#scivener

[supernovadragoncat]

Hi happy Saturday! Question I have. I want to get into writing and I really love your style. Any tips on how you plan your stories (fanfic and og)? thanks!

Hello! Thank you so much :) This question made my day!

For fanfic, I don’t plan too much (at least not for the fics I’m currently working on). I create a skeleton structure and just go from there.

My original work is much different. I am a plotter to the nth degree. I use a seven point plot structure (some great resources below on that).

Dan Well’s 7 Point Story Structure Youtube series

More on the 7 Point Plot Structure 

I also use a website called Trello to help plan and keep track of the editing process. Another link on how to use it for novel planning. I can’t recommend this enough! More under the cut on the wonders of Trello for novel planning. I’ve taken shots of my own Trello board (this is for my manuscript so I did black some things out).

I’m also going to make a plug for Scivener (a word processing program). I will never use Microsoft Word again. Scivener was developed by a company specially for writers. If you write long form, it’s a game changer and, hands down, the best $50 I’ve ever spent. And you only pay it once! Happy to show some screen shots of Scivener and it’s cool features, but I figure this is probably way more than you wanted to know already!

This is what part of my Trello board looks like. You can add pictures (as you can see) for characters. For each of the plot point, I have a “card.”

If you click on the card, I added a description to summarize what will happen for this plot point. I also added the chapter break down for each plot point to plan out pacing and chapter structure.

The really cool thing is you can create lists. I have a card for each chapter. If you click on the card, I list out each scene for the chapter as a checklist and you can even give yourself due dates for writing.

You can drag and drop each card (e.g. chapter) to various lists. So, as I finish drafts or edits, I can drag and drop to the next list to keep track of where I’m at.

I’m sure this is much more info than you ever wanted, but honestly, if you’re a plotter, these organizational tools are a godsend! Thanks so much for the question :) 

[petiteplumeperdue]

Cherche un co-auteur

[prideandpen]

This is so much more complicated than google docs where I just write things and cover my desk in post its and note cards.

[rosezemlya]

katchan00 replied to your post:Side note RE: Scrivener

I got lost and hid like a Luddite

That is a perfectly acceptable response. XD I doubt I'm using it to its full potential, but I've found it's gone a long way toward helping me keep all my notes in one place without losing them, and actually making me feel more free to screw up, somehow, without getting bogged down in trying to fix issues right now in this moment, you know? It's basically collecting my mental clutter in one place so I can access it without having to remember "where I put it". But it's not going to do that for everyone!