Step-by-Step Guide to Novel Planning
The novel planning process is tailored to each author, and the following guidelines are designed to enhance your approach. While we encourage consideration of all aspects, flexibility in how and when you prepare to write your novel is key.
- Novel Planning
- August 21, 2024
Novel planning is not easy. For first-time writers unsure of where to begin or have questions about ensuring their story keeps the reader’s attention, today’s discussion will give more details on the prior blog Novel Planning Worksheets.
To be clear, the novel planning process is unique to each author and what appears here is meant to help supplement your specific needs. Although we recommend everything, nothing is set in stone on when and how you should prepare to draft your novel.
For more details on the specific segments, click on the outline above for instant access or continue reading. The information you find might help spur your imagination.
The Importance of Novel Planning
In Novel Planning Worksheets, we define novel planning as “creating a fleshed-out chain of events [for a] story.” To complete a novel plan, writers must decide on specific points of interest that will help to move the story forward and keep the reader’s attention from beginning to end.
New writers might be asking whether there are benefits to creating a novel plan. The simple answer is “yes,” including:
- Giving a sense of direction.
- Guides writers on what to research (if needed).
- Helps with the pacing of the story.
- Less chance of writer’s block.
- Offers a holistic view of the story.
- Saves time with the editing process.
However, detailing the story beforehand is not for everyone. Pantsers prefer to sit and write without following an outline, while plotters prefer to outline each detail of the story before writing. Other writers prefer to combine the two positions in a way that works best for them.
Plotters vs Pantsers
Plotters prefer to thoroughly decide the details of their story before sitting down to write. They create and use a series of worksheets, files, and software to keep the information in one place. This way, when the writer finds themselves at a loss for where to go or realizes they are missing an important idea or fact, they have something they can easily reference and know where the information needs to go (and more importantly, do not forget something that could prove to be crucial later).
Pantsers are writers who start drafting their story without planning. They do not worry about fine-tuning details or directing the story in any specific direction. For them, it is important to let the characters’ natural reactions—and the resulting consequences of their actions—drive the plot. Having a predetermined ending or following an outline can be challenging for pantsers because the story may not naturally conclude as expected. This can lead to problems that might require them to engage in planning later to resolve (and could result in lengthening editing or revision times).
Writers who do not see themselves sitting firmly within the plotter or pantser camps might choose to use both types of writing. For example, a writer might decide to outline the story with the major plot points but leave the finer details for the writing process. Or they could create a detailed set of character profiles and then draft the novel to see how their protagonists respond to different scenarios. Adopting this type of planning and writing might feel the most natural.
Creating a Realistic Writing Schedule
Before anything, a writer should set up a writing schedule. Creating a schedule will provide a clear sense of the amount of writing needed to tell the story, help gauge writing speed, estimate the time needed to draft the book, and help find specific times of the day for writing.
Step 1: What is the Novel’s Genre?
A writer must choose the genre (or genres) of their book. Genre refers to the category or type in which a novel falls. Understanding the genre provides valuable information like reader expectations, writing guidelines, and length (word count and pages).
According to multiple online sources, there is no tangible way to know how many genres are available on the market. Estimates range from 60–200+. However, do not let this discourage you. Common fiction genres include romance, horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery/thrillers. Nonfiction categories include self-help, biography/memoir, wellness/health, true crime, and travel books.
Your novel may fall into more than one genre, so it is important to figure out the primary genre and any other ones you plan to include. Once you have made this decision, research the specific conventions for each genre and use them accordingly.
Step 2: Find Your Writing Speed
There are varying ways to figure out your writing speed. One way is to use Dabble’s formula: Total Words Written / (Total Minutes Writing / 60) = words per hour (wph). My writing speed is 2,244 words per hour (1,683/ (45/60) = 2,244 wph).
In other words, for every 45 minutes of writing I do, I average 2,244 words per hour. I estimate my (first) novel in the series will have 90,000 words, so our formula to find the approximate hours it will take to write is 90,000 words/2,244 wph = 40 hours.
