Friday, April 6, 2012

Fugacious plots

Fugacious definition
passing quickly away, transitory, fleeting.
photo source
How do you arrive at your novel's full plot? I think most of us have a scene that comes to us, or maybe a character, it could be an opening scene that comes in our dreams.  Rarely do we "see" an entire plot, those have to be crafted and explored. The exploration process is different for everyone.  


F. Scott Fitzgerald is quoted as saying, "Character is plot, plot is character."  Instead of creating an arc he might have spent time getting to know his characters with free writing until they revealed their story to him. 


Lauren Weisberger's "Devil Wears Prada" was mapped out on a basic linear progression chart. 


Devil Wears Prada Plotting
J.K. Rowling used a spread sheet to track the coming of age story of Harry Potter. 

Harry Potter Spread Sheet Plotting


It all depends.  Don't you love that answer?  I have used the spread sheet, the linear progression chart and had to write a novel to get to know my main character. It is important that as new writers we try all different methods.  Chuck Wendig over at TerribleMinds has 25 suggestions for plotting. 

What methods do you use and find work the best?

2 comments:

  1. I am currently working on my first story and I have been creating a diagram of all my characters relationships to keep track of how they relate to one another.

    xoxo Lloralye @ Adorning Schemes A to Z

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  2. Aach! I am a total pantser! The thought of using Dan Wells' 7 point story structure system scares me sometimes but for when II need to chronologicalize some events that keep floating back to me!


    Elizabeth

    A to Z co-host

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