Planning your plot from A to Z

And I'm back! For a tutorial on how to plan your writing if you choose to write a novel!

Planning is vital in order to pull off that great story that all of us carry within. No planning results in writers block, that moment when you just sit and wait for something to pop up in your head like popcorn.
However that tiny bud of an idea inside your head needs to be nurtured and cared for until it blooms. That's where the planning comes in.
So roll up those sleeves and get to work.

   1. Short summary
In just a few sentences describe what your story will be about. Don't worry about the names of the characters and places just yet, we'll get to that later.
For example I'm writing a story and this might be be that short summary; "A lonely schoolboy gets whipped up in a great adventure in the world hiding within ours, thanks to his new friend. The fate of the world lies in their, and a few others', hands."
You might think that this is rather simple, but don't be fooled. Spend some good time on writing (and re-writing) this as it will also be required to help sell your future novel to publishers.
If this nano summary doesn't excite you — or your friends which you might want to show this to, since you might be more excited because it's your own work — than neither will it excite anyone else. So make it catchy!

   2. Expand
This is the part where you go from a tiny summary to a slightly more detailed one. Think of it as though you are writing an essay which consists of three parts; introduction, body and conclusion. However, don't write a full essay, keep it short, about one paragraph (5 sentences).

For example:
Jason is a smart kid and is a highschool freshman at Yancy Academy. He is lonely until Misty, a free-spirited girl, shows up in his class and brings along a whole new world full of good and evil. He is brought to Pine Ridge Lodge, a training camp for godly spawn, and finds out about his father which abandoned him. Together, Misty and Jason, sneak out of camp to look for his father and get caught up in various fights. Jason needs to overcome his fear of failure and insecurity in order to safe himself and his father from the ancient claws of death.

In the introduction something happens to brighten up the boring world of Jason. I introduce some main characters and the conflict of a lost dad. Then in the body I develop the conflict that leads to Misty and Jason sneaking out of camp to find his father. In the conclusion is where you tie in the ends and provide a way to solve the conflict and maybe drop a little cliffhanger that will lead your readers to wanting more.
Every story needs a conflict, something that pushes the story forward. Not necessarily in biographies, but you understand my point. Make sure that your conflict is well thought trough, especially because it creates the scarlet thread in your story!

   3. Characters
This part is crucial to a good story. You need intriguing characters! The readers need to passionately fall in love with them, or laugh with them, cry with them, or hate them. Put effort and time on creating them.
Think about:
              1. Name.
              2. What part do they play in your story. Who are they and what is their history?
              3. What is their ultimate goal.
              4. Why do they want to reach that goal?
              5. What hinders them, what obstacles are in the way of the characters? These might be physical or mental.
              6. How does the character develop and what do they learn?

Write these down for each character. Then in a paragraph or in some short points describe their journey through the novel.

   ----------A little note---------
From here on we are going to 'blow up' the ideas from step 2 and 3 and blend them together.

   4. Multiply
In step 2 we wrote a single paragraph of the plot. Get a new sheet of paper and build up your ideas.
Write a paragraph for the introduction, what happens that draws the reader in? Introduce the main characters.
Write three paragraphs, this is the filler that builds up to story. Let your characters evolve and introduce the goal and conflict (obstacles). Maybe each paragraph could stand for significant moments.
The last paragraph is all about the climax and how, to get to their goal, they have to do this final thing. Also some hints that might have been dropped earlier need to be tied together. However, some things can be resolved in your sequel and serve as motivation for the readers to read more!

   5. Fluff 'em up
The short paragraph you wrote for each character in step 3 will now serve as base. Go ahead and evolve their story. For each point in step three write a paragraph.

  6. Plot-tastic
That plot you wrote in step four, go ahead and flesh it out. What happens between those three significant moments we talked about? Any flashbacks? Sub-plots? Themes?
You could also choose to write this per chapter. What happens in each chapter?

