1977 cover art for The Shockwave Rider, by John Brunner (First CyberPunk novel)
Art by Eddie Jones
Char's best plotting tips
Hello! Today I would love to share with you some of the best plotting secrets and advice I’ve picked up over the years, in hopes these will help you.
🦩Struggling with the middle?
Divide your book in two halves, centred around the midpoint (your plot twist). Treat each half as its own mini story, and the midpoint as your second inciting incident with raised stakes.
🦩Your outline is not the holy grail.
Having one is great, but don’t follow it at the expense of your characters. Sometimes your characters won’t want to do what happens in your outline. This is a signal that something in the plan needs to change, and you need to stop pushing.
🦩Plot beats are not just plot beats.
Don’t think that your story needs to progress in its plot in every single scene or chapter. Character development, reflection, reaction, and relationships are still interesting progress for your readers. Actually—90% of the time, they’re more interesting than plot.
🦩Chapter treatments are a must when you start your second draft.
Personally, I re-do my chapter treatments every time I hit a milestone in my book, or realise I’ve made more changes than I can keep up with. But it’s a MUST for once you’ve finished the first draft. Summarize your chapters first to gain a bird’s eye view of your project and make edits easier.
🦩No matter how well you plot your book, it will always be better after a rewrite.
So many things change during a first draft, and it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll know your story and your characters better after you’ve written it. Giving (at least the first few chapters) a new go is bound to make them stronger.
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Have you heard of Novel Plotting Academy? It’s my huge digital course that contains all of my knowledge and step-by-step processes on planning a hella good story.
NPA will help you outline your story idea, so you can write a full novel with ease and get that book deal you’ve always dreamed of.
😱 The best part?
You get lifetime access to NPA’s community of writers ‼️FREE OF CHARGE until August 31st‼️
This includes monthly group video calls with Char and writing challenges.
After that, the price goes up to full.
Join right here!
Digital artists, what program do you use?
Procreate
Photoshop
Clip Studio Paint
Ibis Paint X
Paint Tool Sai
GIMP
Other (comment)
Multiple (comment)
Formerly an Adobe Photoshop and Paint Tool SAI user.
Currently shifting from GIMP and Clip Studio Paint.
Planning to use Krita and Aesprite.
The Past, The Present, The Future!
✏️🖌🖊
fyeahsonicthehedgehog