How I Plot My Novels

As an author, I spend a lot of time feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing. So perhaps I shouldn't be giving out writing advice. But if you also feel like you have no idea what you're doing, maybe this will help. Could be the blind leading the blind, but...

1. The Idea

Plotting a romance novel is a bit like solving a puzzle—I start with the big pieces, the corners and the border, and gradually fill in the details. Since I write fantasy, paranormal, and sci-fi romance, I have the added challenge of blending the action and romantic plot lines together. Which can be difficult to align. So I usually start out like this.

Muttering to myself, my fiance, or really anyone who will listen. Honestly, 99% of the time, it’s just maladaptive daydreaming and an ADHD hyperfixation—but we don’t need to talk about that. The point is, this is the seed that will eventually grow into a full-blown story (if I don't decide I hate it halfway through part 2 😅).

2. General Plotting

Before anything gets written down, I like to let the story simmer in my head. I try to get a general idea of where I want the story to go, focusing on the major plot points and themes. This mental framework helps me see the story from start to finish without getting too attached, so I can fill in the smaller subplots later. See below for live footage of me "mind plotting."

3. Skeleton Outline

Once I’ve got a general idea, I start outlining the story by its scenes. I know some people plot a level above that (chapter by chapter or even in acts), but my mind operates at a scene level. So I start there. At this stage, I usually only have the major anchoring scenes thought out, so I begin with those. This outline is like my story’s skeleton, giving it structure but leaving room to flesh things out as I go.

4. Beefy Scene Outline

Now comes the fun part—putting the puzzle together. I fill in all the spaces between my anchoring plot points. Typically, this entails drafting a short scene description and bulleting a few key points about how this attaches to other points in the story. I will also include notes about plot points that are triggered by the particular scene (e.g. foreshadowing).

Sometimes I include specific action or dialogue that I’ve already decided on. These often manifest in the maladaptive daydreaming stage so I try to write them down at this point. This way, nothing gets lost in the shuffle and I won't fall into the trap of drafting the scene right then and there (which I am guilty of). But I'm not super attached to them, as my story tends to change quite a bit as I go.

Recently, I had a portal novella transform into a full-fledged epic fantasy, soooo that tells you how concrete this process is.

5. Scrivener Set-Up

My final outline happens directly in Scrivener. I set up the manuscript with general sections and try to figure out where the chapters will fall. This step is especially useful when writing dual POVs (which I always do), as Scrivener lets me drag and drop scenes to reorganize them so nothing is set in stone. I then title each scene within the tentative chapters based on the main thing that’s happening. I'll also drop those key actions and dialogue in the notes for that scene so I don't have to go back and forth between files. Once that’s done, I’m ready to write! Although, let’s be real, at this point, I probably already have some scenes written because I’m an eager beaver.

Because I write fantasy, paranormal, and sci-fi romance, I typically go through steps 1-4 for both the action plotline and the romantic plotline separately. Then, I blend them together in step 5, ensuring the story is both exciting and romantic. This also helps with pacing. I often have the romantic pacing and action pacing match one another, but in my current WIPs this isn't the case. So mapping them out individually has been a game changer.

If you don't have Scrivener, or a similar drafting software, I used to do this same process in Word. Using the headings feature so I could capture the story at a glance in the 'Reviewing' pane. The only difficulty here is you can't move things around as easily.

I hope you enjoyed these ramblings, and maybe saw something that you find helpful. If not, thanks for joining me anyway!

Until next time,

Have fun, be safe, feel good.

R. A. Moreau