A few weeks ago I wrote a post on following Kimberley Griffith Little's video on plotting with 3x5 cards. I promised I'd do it since I wasn't exactly the most "outline-y" type of a person. In fact, I totally winged my first book then kinda plotted but mostly winged the second and only did I vaguely outline my third. And to be honest most of that outline went ca-put. So now, with my fourth novel I decided to go the total outline route. I've tried 3x5 cards before but I couldn't quite figure out how to order them or make them work. It seemed like so much to tackle, but splitting them up into Acts has helped tremendously. For those who haven't seen this video seriously click the link at the top. It seems so obvious but the way in which she breaks plotting down is really helpful and I promise you'll learn something new! So without further adieu, below is my 3x5 card outline for my fourth novel, a YA contemporary romance.
I split them up into three arcs and if I were to go back now I'd probably acknowledge the inciting incidents with colorful sticky notes for reference's sake.
So what do your outlines look like? Post them below :D
Cheers,
~Liz
I used note cards for the ms I just finished. I have to put them on a cork board though or my kids would have them everywhere. :)
ReplyDeletevery cool! I need to start doing stuff like this :)
ReplyDeleteLol I find it SO helpful! And I totally was moving events around if necessary. Also Sarah, I HAVE a cork board...I just need my bf to hammer the darn thing into my wall haha :D
ReplyDeleteYikes, that's quite the mosaic! I write mine out, but at some point I do draw a graph, using colored pencils, with different colors for each character's trajectory. It looks like crazy modern art-hehehhe.
ReplyDeleteMy outlines (which I cobble together while doing my first round of edits) are all written on a 6x9 legal pad, and then I staple the pages together into a little booklet. I can't outline first, I've always been a pantser, but having an outline for edits makes going back and making changes much easier!
ReplyDeleteMy last outline was on the back of a grocery receipt. Thank goodness that was sitting in my purse, because otherwise it would have been written on my arm (when inspiration strikes, it strikes, right?)
ReplyDeleteThe one book, the one book I had so much hope for, is now falling about because, for the first time, I outlined less than I usually do.... It is so horrible right now. I don't know how I will recover from it. Plotting is so important to me,. Sigh. I should have researched and plotted beforehand.
ReplyDelete