closer to or further from the goal. In the Hunger Games in Act 2, catalysts travels to the capital and begins training. The games began in earnest and catalyst has to fight to stay alive as her fellow tributes kill each other off. There's a TurningPoint as catalyst moves from flame for my life to fighting back. Obstacle after obstacle is introduced, making the situation increasingly precarious for our heroine. Act Three, resolution x-rays all about the events leading up to the climax, the climax itself and the resolution. This is the point of highest tension where everything comes together and the character needs to find a solution and resolve the problem at hand. I picked three includes the lead up to the climax. Tensions are continuing to escalate in the build-up to the climax. At this point, the character may be forced to take a different approach which will affect the final outcome. The climax is the point at which everything comes to a head and your character is forced to confront this situation. This is the point of highest tension. Finally, the resolution, the situation has been resolved and the protagonist and other characters are left changed from their experiences. In F3 of the Hunger Games, catalyst continues to encounter and I become threats toilets. Finally, there's just herself and her fellow tribute paid over remaining. Together, they foil the Capitals Plan by refusing to kill each other. The capitalists forced to declare them when they returned home as Fichte's and changed individuals. More resilient and rebellious than ever before.
5. Save-the-Cat Beat Sheet: The Save the Cat fade shape created by screened product Blake Snyder is a series of 15 beats. Each of these beats is an event that transforms the story, creating an environment for riders to follow as they outline the novel. We're still using the three-act structure here, but we have to further divided it up into a series of baits that mark each plot point. Let's take a closer look at each of the points on the Save the Cat BCCI. Act one. At one includes the opening image, the themes stated, the setup catalyst, the debate. Each of these points services the primary goal of introducing the characters, the central theme, and setting the story in motion. So with enact one, we have the opening image, a compelling opening scene showing the current situation. The thing stated, a statement made by a character. Normally not the protagonists hints at the thing and the lessons within the story. The setup. Here we made the protagonist and the introduced to the everyday life. Their aspirations, their motivations, and their struggles. Catalyst and inciting incident forces the character into action. The debate. The character questions what has happened and debates the next course of action. It's often at this point the character or fuses the call to adventure. Act 2. I 2 provides the following plot points. The base story, fun and games, and the midpoint. Each beat in the first half of Act 2 raises the stakes, increasing the need fuel protagonists to act and pushing them closer to their goal. In the second half of Act 2, your protagonist may begin to lose hope or face an incredible challenge. It's now at the end of the second act that they can fund their lowest point in the dark night of the soul. And I realized what they have to do to overcome the obstacles standing in their way. So the beads for Act to include break into two. The character decides to accept the call to adventure, leading them to leave their comfort zone and venture into the new world. The story, a second story begins introducing new characters who will ultimately help the main character Lewin, theme of the story. Fun and games. The highlight reel showing the character in their new environment. This section should be entertaining for the reader and show the character either thriving or floundering in their new situation. Midpoint, the middle of the novel is where the stakes are raised and the problem becomes clearer and more serious. The bad guys closing. Problems escalate for our main character. Either the situation is consistently worsening or falsely appears to be improving. In both cases, the character's inner demons, their internal bad guys and the antagonist, the external bad guys are closing. All lives lost. The low point in the main character's journey. At this point the story appears to be over as the main character feels. Everything they have tried has failed. And the situation is much worse than it was before. Dark night of the soul. The main character hits rock-bottom and feels hopeless. This is the darkest Alice, so don't be nasty characters at this point. It's often accompanied by a whiff of death. It's the dark before the dawn, the moment before the character realizes the solution to the predicament and lens. The theme of the story. Act three. Act 3 is the finale. The finale is a multi same date in which the protagonist proves that they've lent the moral of the story and they act accordingly. We wrap up the story with the final image, a single bait that shows an after snapshot of your protagonist's life. So here we have break into three, the aha moment. Thanks to a new idea or inspiration, the character realizes what they need to do and they choose to try again. Finale. On this attempt, the character approaches the challenge, bringing with them their new wisdom. They often fail at first and a pushed to the absolute limits, confronting the inner demons and changing their worldviews. Before the problem is resolved. It's at this point that the antagonist is overcome. The final image is an after snapshot of the characters live, confirming their new status quo and how much they've changed since the beginning of the story. You can find more examples of these BCCI in action on the Blake's notice, nice, Save the Cat website or checkout. Jessica birdies excellent book, Save the Cat writes a novel.