   7. Breath of life
This is one of my personal favorite parts, breathing life into each character.
              1. Age, date of birth.
              2. Physical description.
              3. Mental description.
              4. Likes and dislikes.
              5. Special traits or ticks.
              6. Occupation and hobbies.
              7. Change throughout the story.
              8. Relationship with the other characters.

I can't stress enough how important this is! You need to spend a lot of time on this in order to make your character as realistic as possible and not some stereotypical, dull creation.

   8. More flesh
You now have your key scenes and the flesh between each scene that holds them together, right? Now you need to write key things for each event and set the scene.
Detailed write about what happens, when it happens, how it happens and where it happens.
If you have shifting points of view, who is thinking / describing what is happening?
You also need to create a tension at the end of each event to drag the reader along. End it with someone being knocked out. Or angrily walking away. Or a tough question.

  9. Let the writing begin
Now that you've created characters, a storyline and a flow you can finally start writing. Thanks to your planning you should be able to write without problem because you don't need to think ages about what comes next.
As you all know "The first draft of anything is shit," as Ernest Hemingway put it. Just don't get tempted to edit while you are writing! You are not seeing clearly when you edit while writing.
You can make small notes to yourself in the margins, thoughts on possible changes.

   10. A long process
Now comes the long process of editing and re-drafting. Read your story and re-draft, make changes in the plot or character. Make it longer or shorter. Let others read your work and give their opinion and critique. If you are in some creative writing group let them read and assess it.
When editing you might also want to get professional help.
When you are absolutely sure that your story is perfect you can send it off to a agent or publisher!

It's a tough and tiresome process, but don't let it scare you! Get cracking!

Hope you enjoyed this post and learned something! If you have got any questions or advice for other readers just comment on the post.

~ Mathias

Inspiration and blog content.

Hey, hi, hello!
Let me begin with wishing you a happy weekend! Time has been set back one hour which is great, I get to sleep longer.
I carved a pumpkin yesterday and might do another one today.
I just love autumn, don't you?
Anyways, we writers are always looking for inspiration and as a realistic teenager it isn't always so easy. I'm a type that needs clarity, I can't do something if the success rate is too low.  I've seen hundreds of statistics and one can't help but feel at least a little down when seeing those.
Chances are quite slim that you get published and if you are anything like me you want to see your book as the New York bestseller. Well, you need one heck of a story to get there.
I'll be posting later on the journey from getting writing to actually being published.
I'll be writing about what makes a great plot and how publishing works. I've done my research and will blend sources together for a cocktail of publishing success.
I know I'm "just" some random teenager, but you'd be surprised. I'm probably one of the most motivated. I'm totally set on having been published before my 25th birthday in..
. Seven years! Seven great years of planning and plotting. Just need to get myself a laptop...
I'll also be focusing on teenage writers, and I want you guys to be involved! Send questions and topic requests on something you want me to go over and explain. Already you guys can comment on the posts, so please take this as an opportunity, and of course you guys who aren't teenagers are most welcome to comment and ask as well.
As for inspiration, just read. When I read a book (especially a series) and it ends I always sort of take a moment to breathe out. It is always sad when a book ends, no matter how happy the ending was, but I also find it inspiring.
Think if I could write a book like that. A book that glues people to their chairs because they can't stop reading and that leaves them with the same breathless feeling when they have finished it.
I've learned to stop looking at statistics. I refuse to be a statistic! Sure, the odds might be against me but I love writing and no one is going to take that away. Don't let statistics put out your fire of passion, keep at it and improve.
And if you get denied by a publisher, try another one! Don't let one rejection get you down, J.K. Rowling got rejected 12 times before she got published.
Learn from it if you don't get published, improve your story. If you truly believe your story is 'the bomb', you shouldn't stop after just one rejection.
Next post will be on Planning your plot from A to Z! 
Hope to see you then and don't forget to follow my blog! :)

Halloween writing prompts.

