Author's Journal: Plotting Your Story

Some of the earliest historical novels were built around accounts of wars. These were delivered in a chronological order. You may want to test the plotting of your story first by outlining major events in a chronological form. If conflict is involved, you’ll probably find it’s worthwhile to outline the events of two conflicting characters separately. Each person has separate objectives and suspense builds if the reader sees and anticipates the clash of two characters. That’s when you’ll begin to see the need for several outlines built around a single chronology. When these are woven together, you get the warp and woof of your story. You have successfully “layered” your story. These chronologies employ much of your research. You must be organized, for you’ll likely rewrite these chronologies many times.

A book develops, over time, a complex and more nuanced account of your characters and their responses to various challenges. This is also an important moment to look for the scene which represents the outcome of your story. Does the main character face a moral dilemma? Is it serious enough to worry the reader – and will the finish be happy or sad? Is the story a battle between two individuals, “man against man”, or man against nature, or some other conflict? How will your resources contribute and how will your drafts progress and reflect the work of careful organization?