I figured it would probably be easiest just to pull everything together in one place, also, the more I added, the more I realized this should probably just be a page on my website. So this is also a draft of that. š (I have a page already, but it doesnāt have all the added tips or the insights into my process.)
Oh, and thereās lots of links to files in my OneDrive. Feel free to copy whatever youād like your own copy of!
ā¬ļø Click on a listing in the Table of Contents to jump to the relevant section.
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When it comes to longer-form writing, Iām a planner. What works for me is a combination of a few different methods (Iāll link to all the original things, then provide my amalgamation):
I learned about 2 & 3 after I had published the first edition of Through the Mirrah (TTM), so I used just the 40 Scenes for that. But this is what I used to plan books 2 and 3 (and what Iām using to re-plan book 2) (and probably book 3): Reverse Engineered Signpost Scenes [Word].
The template starts out with two rules, and theyāre really the only rules you need for filling it out.
āCognitive effectā refers to the emotions you want your reader to feel at the end of the book. (The Screenwriting 101 PDF linked above has more on this, with a lot of great examples.)
Iāve only used the āScenes in Betweenā portion (thus far) as more of a checklist. Once Iāve written a draft, Iāll go through and see if Iāve included those things. I donāt really use it as part of my planning.
What I like to do is fill out as much of the template (up to that last part) as I can with the ideas Iāve already had. Then I look back through to see what Iām missing and focus my brainstorming on those parts.
Another gift from the Sterling & Stone guys was the Smarter Artist pack [PDF], which has a bunch of helpful one-sheets, but the Planning Your Novel section (2 pages) is a great round-up of things that are good to know going into writing (though some of it wonāt come to you until later, and thatās okay!)