Guest Post by Jody Hedlund: 4 Steps For Organizing Plot Ideas Into a Novel

With NaNoWriMo looming, I decided Techie Tuesday’s post on 3-Act structure was just not enough this week to help everyone get ready to bang out a first draft in one month.

I have a treat for you today. The amazing Jody Hedlund is stopping off here at More Cowbell during her blog tour for her new book, The Doctor’s Lady. She’s going to share some of her tricks for writing a riveting story. Today while she’s with you, I’ll be over at Writers In The Storm discussing 10 Power Tips for Critique Groups.

Jody is giving away a copy of her new book to one lucky commenter on this post, so be sure to give her a rousing welcome.

4 Steps For Organizing Plot Ideas Into a Novel
By Jody Hedlund

Writers all have different methods for planning their novels. There’s no wrong or right way of doing it. With that said, I’ll share what I do with the hope that maybe you can glean something, even if only inspiration!

1. Establish Set Pieces.

The term set piece is a screenwriting term that means, “The big, audience pleasing scenes that deliver on the genre elements of the movie” (according to screenwriter Doug Eboch in his post Set Pieces Sell Scripts).

In fiction writing, set pieces are the unforgettable, major events that happen in our book. So after I finish brainstorming plot ideas and developing my characters (see my blog for my free Character Worksheet), I make a list of set pieces—the biggest and most critical events I want to include in my book.

I usually try to put them in the general order in which they’ll appear in the book—particularly into a basic 3-Act structure: a beginning with an inciting incident that pushes my character out of ordinary life; a middle crisis that works toward the black moment; then the final climax that eventually leads to resolution.

2. Develop a Three-Strand Conflict.

I give my stories three distinct strands of conflict. First, I look for an over-arching external conflict—a problem or obstacle that my character must face during the entire length of the novel, and it usually involves an antagonist of some kind.

Second, I give my characters internal conflicts—character weaknesses, flaws they must work through as the story progresses. Of course, they won’t become perfect, but they need to grow in self-awareness.

And third, I develop relationship conflicts—tension and problems that will keep my main characters emotionally apart for the entire book (which is especially critical in a romance).

My goal is to have all three of my conflict strands relate to each other. The more intertwined they are, the better. It’s my job as the story unfolds to braid all of the strands together as smoothly as possible, until by the end, the reader can’t easily distinguish where one starts and one stops.

3. Jot Down a Short Chapter-by-Chapter Outline.

Once I have my set pieces organized and my three levels of conflicts outlined, then it’s easier for me to think of the overall framework of where I need to go with the book. I generally determine approximately how many chapters I want and how many words per chapter. (Very roughly, mind you! It’s just a guide to help me stay somewhat on track!)

Then in my spiral notebook, I use my set pieces and three-strand conflict outline to make a few notes about what I hope to accomplish in each chapter—no more than a couple sentences.

4. Plan Scenes.

Over the years of writing, I’ve come to rely more and more upon the technique of writing by scenes. In fact, with the book I most recently finished, the majority of the book cuts from one scene to the next with very few transitional links.

As I’ve pondered why I like writing this way, I’ve realized that ultimately writing by scenes is one of the best ways to SHOW our story. We place our characters on the stage, have them act things out. When it’s over, we drop the curtain and open it again with the next scene. We’re continually showing the action of our story without having an intrusive narrator come out between acts and fill us in on what happens between times—as if we need to know every detail to be entertained.

Before I start the actual writing of each scene, I make notes on the scene including: Time/Date, Setting, POV (looking back to make sure I’m varying these well enough). Then I ask myself these questions: What is the goal of the scene? What am I trying to accomplish? How am I moving the plot forward?

Once I finish the outline of a scene, I write it (on my laptop). I try to end the scene with a Read-On-Prompt—something that will hook a reader into having to turn to the next page and keep reading.

There you have it. That’s a quick overview of my process for organizing a novel.

What’s your process? Do you follow any of my steps? Is there anything listed above that’s new to you? What else helps you in organizing all your plot ideas?

©Jody Hedlund, 2011

ALERT: Next week our pal, Bridgette Booth, is hosting Jody for an interview. Click here to read Bridgette’s post, Has Nancy Drew Shaped Your Writing Style?

Jody Hedlund is an award-winning historical romance novelist and author of the best-selling book, The Preacher’s Bride. She received a bachelor’s degree from Taylor University and a master’s from the University of Wisconsin, both in Social Work. Currently she makes her home in Michigan with her husband and five busy children. Her second book, The Doctor’s Lady released in September 2011.

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