6. The Snowflake Method: Created by writing coach Randy Inga Manson. The Snowflake Method starts with one central story idea that continually expanded upon to form a full novel. You could think of it as building out a snowflake from the center. Adding complexity as we go, the process is as follows. Step one, write a one-sentence summary of your story. Condense your story premise into one line. What is the essence of your story? What is the hook that will persuade a radar to pitch a show book? Step to expand your sentence, to make it a one paragraph summary. Build on your one-sentence summary to write a paragraph explaining the main points of your novel. Include the opening status quo, the situation azure novel begins, the inciting incident. What causes your novel to get underway? What forces your protagonist to take action? Major events and obstacles as the protagonist strives to achieve that goal. The second act, turning point, where the character realizes what they need to do to overcome the obstacles standing in their way. The final climax and resolution. Step three, develop your characters. Let's turn our attention to the characters driving the plot. For each of your main characters, you're going to create a one-sentence character profile summarizing the most important traits and what role they save in the story. Step 4, expand upon each sentence of your one paragraph summary to form a page. By now your story should be a little clearer. Use your one paragraph summary as the basis for a one-page overview of your story. You can also use the three-act structure here to give you a story, a definite beginning, middle, and end. Step 5 fleshed out your descriptions for both the major and minor characters. It's time to explore your characters in more depth. Randy commands and suggests rotting a page long description for each main character and half a page for your minor characters. Give each of your characters there are in motivations and goals. Consider how they passed a fixed their worldview. While conflicts will they encounter, and how will they change as they move throughout the narrative? Step 6, expand your one-page plot synopsis to a full page synopsis. By this point, you will have a core story and solid character descriptions. Now you want to return to your one-page summary and expand upon it to fill four pages. By slowly expanding on your premise, you'll have the opportunity to fix potholes and inconsistencies as they arise. Rather than writing yourself into a corner. From this point on, you can either begin to write your first draft or continue to expand on your story idea. Adding in character chats seems an additional details. Keep going until you feel ready to tackle that first draft. For more information on the Snowflake Method, say Randy in-demand since website advanced fiction writing.
7. Character-Driven Plot : Perhaps you're the carnival within that begins with an idea for a character rather than a premise. If this is the case, then try teasing his story out through a character-driven plot outline. It's your character's motivations and goals, the obstacles they may encounter in the pursuit of those goals, and how they change along the way that forms the basis for the satisfying story. Your character is the lens through which the reader experiences your story. A character driven outline starts with your protagonist and what they want. Outline your story by asking yourself these questions to develop your character and their world. What does my protagonist want? Why did they want this? What has led them to this point? Who or what is standing in the way of achieving their dreams? Are there obstacles, internal, external, or a combination of both? How would they face those obstacles? How they change as a result? Do they achieve their dreams? And how does this change them? By knowing what your characters and motivations and struggles are, you can begin to see your story take shape. As Ray Bradbury said, find out what you hear once, then just follow him. Don't forget to also do this for your, Unless the characters, they also need their own motivations and goals.
8. Putting it into Action! : That's right, It's class project time. Now that you've been introduced to form the most popular ways to plot a novel, it's time to put what you've learned into practice. For this Skillshare class, there's a 12 page workbook designed to help you put into practice one of the methods that we've discussed. I want you to download the workbook printed out if you like, and then choose the following method that fits your writing style. Don't overthink it. Just go with the method that appeals to you. Re-watch the video class for that flooding method. Fill in the workbook questions, and then polish your outline and we've already to begin. Once you have an outline, it's time to write that first draft. Remember when not after perfection at this stage, the most important thing is simply to get that story down. If you feel like experimenting fibo, you might want to try out old for plotting methods to see which one feels right for you.
9. More Free Resources for Writers: The ways in which you can outline a novel, seemingly endless. And there's no one approach that fits over riders. If you haven't found your preferred method of outlining old luck to change things up, then try experimenting with one of the techniques that we've covered. It will take some time and trial and error to find out what works best for you. And you might need to adapt an outline method to make it fit your own creative process. Writing is a continue act of experimentation, refining and perfecting. So don't be afraid to turn new approaches, eliminate what doesn't work and stick with what does. If you have any other questions or you want to continue the discussion, don't hesitate to get in touch. You can find Waldman creative on all the social media channels where I'm Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. And you'll find more free writing resources and tips at the website on wild mine creative.com. I've wish you the best of luck with your writing and I look forward to seeing you next time.
Bonnie Baguley, Author I Fiction & Creativity
