Mapping out my story
I'm feeling like a bit of a fake at the moment. I call myself a writer, and yet I have shown no visible signs of writing for the past few weeks.
That, dear reader, is visible signs. It's all been whirling around my head like crazy, surfacing at odd moments so that I bring up characters at awkward moments.
What I have been doing has interested the geographically challenged part of my brain. Essentially I have been plotting out my story, step-by-step, through drawing up a map of the fantasy world, and making notes next to places where major events happen in my story. I can now visualise exactly how far my heroine has to travel before she meets the hero, exactly where a vicious battle scene takes place etc.
Has anyone else found this an effective way to plot out a story? It really seems to work for me.
Oh, and I've been reading a lot of historical romance novels (thankyou Jean Plaidy!!!) for supposed research, although secretly I think I have an addiction to these stories.
I have also started a new job, which is a very exciting new phase of my life. Things are really good right now :)
That, dear reader, is visible signs. It's all been whirling around my head like crazy, surfacing at odd moments so that I bring up characters at awkward moments.
What I have been doing has interested the geographically challenged part of my brain. Essentially I have been plotting out my story, step-by-step, through drawing up a map of the fantasy world, and making notes next to places where major events happen in my story. I can now visualise exactly how far my heroine has to travel before she meets the hero, exactly where a vicious battle scene takes place etc.
Image taken from http://www.boojum.com/images/lhumbloop.jpg
Has anyone else found this an effective way to plot out a story? It really seems to work for me.
Oh, and I've been reading a lot of historical romance novels (thankyou Jean Plaidy!!!) for supposed research, although secretly I think I have an addiction to these stories.
I have also started a new job, which is a very exciting new phase of my life. Things are really good right now :)
Laying a physical map as well as a character map is a really good idea since it places your characters in more of a 3D space. It also means if they are on a journey that you can accurately chart their progress both in the landscape and in their development. It also pushes you to fill in the details that had prevoius been blank. Always a good idea.
ReplyDeleteregards Greg