Plot Lists

I’ve discovered that if you’re a “list-person”, it will help out your writing quite a bit. Whether you’re doing an essay, report, short story, or novel, let me repeat – lists do help. If you’re not an outliner, maybe your a list-er. If you’re a writer, you’ll know what I mean about outlines, but that’s a different post for a different time.

I am very much a list person. When I was younger, I’d make lists of my “top-five” favorite horses, names, places, etc. I find it much easier to think and talk on paper. Why? There are lines on paper to keep your thoughts straight and even. Paper is also smooth and flat so you don’t stumble over words quite as often. When you’re writing, you can pause for as long as you want while thinking of the right adjective or adverb, and when you write it down there is still the same amount of space between your words. But when you’re talking out loud and you pause…and pause…you’ll get some pretty irritated looks. I prefer writing to talking because its usually easier to understand and organize. You can’t erase spoken words, and that makes them more dangerous.

Well. If you need to know the definition of a rabbit trail, read the above. I’m really here to talk about lists. So anyway.

I have made tons of lists for my current novel during the writing and editing process. Whenever I am frustrated and stuck on some important plot hole or detail, I’ll write it down. I usually write down the question I’m trying to figure out:

(Example) Why would Character X be so suspicious of Character Y?

Then I might write down what I’ve already put in the story.

-Y was absent during _____, Y acted strange at _______.

Then, I’ll write down ideas for more ways of how I could make Y more suspicious to X. Or maybe after my list, I discover that I don’t need more signs after all.

A very important rule about lists like these is don’t refuse to write something down just because you think you already know it. This never fails me – if I start diagramming out the stuff I think I already know; even the stuff I really do know – I’ll stumble upon some hidden plot hole that needs to be mended or I’ll think of some brilliant plan to fix what I’m diagramming.

I’m trying to make the big fight at the end of my book more difficult, so I started a list. I titled this list,

Army Problems

Next, I wrote down the problems the good army has and filled in how those could be fixed. I’ll give you the problems, but not the answers. Those have to be my secrets

– Not enough weapons

–Lack of armor

^ Light bulb! Right here is where I got a great idea for making the fight longer.

–Lack of the surprise tactic

–Lack of knowing the “terrain” they’ll be fighting in.

Sounds hopeless for my poor little army, doesn’t it? Actually, it sounds worse than it really is when you don’t know what’s going on.
But with the help of this list, I was able to fill in the answers and get everything straight in my head.

‘Cause really – if you don’t have it straight in your head, how will you get it straight in your book?

P.ost S.cript ~ I’ve also found out that a handicap is great for exploding the growth of your writing life. I twisted/sprained my ankle on Saturday and since then, I’ve been writing up a storm because there is almost nothing else to do. The third draft of Torn Heart is almost finished!! All the same – I hope my ankle recovers sometime soon. Poor Indy is going to get lazy.

May 25, 2010