How do I plot my novel’s storyline?

Writing a novel comes with many stressors, like how to not lose the plot while keeping track of your story’s plot.

7 tips for plotting your novel

Staying on top of your story is one of the hardest parts of writing your novel. You may have your plot mapped out in your head but writing it down into a cohesive story in the right order that makes sense is something that will have you pulling your hair out at least once or twice. While writing The Borrowed Destiny, I had several minor breakdowns where the story in my mind’s eye was getting lost on the pages and just wouldn’t make sense.

Gradually, I taught myself a few tricks to make my story make sense. I’m not going to say that my method is the best one, or that it will work for everyone. But it’s what I do and until I find a better way, here’s how I learned to plot my novel’s storyline.

1. Lay the foundations with a good plan.

The biggest favour a budding writer can do for themself and their art is to spend a chunk of time planning their story right at the beginning. It’s common sense, but take the time to navigate your story. Go step-by-step, following your characters and their arcs’, hitting the crucial points of your story that you need. You may be tempted to sit down and start churning sentences, but a little planning will go a long way to helping you follow your own story.

2. Be flexible with your plot.

I’ll be honest; my method is very ad hoc. The story I plot at the beginning of my planning stage rarely stays on course and ends up being the one I started with. Allow your story to breathe and let it grow organically. If something doesn’t work, be prepared to chop it. Often, the simplest stories are the most captivating because they’re easier to follow. Or, if you insist on writing a complicated story, be prepared to tell it slowly and drip-feed your plot.

3. Always be open to new inspiration.

I never condone stealing, but paying homage to a style or device is totally acceptable. While writing The Borrowed Destiny, I often would discover a new tv show or read a new book where I’m inspired by something that I think will work well in my own narrative. Your focus should always be to tell a good story, so be willing to change when something isn’t right or will work better another way.

4. Map out your story.

I literally take a piece of paper and divide it into three pieces; one for the beginning, one for the middle and one for the end. I allow myself the opportunity to think about what I need to hit within the certain sections. This allows me to focus on one bit at a time, knowing that I’m layering up the plot with a mini goal at the end of each section.

By highlighting where the characters are at the start of a section and projecting where they need to be by the end, I’m able to tell the story, knowing that I’m doing it in smaller chunks and reducing the stress of being overwhelmed by my own ideas and lack of organisation.

5. Follow your characters’ stories.

I write stories that follow more than one character’s perspective. I like doing this because it allows me to share important parts of the story with the reader that you wouldn’t learn from following just one point of view. However, the danger of doing this means that you open yourself up to more plot points that may suffer loose ends. I remedy this by charting the main characters and their individual stories so that I have an idea of where the plot goes.

Within my ‘beginning’, ‘middle’ and ‘end’ sections, I plot out the main character perspectives I’m writing, including the characters they interact with. I focus on what they do in those sections. At a glance, this reminds me of their motives and what affect their actions have on the other characters.

6. Visualise your story.

This doesn’t necessarily help with keeping track of your novel’s plot, but by thinking of my story in a multimedia format, I help myself to break my story into manageable sections. For example, if The Borrowed Destiny was adapted into a TV series, I ask myself how it would look in a serialised format?

If each chapter were an episode on the TV, what would be the most interesting points? What would keep the viewer from going to their phone and at the end of the chapter/episode, what needs to happen to get the viewer/reader to turn the page or continue watching?

7. Rope your friends in to help.

It’s hard to check yourself when it comes to following your own story. Like editing and proofreading, you become blind to typos and errors because you’re simply too close to the story. The same goes for erroneous plot details.

Throughout the process, I’d ask friends to help me identify untied ends and clarify the areas which were confusing or didn’t have my desired effect. For example, one character’s eyes continued to change colour and I had a habit of unwittingly time travelling – there are many magical feats in The Borrowed Destiny, but breaking the space/time continuum was not one of them.

A summary of plotting your story.

The key to plotting your story is having a good plan. Take the time to condense your story into a list, like your contents page. Give each plot section a brief overview with the main point and characters involved. Be visual with your story and always allow room for growth. Being adaptable will help you tell the best story and keep your reader captivated.

The Borrowed Destiny is the debut fantasy fiction novel from Daniel Arthur and is out soon. In the meantime, join the waiting list and be among the first to hear about getting your copy and joining The Fold.