Step 3: Decide How Long Your Book Will Take to Write
The forty hours calculated above do not include the time it will take to plan and outline the novel. Therefore, I have added 20 hours to the forty (40) to account for the planning stage. Why so much time? Because I know myself and how much of a perfectionist (even if I readily admit this fault) I can be when planning something (especially my books). It is safer for me to give myself extra time to complete this stage without worrying about working against a deadline for the writing part.
Writers should do what works best for them, as only they know what they are capable of or wish to aspire to.
Step 4: Decide Your Writing Schedule
Evaluate your day, week, and month to figure out where you can fit writing in. Scheduling for daily writing times is best, as the material stays fresh in your mind. If doing so is not possible, schedule a minimum of three times a week and stick to your plan. Make sure to give yourself extra room for writer’s block and emergencies that might arise.
Here is a screenshot of the writing schedule I have created, which allows me to add new columns as the process progresses.
Now, let us turn our attention to the narrative elements we will examine in more detail.
Narrative Elements
Narrative elements are the fundamental components every novel should have, regardless of genre, to ensure the story stays compelling and worth the reader’s time. For today’s discussion, we will focus on the following: (1) background details, (2) characters, (3) plot, (4) setting, (5) voice and style, and (6) worldbuilding.
- Background Details. Once a writer understands which genre they are writing within, they should complete the research necessary to ensure the more complex details are right. Further, a writer should know the full backstory of the world they create (if working within fiction). This way, writers can easily reference the material as it appears in the manuscript to help move the story forward.
- The writer should create profiles for each protagonist, antagonist, power player, mentor, and minor character that appears in the story. The level of detail needed will differ for each character based on how they are used in the story.
- The writer should thoroughly understand the events that move the story forward. What is the main conflict your protagonist faces? What twists throw your protagonist off their journey? How quickly does the tension rise or fall within the story? How is the conflict resolved? And what is the final status of the protagonist and other characters as the novel closes?
- The location (or locations) used within the story, and lets the reader know when the story takes place. The setting and worldbuilding (see below) are linked but have distinct components. The setting is more concerned with the exact locations where the events take place, when in time everything occurs, the ambiance (or tone), and even the objects that characters interact with.
- Voice & Style. The way the writer injects parts of themselves (i.e., their personality) into the story while ensuring the style stays consistent with reader expectations with the specific genre they are writing. The point of view (first, second, or third) also affects the voice and style of the writing.
- Worldbuilding builds on the basic information found within the setting, while also giving a deep background to the environment and people of the story. It fleshes out how the world you create began, the history that affects the present and future, and why the inhabitants react the way they do. The recommended amount of worldbuilding your story references should be around 10–15%, as any more becomes detrimental to the story. You should know it inside out, but the audience does not need to. Only use what is necessary.
How a writer chooses to fill this information out will vary and can occur at any time in the planning process. Writers may even find during the writing process that they are missing critical information and will need to return to the planning phase to decide what that information is and how it needs to appear in the story. As such, planning and writing are cyclical.
Brainstorming
Writers typically adopt more than one brainstorming method (or technique). As a writer, I have found strategies within the business sector as helpful as those used with creative writing. The types of brainstorming strategies you can find online include:
Refining Your Ideas
Ultimately, deciding which ideas to use is up to you. However, if you are unsure which might work the best, you can borrow from online sources to help decide which will add the most benefit to your story.
One way to evaluate your ideas is to categorize each into dimensions (or characteristics). Once organized, you can then create sub-dimensions to further organize the material as needed. Another way is to evaluate the ideas using established techniques such as the Socratic Method, Comparative Analysis, or Occam’s Razor.
The biggest thing a writer should remember is to save everything created via the brainstorming session, as you never know when something obscure might become relevant to your story. Brainstorming can happen at any time and expanding on existing ideas may prove beneficial to your story.
Now, let us move into more detail on the story itself.
Outline Methods
A writer creates a novel outline using one or more various techniques. Often, writers can use these techniques in diverse ways and for different purposes, depending on their needs. The novel outline is the skeleton that shows details on the protagonist, plot, sub-plots, themes, and other threads that weave the story together (see plots below for more details on the logical organization of the story):
To find the technique that works best for you, spend time working with one and then complete another. You will at once understand which ones work best for your storytelling.
