Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Plot Wall

In my last post I described the date book and notebooks I’ll be using throughout the year to keep my writing and life organized. Are my characters now demanding date books of their own? As I write my YA novel, I am discovering that my characters need something to keep their plans/goals organized. Instead of rushing off to get each of my main characters a stylish date book, I am experimenting with a plot wall.



I’ve summarized each chapter I’ve written so far, scene-by-scene, on index cards. I also use a little sticky note tracking system so that I can easily find things when I need them. Spreading the cards across the wall like this is revealing to me once again that I am a visual learner/thinker. I love to take breaks from writing my novel, turn away from my computer screen and see everything all at once on my plot wall. That shift, from all-in-the-head to all-out-there-on-the–wall, is refreshing and keeps me on track.

How do you keep your plot organized?
Posted by at

12 comments:

  1. Julie MusilJanuary 11, 2011 at 5:21 PM

    I've never worked this way, but I'll bet I'd like this. I keep a spiral notebook with sections, and work from that. I also create index cards, which keeps me flexible. I'm able to add things and move them around. I'm still kind of learning my style!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AlexJanuary 12, 2011 at 4:31 AM

    This system looks brillant. I always use one of the old fashion composition books, but a plot wall looks some much easier to see everything than thumbing through pages.
    Good luck with your novel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lindsay N. CurrieJanuary 12, 2011 at 8:23 AM

    Oh my goodness I'm so jealous of your organization! This looks wonderful, and much simpler than the strange scraps of information I leave all over the house LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jonathon ArntsonJanuary 12, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    Great blog! You are so organized. I am torn between being disturbed or inspired. Either way, you seem like a valuable contact to have. I hope 2011 is a happy blogging year for you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sheri DoyleJanuary 12, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    Julie - I think I'm still learning my style too. :)

    Alex - Well, I'm using both methods actually (notebooks and plot wall) along with computer files. Hopefully, I'm not in over my head!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sheri DoyleJanuary 12, 2011 at 10:29 AM

    Lindsay - My plot wall is just a little bit misleading - I 'appear'organized, just don't look at my desk, night table or my purse where you'd find all my messy scribbles. ;)

    Jonathon - The truly disturbing part is that I tend to start organizational methods and often do not follow through with them. I'm trying. ;) Thanks for stopping by - off to check out your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. WritingNutJanuary 12, 2011 at 4:20 PM

    Okay... your plot wall sounds really, really cool and very organized! I think I'd love to do something like that!

    Um... short answer? I don't. I know I'm going to suffer for it later... with my current book, I just wrote, but I know for the rest of the series I'm going to need to be much more organized.

    Thanks so much for dropping by today! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ghenet MyrthilJanuary 13, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    I've been using the computer writing program, Scrivener, to get everything organized. It allows you to create virtual "index cards" to organize plotm, etc. If I lived in a bigger apartment, with an office of my own, I'd probably try organizing my plot on my wall too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ghenet MyrthilJanuary 13, 2011 at 1:20 PM

    Oops, typo!

    *plot, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sheri DoyleJanuary 13, 2011 at 4:26 PM

    Thanks, WritingNut! Good luck with the next phase.

    Ghenet, I've heard good things about Scrivener. Must check it out! Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  11. BookBlogFunJanuary 16, 2011 at 2:32 PM

    On the topic of organizing, I am trying to keep track of everything I read this year. Got a great book journal/notebook. Hopefully it will happen. Our blogs can also be a great organizing tool.

    ~ Lauri Chandler
    www.bookblogfun.doodlekit.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sheri DoyleJanuary 16, 2011 at 4:21 PM

    Great point, Laurie. I should try keeping track of all the books I read too. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)