3 Unrelated Things to Think About When Plotting
Starting a new novel can be exciting and scary at the same time. If you’re like me, you often start a story with one main, abstract idea that’ll be the main plot, but even before you begin, you have a lot of work to go through before you really write.
Filling out a plot is all about deciding what your book is about, before you even start. While you may not make all the major plot decisions at first, here’s three things to think about for your next novel.
1. Are you aiming for some romance?
This one seems silly, but think about the kind of romance you’d want if you had it. Some books feature loose romances, where some feature the once in a lifetime love. As a bitter, single lady who gets 100% of her romance through fictional media (mostly books), I always appreciate a little romance in my books.
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2. Are you looking to have a larger social message in your story?
Do you want there to be an underlying social commentary in your book? Are you looking to push a message, even if it’s not about a social issue? Or do you prefer just to write a story to entertain? There’s definitely merits to both options, but it’s definitely something to think about before hand. If you choose to include a social message, you don’t have to have all the answers before you start writing, though.
3. What genre are you planning to write?
I’ll actually have a post about defining genre and age category and my thoughts on the difference next Tuesday, but you need to think about it first.
Can you tell by all these tips that I am definitely a planner? I can’t just jump into a story at all. I put a lot of thought into my story before I begin.
Tell me, what are some things you think about before beginning your story?
Another great post, Laura! I’m definitely a planner as well, so I can definitely appreciate these things to think about. For my current manuscript, I’m yes on the romance, yes on the message, and NA fantasy on the genre.
Also, the bitter, single lady comment made me simultaneously laugh out loud and start weeping. Haha! I’m right there with ya. But hey, who needs boys when you’ve got books, right? 😉 They’re much less trouble!
All my friends are in long-term relationships and thinking about getting married. I told one friend it would be a long time until I got married because part of my job is making up sexy men, like how can a guy compete with that? 😉 Hope you’re well!