The Snowflake Method
Writers unsure how to complete the Snowflake Method should read The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel (this is the most complete explanation I found and makes the most sense to me).
Although I have always known what will happen in my novel, I admit that my characters tend to bring up good points and unexpected responses to different situations. I am also aware that I have many missing sections of my plot that have driven me crazy during the writing process. Therefore, I decided to create a worksheet that helps me figure out the missing details.
Here are the ten steps to follow when designing your novel (as the above blog describes):
Step 1: Write a one-sentence summary of your novel.
Step 2: Expand your summary to a full paragraph by describing the story setup, major disasters, and the story’s conclusion.
Step 3: Write a one-page summary that describes each major character.
Step 4: Expand each sentence of the summary paragraph (or synopsis) you wrote in Step 2 into a full paragraph. The only paragraph that does not end in disaster is the final paragraph telling how the story concludes.
Step 5: Create a one-page description of each major character (protagonist, antagonist, and power players) and a half-page description for the remaining participants (mentors and minor characters).
Step 6: Expand each paragraph of the one-page synopsis found in Step 4 to a four-page synopsis.
Step 7: Expand each major and minor character described in Step 5 using your Character Questionnaires.
Step 8: Use the four-page synopsis found in Step 6 to make a list of scenes in a spreadsheet.
Step 9: Write a narrative description of your story by expanding each line of the spreadsheet into a full paragraph.
Step 10: Start writing.
If the Snowflake Method is not for you, then any of the other methods listed above will work as well. I find myself often using the In-Depth Outline and Save the Cat! Beat Sheet as secondary and tertiary methods to see if I can tease out other details I might have missed. Sometimes the results are great, other times the information feels lacking.
Characters
Every novel revolves around a set of characters who move the story forward. These characters include:
- Protagonist: The main character of the story. Often, a novel will follow more than a single protagonist.
- Antagonist: The person or entity that pushes against the protagonist and creates tension.
- Power Players: Supporting characters that help the protagonist in their quest.
- Mentors: Individuals who function as an elder or father/mother figure to the protagonist.
- Minor Characters: Other characters who appear in the story but do not have a major function in moving the story forward.
Each character has a role to play and finding that balance in the story can be difficult. However, you cannot have a story without compelling characters to help it move forward. So, the best thing a writer can do is to create unique and absorbing individuals.
To help align your characters to the narrative arc, start by creating a character arc for everyone. Then, connect each character to the narrative arc of the story.
Character Arcs
A character arc is the inner spiritual/emotional/intellectual journey a character takes between when the story opens and its exciting conclusion. As with real life, people change as they experience new things and apply the lessons to their lives in a way that makes sense. Whether positive or negative, that change is crucial for everyone. Therefore, it makes sense that creating a new character requires the mindset of individuality, which follows how humans are in real life.
The narrative arc of every novel follows a basic path from the beginning to the middle and finally to the end.
Exposition: Introduction of the protagonist. Readers learn about their identity, daily life, the story’s setting, and when the story takes place.
Rising Action: The rising action is the event that disrupts the protagonist’s life and compels them to confront a new reality while pursuing their goal.
Climax: The point of highest tension, leading the protagonist to a crucial decision or directly confronting the truth.
Falling Action: The consequences of the protagonist’s decision and how the character responds to the new reality.
Resolution (or Denouement): This is the new reality (or normal) that the protagonist is living in. All plot points have been resolved or hint at continuation in the following story, and the protagonist reflects on how their life has changed and therefore changed them for the better or worse, depending on the specific arc chosen.
How to Write a Character Arc
The point of the character arc is to create a believable and unique person who must navigate through a life-changing experience. To do so, we must first understand who they are on a fundamental level. We then learn what situation alters their perspective so dramatically that they are forced to respond to something they otherwise would not. We then follow their progress as they begin to forge their new path and the consequences of each action (positive or negative). Finally, we learn how they carry out their goal and what life looks like after the journey.
