Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Great NaNo Experiment- The Plot Thickens!

 


Yes, bad pun aside, my plan to actually plot for this year’s NaNo (a first for me for any book ;)) is coming along nicely. I’ve found that I really like playing with post-it’s and the HUGE cardboard board is a hoot too.


Ya know, those big “science fair” fold out boards? FABU for setting up my 3 act/8-sequence plot. Act 1 (seq 1 &2) is on the first flap; act 2 (seq 3-6) is on the inside (act 2 is twice as big as act one, which is why sometimes you may see it called a 4 act, instead of 3 act structure), then the last fold out is Act 3(sequence 7 &8). On the outside I have one flap of character notes, and the other flap has “Big Bad” (aka the villains) notes. All in pretty colors!


I will admit at first I was terrified- as a serious pantser, plotting like this would previously have made me run screaming for the hills. But I figure we have to grow and learn right? Nothing worse than a stale novelist! besides, I told you all I'd be trying this last week ;).


And I’m finding some perks. For instance, did you know that if you plot ahead of time you can sometimes catch glaring problems BEFORE you write them?


Shocking, I know!


I’ve already changed parts of act 1 (only part done so far) 3 times, and all I had to do was write out a new sticky note and take off the old one. No going back and deleting whole sections that no longer fit, no writing, “cut this” “fix this” or the ever lovely, “Put something better here”. Yes, I do leave notes for myself as I do drafts, and no, my future self does not like them one bit.


And crumbling up a little sticky note is far less emotionally traumatizing to my creative self as opposed to ripping out pages, and/or deleting them online.


Also, you can see a huge problem in the sections ahead before you even get to outlining them. I just had an epiphany this morning and realized I had a HUGE problem. But no worries- I can fix it with a sticky note!


My plan is to have the whole book outlined before Nov 1- then, to sit and detail that evening's writing for at least 5 minutes before each writing run.

 

 Any of you have experiences with the 3 act structure? Like playing with sticky notes?

21 comments:

  1. Update: at 4am this morning I woke up with a wonderful, amazing, and game changing addition/change to my story--- new sticky notes done, brand new act one in place (and starting act two now!)

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  2. sounds fun. I prefer post-it notes, ;)

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    1. Thanks LH- it is fun so far- I'm even enjoying having to do things over! We'll see how the transition from sticky notes to NaNo goes though!

      Thanks for coming by!

      Marie- at work, can't go on blogger

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  3. Three act structure and sticky notes? Now you are speaking my language. Yes--I am addicted to plotting.

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    1. LOL Shoshana! Ok, so if I get stuck- I am soooooooo barging over to your e-mail in box!

      Thanks for coming by!

      Marie- at work, can't go on blogger

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  4. No experience, but once with sticky notes. Still wasn't satisfied. However, did plot one backwards from the end for a friend with sticky notes and it actually went well for her.

    Good luck with Nano.

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    1. Thanks Vicki :). I was floundering until I got into the head of my bad guy- then I knew much better what was going on!

      Thanks for coming by!

      Marie- at work, can't go on blogger

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  5. Yikes Marie!!!! LOL

    Here's my issue... Once I got all the sticky notes in place and happy with it, I'd never be able to force myself to write the book. It's already written... :) LOL

    For me it's all about the discovery as I write...

    BUT if this is working for you and it makes Nano go faster, then WOOT!!!! Whatever gets the job done, right? :)

    Go Marie Go!!!

    Lisa :)

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    1. Thanks Lisa! We'll see that's always been my problem too. But I have enough "open-space" around my sticky notes that there is still room for surprises.

      This is a chance for something totally different- that could in theory speed up my word counts. I'm a fairly fast writer as it is, I wanna be UBER fast! And not have to have my first round of edits be "fix glaring plot issues" time ;).

      Thanks for coming by!

      Marie- at work, can't go on blogger

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  6. This is a hoot. I don' t think I could do it this way because even with a plot I need to see the narrative, but its my first time doing Nano and I did write a synopsis, which also helped me catch problems and combine two minor characters into one. Good for you, thanks for this post, and good luck!

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    1. Thanks Amber :),

      Glad to see another one joining the NaNo madness! I hear ya on the combining characters, I realized I had a spare- so took the important stuff from him, gave it to someone else, and sent him on his merry way.

      Thanks for commenting and good luck to you as well!

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  7. I've been working on a story which has a great twist, but having believable motivations for both the villan and the hero to get to that twist is a major problem for me. I've been mulling over a complete restart of the novel. The current story has past and present storylines which mirror each other. I like this structure and I can see where plotting with postit notes would help me keep the mirroring storylines straight and consistent. Maybe with the plotlines written out I could get it done in a month.
    Great idea generating post, Marie.

    Sharon

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    1. WOOT! Glad I could help Sharon! Yeah, actually seeing the notes on a board seems to be helping me track things, hopefully it'll help with the mirroring issue.

      I keep asking myself, but WHY would they do that? Hence my 4 (now 4.5) revisions of act one ;))

      Thanks for coming by and commenting!

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  8. Another reforming pantser here.

    The exhibit board is a great idea.
    I'm going to try it.

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    1. I like that, reforming pantser...wonder if we should have meetings? "Hi, my name is Marie and I used to write by the seat of my pants." "Hi Marie" That sort of thing? :)

      I hope the exhibit board helps some!

      Thanks for coming by and commenting Susan :)

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  9. Yet another (attempting to be a) reformed pantser checking in. I just happen to have an unused exhibit board (left over from a disc golf tournament) and I might just try it out although I have to agree with Lisa. Part of the fun(?) is the discovery. Got to get moving though, only a week to go.

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    1. Very true E.M., I LOVE having those, "OMG!!" moments when you find out something wonderful! My hope is that I'm leaving more than enough wiggle room for wild flights of fancy (still within the main story mind you ;)). Try playing with the board- I have a soothing feeling when I look at mine-LOL!

      Thanks for coming by and commenting!

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  10. Great post. You sound like you're having fun. I don't think I could do the whole board and sticky note thing. Just thinking about it makes me want to give up. Plus I'd use it as an excuse to not write the story. I do a rough (and I mean rough) outline and just get in the chair and write.

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    1. LOL stormiekent- then you need to avoid the board idea big time! I think anything that can suck away our drive to write must be avoided at all costs-regardless of how it works for others.

      I figure with nano I'm just testing this format- we'll see how well it works in the long run :)

      Thanks for coming by and commenting!

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  11. You should post a picture of your board!

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    1. I thought of that- unfortunately my camera was stolen a few months ago and I haven't bought a new one. But I want to show it to you all! LOL!! (Ok, it's messy, but still!)

      Hopefully I'll buy a new camera before too long (and sadly my cell phone is OLD- no camera function!)

      Thanks for coming by Clover!

      Marie

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