Jo Leigh - Author

Replies: 10 Comments

on Tuesday, January 10th, Jordan said

I've read the Snowflake method, but haven't heard of the other two. When I have tons of time I like to go through Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel workbook. (which isn't often)

I do two things when I plot. The first is I interview both the hero and the heroine. By interview I mean I ask them to tell me their version of the story. (Like a he said/she said thing.) I'm amazed by how much 'plot' comes from that little exercise. The second thing I do is get a piece of paper and write everything that happens in the story on a numbered list from start to finish. I build up the items on the list afterwards. (ie 1. The h/h meet as a tornado drops on their house. 2. They have to dig themselves out. etc.) And that's as complex as I get when plotting.

on Tuesday, January 10th, April said

Jordon - both those things sound very interesting. I tend to have a hard time with interviews - but that's because I've always approached them from the view of getting their backstory not info on the current story.

Personally, I'm still trying to figure out my plotting method. I've written stories with hardly any prewriting before hand and, while I've reached "The End" of them, the story over all is not that great.

Right now...I'm listing possible events that could happen and I've written the back copy blurb - what I'd like to see on the back of the mass market (or inside cover since they like to put it there now too).

I'm sure as I get more confident in writing I'll settle on a method. At least I hope so!

on Tuesday, January 10th, chris said

I am such an inefficient plotter ... I find if I get the characters and the conflicts naoled, the plotting process becomes easier. But it's still a lot of trial and error, and still lots of major plot changes after the first draft. Drives me crazy. if only I could jump straight to the second draft, when I know where I need to go and what I need to do!

on Tuesday, January 10th, Alison said

I use Vogler. As you know. smile

on Wednesday, January 11th, Alison said

Actually, that's not completely accurate. I throw Vogler into a 3-act structure with a lot of McKee. It's weird, but it works!

on Wednesday, January 11th, Glenice said

All I have to say is that whatever you do, it seems to work!

I have been reading some of your "older" stuff and I can see a difference in your writing...yes, better smile even though I really enjoy the older stuff too...I am still trying to get all of your books though. It seems to be a goal of mine now smile

on Wednesday, January 11th, Joely said

I use a combination of Vogler and character development first to get the basic hero's journey down. Then I take the 3-act structure broken down into ten "blocks" and lay out the journey onto that framework. I usually have to start a little writing by then, but each of the ten blocks can be broken down into smaller sections as I go. All taught by Jane Harrison, the Witch. I used to just fly by the seat of my pants and pray. Hard.

on Wednesday, January 11th, Jordan said

April, Yeah, the whole backstory interview structure never really worked for me, which is why I tried it the other way. I also write blurbs to get an idea of the story. I'm still finding my way with plotting too.

Alison, Thanks for the reminder. I forgot about the three act structure. It's actually the only one that makes sense to me. *g*

on Thursday, January 12th, Jo said

Thanks, everyone, for sharing. I mostly use Syd Field's method, combined with Seger and McKee. I'm using Power Structure software to put it all together, and then I do a spreadsheet for the chapter by chapter. I find it fascinating to see how others approach this daunting task. What I wish is that it wasn't so difficult each and every time, but then I guess if it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. smile

on Thursday, January 12th, Alison said

Tom Hanks! One of my favorite quotes ever!

01/10/2006: "Plotting methods"