Note: When drafting a novel with multiple protagonists, it is important to create individual character arcs for each of them. If your novel is part of a series, make sure the character arcs are mostly complete in each novel, but with the flexibility to continue the arcs in the next books. Each protagonist should have an overarching arc that unfolds in different sections. The way a protagonist responds in one novel will not necessarily be the same in the next. They will face different circumstances and will respond accordingly. Even if some elements from an earlier experience reappear in the next novel, their reaction will differ as they do not want to repeat past mistakes or have already learned their lesson.
Character Arcs
In the screenshot below, you will find only a part of the almost two hundred distinctive character arcs you can create. A quick online search will tell you how to generate each one:
Worldbuilding
Although we plan to discuss worldbuilding in more detail later, let us briefly explain what it is and why it is so important.
Worldbuilding is the process of creating an “imaginary” world that is different from the real world. For example, a writer who invents an entirely new world from scratch engages in extensive worldbuilding. They need to develop detailed knowledge about the people, cultures, history, flora and fauna, habits, and governments of that world. On the other hand, a writer who uses the real world as the primary setting but alters certain aspects to better fit the story engages in less world-building. Another example is a nonfiction writer who sets their story in Washington, D.C. but makes no changes to the history, landscape, or people. This involves minimal worldbuilding.
Plots
As described above, the plot is about the major (and minor) events that occur in the story. A subplot is a secondary or tertiary plot that happens simultaneously and is resolved when the story’s primary plot concludes. All novels have a beginning, middle, and end. Often, a writer has a strong start and end but finds the story lacks certain details that help increase the tension needed in the story’s middle section (or keep the interest of the reader). Plotting out each event from when the novel begins to its exciting conclusion will help a writer learn where to add more details.
Interlude: Distinguishing Between a Story Structure & Outline
Story structure provides the overall framework for your story, ensuring it has a solid and logical progression. On the other hand, a novel’s outline is a more detailed plan that helps you write specific events and character developments within that structure. Both are important but play separate roles in the writing process.
Story structure is the fundamental framework that shapes your novel, serving as the skeleton of your story (or the underlying architecture that holds everything together). The key components that most stories have in common include:
- Beginning (Setup/Introduction): Introduce your characters, setting, and the central conflict or goal.
- Middle (Rising Action/Confrontation): Where the main conflict intensifies, leading to challenges and complications for the characters.
- End (Climax and Resolution): Where the conflict reaches its climax, gets resolved, and the story ends.
An outline is a detailed roadmap for your novel, guiding you through the writing process by outlining the events in each chapter or scene. It usually includes:
- Chapter by Chapter Breakdown: What happens in each chapter or scene, who is involved, and what goals does the protagonist have as they move to the next step?
- Character Arcs: How your characters develop throughout the story.
- Key Plot Points: Specific events that drive the story forward, such as turning points, climaxes, or revelations.
Story Structures to Know
The graphic below offers various story structures a writer can use, including:
Save the Cat! Beat Sheet: Breaking the framework into fifteen beats (or key moments), it is designed to keep the plot moving at a steady pace. By corresponding each beat to specific moments in the story, it supplies a clear, step-by-step guide to drafting a novel.
Seven-Point Story Structure: Focusing on seven key events, the framework is more flexible while enabling the writer to emphasize character development and plot progression.
The Hero’s Journey: Typically used in epic tales (think Lord of the Rings), it follows the protagonist through twelve stages and focuses on personal transformation and growth.
Subplots
Subplots are critical to a story because they add depth and complexity. Secondary (and sometimes tertiary) subplots (such as mirror, contrasting, complicating, and romantic subplots, among others) add layers of conflict, and many opportunities for character development, and thematic exploration. Weaving subplots into the main conflict helps to keep the readers engaged.
Chapters & Scenes
Although seemingly counter-intuitive, you want to ensure you know how many chapters your novel will have once completed (while understanding that the final number of chapters may differ from what you originally expected). You also want to divide those chapters into scenes, which helps keep track of what you have written and enables quick changes when necessary.
