Plotting and planning...

Lovely deckchairs in Charlotte Square
where the Book Festival happens!

In Edinburgh this week, for my (almost) annual Ian Rankin/Edinburgh Book Festival fix and a meet up with an old school friend afterwards.   Lots of interesting things happened -  and we went and drank in the Oxford (Rebus's pub!) where I resisted the temptation to drink Famous Grouse and had a Gin and Tonic instead. 

 

And it was while sitting on one of those famed 'buffets' that I realised that although I've never really thought of myself as either a plotter or a planner, I do have my own writing routine.  It isn't as regimented or ordered as some 'real' authors (Elizabeth George, for example who is entirely exhaustive in her approach) but I've realised I am not just writing in the dark.  Every writer I've read on the subject does say that you have to develop your own method and I've realised that I do have some methods which work effectively for me and really help me to stay on track when I'm in the midst of a book.

 

SO... I thought I'd share a few with you over the next couple of posts, if that isn't too self indulgent!  (And if it is then please feel free to ignore me!  Once I've got it out of my system, I'll go back to writing about cake!)



The Box File

Here goes then : EXHIBIT A: THE BOX FILE!  Each book gets a box file at the start of the process and the first thing I do is to choose a title and then 'mock up' a front cover.  I did this for 'Scotch Mist' and the habit has sort of stuck.  The picture is just cut out of a travel brochure usually (taken from Grouse's collection!) and initially may not have much bearing on the plot. However, it is there are inspiration as and when needed and in the case of Pine, I actually used the idea of the faint rainbow and got my cover designer to replicate it on one of my own photos of Scotland - compare it with the final cover design!  The box file colour feels important too: Mist was Purple, Broth was Orange and the new one is Red and I try to find pictures which compliment the colour.

 

Into this goes EVERYTHING from the start: research, notes, ideas, pictures, motorcycle magazines, tourist guides, maps, beermats...everything.  By the end it is full:  The CD is a copy of the full finished text, the covers, blurb, publicity, Kindle formatting and research - anything I've used but taken off my lap top.  Having the box file is liberating: I can use it to tidy everything away and it is reasonably easy to transport, for example, on holiday and it means I don't lose anything - scraps of paper with ideas on etc. I usually write the 1st draft start date, the finish date and the publication on the inside of the lid and I put the title on the spine.  They all currently live under my desk with one or two other things which have yet to see the light of day.   

 

However, the most vital thing in the box file is EXHIBIT B : THE CHRONOLOGY!



two of the chronology sheets for SP:
hopefully no spoilers in view!

I write this up as I'm going along: it looks pretty neat here but it can get very messy.  This isn't actually planning as such, just recording what has happened so far and it makes it really easy to check back to events without having to trawl through the text.  I can check how many days have passed in the plot and when things happened. It also helps me see which chapters are a bit 'thin' - I try to aim for 10 pages of A4, 11 point, 1.5 spaced writing per chapter (and I always type in Goudy Old Style.  Don't ask why - because I don't know!  It just looks right for G&P!) so if I'm a little bit short, I know I can add a scene into that chapter. 

 

Sometimes I know I need a scene but haven't written it and it helps to record where it was intended to go.However, once something is on the chronology it doesn't mean it is set in stone: I'm just as likely to combine or delete scenes as add them.

 

I got this idea from Halle Ephron - much more of whom next time - although lots of other writers suggest it too. I tend to leave starting this until I've got a few chapters under my belt.  I started the Chronology for the new book yesterday, recording the events of the first eight chapters.  It's like an extra commitment to finishing!  Sometimes, if I'm stuck, going back to the chronology can help remind me where I was initally heading. 

 

NEXT TIME: research (the fun bit!)