Big news! I just finished the first draft of my third novel!! This one is a YA dark academia inspired by The Wizard of Oz and features girls in STEM. I'm pitching it as Wednesday is to The Addams Family as Our Wicked Deeds (my working title) is to The Wizard of Oz. No magic. No fantasy. No bad dreams. Instead: lies, scheming, deceit, and of course, wicked deeds (plus Toto).

Three points makes a pattern, and even though I set about writing this one differently than the first two, the same (weird) thing happen this time that happened both times before.

PAST TWO EXPERIENCES (IN A NUTSHELL)

For the two previous manuscripts, I used Lisa Cron's Wired for Story to craft my outline. Yes, I'm a plotter, not a pantser (well, to an extent - more on this later). The basic premise of Wired For Story is that your main character must have one big "misbelief," some big misunderstanding/misconception about themself or the world that is, in actuality, patently false. But they believe it this misbelief with every fiber of their being. They have to have solid reasons for believing this falsehood, ingrained over at least three different experiences in their past.

So I always set about plotting by figuring out my character's misbelief, then crafting a story to challenge those misbeliefs along the way.
In my first novel, Sivon steadfastly believes that learning about her past lives will answer every question about herself and future.
In my second, Ellie believes she'll be bullied and rejected if people learn the secret she's hiding.
Another fun thing to do is give your character what they most desire but have it be the worst thing that could happen OR give them what they fear and make it a good thing. By fun, I mean torture your main character. (Insert evil laughter.)

For the first novel, I created a simple outline of about 20-30 plot points, each about a sentence long. For the second, I expanded that, outlining around 45 scenes, several sentences each each, including potential dialogue if it came to me.

A DIFFERENT STRATEGY

I'm a lifelong learner, so I wanted to try plotting my third book differently, for no other reason than to see if I liked it better. Spoiler: I both did and didn't.

After doing a bunch of research on writing craft books, I settled on The Snowflake Method. If I'd done just a bit more research, I would've found that the website itself explains the whole method, and I could've saved myself a little money by not purchasing the book. Ah well. I like to highlight my craft books, so I probably absorbed more with the physical copy anyway.

The Snowflake plotting method has you start with a one-line pitch, which you expand to a paragraph. The book must also have three major disasters. I found it interesting to think about my character's development in terms of disasters. They don't have to be huge natural disasters or explosions, just something big/horrible that happens to your character and therefore shifts their thinking.

The Snowflake Method also dives deeply into characters, not just your main character, but all the major players in your story. This I found REALLY helpful. I did this to a small extent before, but this time, I went crazy. I ended up subscribing to One Stop for Writers, which has an extensive tool for crafting characters, down to unique traits, backstory, and motivations. The great thing about delving into characters this way is that your plot almost writes itself. Once you know your characters, you can easily find ways to pit them against one another or bring them together, even if they start out as enemies.

Finally, and this was the part that ended up being a complete waste of time, I create a whole dang plot grid - scenes vertically down the left, characters across the top, and notes describing what each character did in each scene. I spent almost a month on this thing. Then I only referenced it a handful of times, and only to be like, yeah no.

A blurred out subsection of my plot grid. Multiply this by 7.

EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (BUT RIGHT)

Alright, so I've got this incredibly detailed grid with about 50 scenes mapped out. I start writing and all is going well, just like the last two books. And just like the other two, I get exactly half way - and I do mean exactly - and guess what? The outline doesn't work.

The thing is, at least for me, by the time I get halfway into the story, my characters are so much more real. I've written dialogue for them, guided them to and through uncomfortable situations, and am about to do the same thing at least two more times (they wish it was only two... mwah ha ha). So I look to my outline for the next scene, and I'm like, "No way, that character would never do that! What was I thinking?" Does that mean the whole outline needs to be thrown out? No. I always keep the same climax (at least I have so far), but pretty much everything leading up to that is either cut, rearranged or reimagined.

And it's all good, because I still have an outline and a better one than before.

WHAT'S NEXT?

I'm giving Our Wicked Deeds a few weeks to rest so I can edit it with fresh eyes. I already have another craft book in hand (Lisa Cron's Story Genius) and am planning to read that before making revisions. Afterwards, I'll have my trusted critique partners review my manuscript for potential plot, pacing, and character issues. More revisions will be made, and it'll go to my agent for her feedback. Alas, more revisions likely after that, then beta readers, then more revisions, and so on. It's a long process!

​While I wait for feedback, I'll return the favor for my critique partners and start thinking about book #4, which I'll probably begin drafting in the late fall/winter. What will I do differently next time? I think my days of plot grids are over.  I still very much like to outline before writing, but the method I used for my second novel was more than sufficient.

The hardest part (but also fun!) will be narrowing down my list of story ideas to the one I'm most excited about! Here's hoping you'll be able to read them all someday!