“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
Are you a meticulous planner, or do you let your ideas and characters drive your novel?
Planning is an important part of writing, regardless of the genre. There are many techniques you can follow to plan, here are five of the easier and quicker ones.
Forward Planning
Always carry a notebook around with you to note down ideas when they spring into your head. Whenever you think of something note it down before it leaves your head.
Write down everything you can think of which relates to this idea. Don’t worry about complete sentences, grammar and spelling.
I am old school and go for a notepad, but you can use a note application on your phone.
MindMaps
These are like marmite, you either love them or hate them. .
The basics of a MindMap is you start with a central idea in the middle. You then work through the possible ideas that could be included with this topic. From there you add all the other details you wish to include.
You could even use every arm, coming from the centre, as a subheading for your article.
Linear Planning
Use a simple list to plan your post. Start with the main topic and then fill in five subheadings. Under these, list all the factors you want to include in your post.
Keep this linear plan in front of you and write your draft, following each section in order.
Post it Notes / Flash Cards
This is an excellent method of planning, especially for those longer pieces of work, such as a novel. Write all the topic headings on a post-it or flash card. Turn it over and then write three or four points for each of your cards.
Each card or note is a subheading, on the back is the contents of your post.
The big benefit of this system is that you can then move and rearrange the notes many times. You can move them to get a structure you are happy with.
Applications
I am not a big fan of applications when it comes to planning your writing.
But, you could use a program such as Scrivener. This program allows you to plan your writing in an electronic post-it note format. You can move your electronic notes around to finalise the structure.
Each of these files can then be expanded on separately to write the post.
Does planning make you a better author?
A well thought out and planned piece of writing will show the readers you have your ideas in order. It will clearly state the points you need to discuss and enable the reader to follow the post with ease.
Successful quality posts will lead to more followers.
What methods do you use to plan?