Chapters
Chapters help a writer structure the novel to ensure the reader stays engaged with the material and story, help control the pace, and build the tension of the story to a more manageable degree. However, there are conventions every writer should follow and helpful tips to consider while structuring your chapters.
Chapter Conventions
Each chapter should always mirror—to a smaller degree—the overall progression of the story’s framework. Specifically, the beginning, middle, and end but in a more condensed version. Writers should alternate the proactive and reactive scenes within chapters to help with engagement. To illustrate this idea, let us look at what proactive and reactive scenes are to understand the differences and how they help build tension and keep the story paced correctly.
A proactive scene starts with a goal and concludes with a setback. Maliki wants to speak to his father about something important and heads to the man’s office. He hears muffled arguing between two individuals as he draws nearer but cannot make out the words. As he readies his hand to knock, he hears a slap and a sob.
Before he can react, the door flies open and his mother storms out crying. When he looks at his father, he sees the man watching him with wary eyes as another woman stands behind him, a baby in her arms. Maliki can see the protective stance of his father for the woman against him and instinctively understands what has happened in the room. Without another word, his face blank, Maliki turns around and walks away to find his mother.
A reactive scene begins with a reaction and results in a decision. Maliki returns to his room thirty minutes later and slams his door, wishing it would crack just to spite his father. His mother was a mess and could barely speak, she was so distraught, but he did finally find out what happened. His father informed his mother that his girlfriend was moving into the house with their child and that she, his mother, and Maliki would need to move out within the next twenty-four hours.
Maliki is furious at his father’s infidelity, hurt that the man felt his girlfriend and new child were more important than twenty years with his wife and son, and determined to make his father pay for doing this to his mother. He has friends in high places and if his father thinks he can pull this stunt without penalty six months before the election and get away with it, there are ways Maliki can use his contacts to bomb his father’s chances of getting that House of Representatives seat he has coveted for a decade.
What to Include in a Chapter
Each chapter should have the following elements: (1) an opening, (2) setting, (3) conflict, (4) events and action, and (5) an ending.
- Setting up the events that will take place and hinting at the main goal.
- How much time has passed since the last chapter and where (the location) everything takes place?
- Something obstructs the protagonist’s progress and typically creates a setback.
- Events & Actions. What happens during this chapter? How does the protagonist respond? How could this affect the future of the protagonist?
- What is the new goal for the protagonist? How do they expect to do what they want?
Scenes
A scene is the heartbeat of a story, where the action or reaction unfolds within the framework of a chapter. It serves as the stage where the plot, subplot, and character development come to life, each element intertwining to propel the narrative forward. Every scene is a crucial building block in the story’s architecture, with each event or revelation setting the stage for what comes next. The way characters interact, the decisions they make, and the emotions they experience in a scene all contribute to the rising tension and deepening intrigue, gradually drawing the reader deeper into the story’s web.
The impact of a well-crafted scene extends beyond its immediate context, echoing through the rest of the narrative. What happens in one scene can ripple through the entire story (like the butterfly effect), influencing character decisions and plot developments in ways that may not be clear. This cause-and-effect chain is essential for keeping narrative consistency and building suspense, as each scene builds on the last, gradually escalating the stakes.
In other words, scenes are the threads that weave together the fabric of a story. They are where the abstract elements of plot and character development are made tangible, offering a space where the reader can not only see but also feel the unfolding drama. Each scene is a step forward in the story’s journey, guiding the reader through the twists and turns of the narrative, and leading them to the story’s resolution.
Tips to Linking Scenes to Your Novel’s Chapters
- Understand the purpose of your scene.
- Decide what happens, to whom, and where.
- Decide who else will be part of the scene and why.
- Decide if there are missing pieces from your scene.
- Organize your scenes and then use them strategically throughout the novel.
Your Roadmap to Novel writing
Now you are ready to begin drafting your novel. Throughout this post, we discussed the importance of novel planning, the difference between plotters and pantsers, and how to create a realistic writing schedule. We also discussed outline methods, characters, worldbuilding, plots, chapters, and scenes.
We look forward to seeing you here or on the Resources page for access to various outline and framework techniques templates.
