plot it out

Though some authors are able to sit down and write their book from beginning to end without much planning or consideration, this approach does not work for me. The prep work is critical for me to even write the first word of a story.

For me, the reasons to plan a book before writing are simple:
• Prep gives you a road map and directions for how to write your story.
• Planning ensures your book will have a beginning, middle and end.
• It serves as a motivator to get you interested in your story.
• Once you have a plan, you can focus on writing without being bogged down by worries about what to do next — you'll already know.

This week, I will run a series looking at a few ways authors plan the plots to their stories. I have found all of these devices useful and hope you will, too.

As an immediate disclaimer I want to note I did not come up with any of these tools on my own. I discovered them while researching the topic, and I want to share my findings with you.

Please let me know if you have any feedback of your own to provide on how to plan a book's plot. Contact me by leaving a comment on this post or by following me on Twitter @lmchap.