No two writers approach their WIPs in the same way. Over the years, I’ve used a combination of the following methods to develop my stories. You may be familiar with some of them. Some of them may be new. I cherry pick parts from them and have created an amalgam of a fiction creating process I enjoy using — which helps when it comes to motivation.
Here’s the thing: the methods I use will keep changing. And change from project to project. I encourage you to be a student of the writing craft and learn ways you can apply to your WIPs. Be an ever learning autodidactic. Don’t accept every method you come across. The ones that make you excited about getting your story finished are the ones to add to your repertoire.
Plotting methods:
- Three Act Structure The grand-daddy of plot structures
- Save the Cat Originally for screenwriters, this has also been developed for novelists
- Snowflake Method This is a great way to plot out in layers
- Hero’s Journey A classical method developed by Joseph Campell
- Dan Harmon’s Story Circle Used for the sitcom Community, but helpful for novelists
- Story Genius Great for Panters
Software:
- Writing software I use and recommend
- Scrivener This writing software sooooo flexible and customizable for each novelist
- Novelpad Great online software that is streamlined and simple to use
- Fictionary Another piece of online software excellent for analyzing your story
- Writing software I haven’t used but looks interesting
Online courses:
- Writing Mastery Academy
A subscription service I feel is worth the money. Hours and hours of online courses in which I always end up learning way more than I thought I would when I start the lessons. Some of these courses are available on other platforms, but with Writing Mastery Academy, I get extra webinars and a writing community. And they are always adding more courses. I recommend trying it for a month to see if you like it. Following are just some of the courses I love:- The Complete Novel Revision Course hosted by Jessica Brody
- Level Up Your Writing hosted by Scott Reintgen
- Crafting Dynamic Characters hosted by Mary Kole
- Udemy
Not a subscription service, so I can just purchase a course one at a time. Lots of great looking courses for fiction writers I intend to take at some time in the future. Here’s one I really like:- How to Plan and Outline Novels (Using Scrivener) Prolific writing Sean Platt explains how he uses Scrivener to develop his stories in a quick manner. To be honest, you don’t need to use Scrivener to apply his methods.
- MasterClass
Classes on every subject, but I checked out the fiction writing courses and, wow, some of them look great. The lectures are hosted by world famous authors like Neil Gaiman and James Patterson. Definitely going to take some in the future.
Hope you get a chance to check out some of these resources. Let me know how it goes. If you have recommendations, let me know.
Andrew M. Friday 