The end of October is drawing close and that can only mean one thing: Halloween!
Where I live this celebration isn't alive. At all. Sure there are some trick-or-treaters but no pumpkins and massive garden decorations, which is sad.
It leaves my family with so little of an impression that we nearly every year have forgotten to buy candy, and the kids were too nice to give us any crazy trick to have us remember for next year.
I can't even be bothered to go to the door because they all have really boring costumes.
As I said it's quite dull around Halloween where I live, but enough about how I (don't) celebrate Halloween and more of the writing prompts.
Halloween is in my eyes a time of coziness, pumpkins and a tad of horror so here we go:
1. What is Melanie doing in an abandoned house in the middle of the night? Where is it and how did she get there?
2. The streets were bustling with people. With their satchels and baskets they walked from house to house, showing off their costumes and hoping to get some candy. A group of twelve year olds have wandered off to the end of the street to admire the hundred or more pumpkins that lit up Mr. Maire's garden. It was an eerie sight yet beautiful at the same time. They walked the narrow path to the front door and pounded on it.
Silence.
Then the door slowly open, creaking as it did so... Continue the story.
3. Her head lay at an awkward angle, one that would be impossible if you weren't... He couldn't look at her.
What have I done? He thought, his body shocking as he cried.
There she lay in the grass, between the multi-hued leaves, in a white dress. Her eyes stared up at the clear starry sky.
He couldn't take it anymore... Continue the story.
4. Deputy officer Mason Jones is called up at home. His daughter has gone missing. He will take it upon himself to find her. Write a story about it.
5. In a lighting lit lab a man is making samples. He has found a way to control the earth. The samples contain a disease and only he knows the antidote, soon people will beg him for help. Why would he do such a thing? Write a story!
Hope you enjoyed these and have a great Halloween!

Living the life.

Hello to all ye fellow writers/authors out there,

Maybe I should start with a slight introduction and then I'll continue on. My name is Matthias, I'm younger than you are, unless you are from the year 1995 and up. I'm from the Netherlands but currently I'm enjoying life elsewhere.
Ever since I was eight years old I've been reading books nonstop. It started in my village library. I picked a book and read it. I really read it! You know how busy kids are and can't focus on one thing for all that long, especially books. But I read it and fell through the letters into the world on the pages. Ever since then I loved reading and it became my escape.
My reading became less frequent as school became tougher and homework was more than just 1+1=2.
Later we, my family and I, moved. We moved to a country with a different language, a rather dull one, and it killed my reading interest, besides I was too busy trying to assimilate into my new society.
Thank God I went to an international school and so I learned English. Now, I did know a little English as I was 11 years, however what I had learned was standard stuff from school such as, "How are you?" and the things I had learned from the MMORPG game Runescape. However my English skills trippled, probably quadrupled, in just the first year. That was when I talked to a guy my age who was reading a book about dragons, which he didn't like.
I had never read books about dragons or anything close to fantasy, so I offered to buy the book.
I immediately fell in love.

Eragon was my first fantasy book, and it didn't stop at that. I began to buy and borrow all these different books, didn't really matter what genre although fantasy was my preference, as long as it was a good read in my eyes.
I loved the variety of words in the English and as I read more my writing also improved. At first I was just writing my school assignments, but things changed when a girl in my class -who had read books like Eragon- said she wanted to become a published author.
Up until then it was like I didn't even know people needed to write books in order for others to read them.
At first I didn't give the idea in my head much notice but with age came the thought of the future and what I would want to become.
Businessman. Architect. Entrepreneur.
They all seemed like great jobs but I couldn't see myself in an office all day, even if the money was good. So slowly the thought of writing seemed to pop up, like a plant growing desperate to burst through the dull concrete. It began to grow and people seemed to enjoy the little creative writing I had started to do.

So here I am today wanting to become a published author. Now, I am well aware that the writing business is, sadly, a tough one and that I can't just skip college or Uni for writing so writing will stay a hobby, for now, until I can make a living out of writing.
Until then I intend to blog. I will give advice on writing and you can tag along on my journey.