I am told that for several of his books, Stephen King didn’t lay out the novel a priori. He developed his characters and then placed them in the scene, letting them do what they’re going to. Sometimes the book ends with illumination, sometimes with a giant spider. But this is a style that has brought him much success and I admire him for it.
What an exciting way to write. Such freedom.
However, this is something that I have not been able to do. Many of my early books were in mathematics. These books are linear. You know what’s going to happen. There are no plot twists and turns, and there are no surprises. Proposition, definition, lemma, theorem, proof, corollary. Again and again and again. While it can be illuminating to write all of the mathematics out in detail, it admittedly is not very exciting.
So with that background, it’s amazing that I threw planning to the wind withSaving Grace, my first novel, I had an overall idea where I was going to go, but I didn’t work out necessary steps. I plopped them in as I moved forward, and then recognizing that I was missing something, and I would have to return to a previous scene. And that change required me to return to an even earlier scene. I rewrote many times, working on the right scene sequence because I did not preplan sufficiently. Very frustrating.
Now, I plan a novel out in some detail before I write it. Essentially, what this means is that I write the book in my head. developing a plot trajectory, a collection of characters, and the direction of the scenes. Sometimes I have to labor to develop a scene, perhaps because I am jamming too much into it. Other times, I have far too many scenes, and I leave some on the cutting room floor. But I need to know where the book is going. I can’t build a bridge unless I know its destination. At least, not yet.
There is a wide selection of software that can help with organization, on Windows, Apple and Android platforms. I have not found one yet than I am satisfied with, but I must confess that there are many choices.
I have been very successful with what I think of as a dynamic plan for a book. It is akin to developing narrative description and emotion into dialogue. It requires a sensitive feel, that can only come from practice. Sometimes, changing the direction of a novel is like trying to change the direction of a sidewalk after the concrete is already set. Other times, there is insufficient planning, and you find yourself sixty percent through your first draft when the characters begin to lose their power and direction. The scenes become aimless, the plot desultory. What does the author do? Try to resuscitate, and then move forward, or does she try to just do a rewrite of the book, again, without much planning.
I’ve decided to now use a strategy of planning with “look backs”. When I first plan a book, I know what the theme of the book is. I know the major points I want to make in the book. I have an idea how the books going to end. And that allows me to begin to develop some characters. As I’ve developed these characters, I begin to get a better view of how the novel is going to progress. And I oscillate between developing characters and developing plot until I am comfortable with the characters and the preview plot trajectory And I know exactly where the book is going to go.
However, while writing the book, I try to be mindful that the plan is only a guideline. If I develop a new scene sequence that I think adds substantially to the plot. I have no problem with adjusting the plan to put this sequence in and to come back and make a few changes in the earliest scenes to allow a smooth transition to these new scenes. I try to add these scenes in draft two of the novel. Once I am ninety-five percent sure that I have everything in place I need. I then come back and add in the narrative and emotion in the scene, producing draft three.
This is time consuming, as I continuously ask whether there is a good balance, between narration and dialog throughout the book, and then make sure that each scene is emotion laden, invoking a reaction in the reader that keeps the reader from putting the book down. Later drafts are managing flow, ensuring that I have the best word usage, and that I have technical facts correct, and of course, ensuring that emotion pours through.
I must confess, though, that sometimes even the best plans go awry. I am writing a book now entitled Madam President 2024. about the first woman US president. Eighty percent through its first draft, I realized that there needed to be an impeachment attempt against her. Well, I hadn’t planned this initially, and its introduction required a revision of my thought process for the book. So even dynamic planning needs to be dynamic enough to incorporate good but surprising ideas. There needs to be space for creativity and innovation to come out to play.
In Catching Cold -Judgment. I had three plot lines, one scientific, one litigious and one political. They each had their own characters. So this is essentially three mini-novels rolled into one. I really thought I had no choice but to plan that out in some detail.
But, in the end, what really matters is having a process of story development with which you are comfortable. Whether you need to lay every scene out in intricate detail before you begin to write, or whether you are more comfortable with a free flow style or any one of innumerable intermediate approaches, find a style that works for you.
