Plot Holes? Resources for Repair by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Plotting is my nemesis. I love to write lyrically. I love to write description. I love writing myself into a hole. I half-hoped that somewhere, I’d find a plot, waiting for me, one that I could just open up and it would fit my story perfectly. It turns out, it’s a bit more work than that. 

I write middle grade novels, I have a rogue YA novel-in-verse lingering on my computer, and I write picture books. In every single case, I have struggled with plot. I knew that plotting was the very thing that could elevate my writing, and so I began to study that which was so difficult for me. The ever-elusive plot. 

I wish I could be a plotter from the beginning, but I usually have to do some brainstorming, then I begin to write. I know where I want to end up, but I don’t always have a complete road map for how I’m going to get there. I’m a pantser, which is why I end up having to go back and do so many revisions—there are always plot missteps or holes along the way. 

This post is not about answers. I don’t have the perfect solution for your plot problems. I'm not peddling "Plot Your Bestseller Novel in 30 Minutes." I'm in the trenches with you. What I do have is a list of resources that I’ve used and some examples. All of these examples are for novels. I have studied plots in picture books as well, but that would be a whole other post.  

Books I Recommend

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

Don’t shy away from this book because it’s for screenwriters. This book is a gem for novel writers because it helps you understand the essentials of good story telling. Snyder goes into explanations about beat sheets and how to break up your story. Check out the website with lots of plotting resources as well. 

Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell

This is a new one I’ve recently read and I love his simplified version of dealing with plot and the essential elements you have to have. It addresses the needs of both the pantser and the plotter. 

The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson 

This book is full of details about plotting. She is the plotting guru. I’ve had friends tell me this book overwhelmed them because it’s definitely nitty gritty details on how to plot. For those of us who would consider ourselves more literary writers, it’s sometimes hard to wade through so much plotting detail. However, this is an excellent book about plotting and one that I definitely recommend. 

Here is a WIP of mine that I took apart while reading The Plot Whisperer. 

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

This is one I refer to quite a bit. He breaks down plotting techniques and makes them accessible and he understands the great importance of studying mentor texts to gain an understanding of how plotting works. 

Courses

Cheryl Klein’s Writer’s Digest Master Plotting Class

I took this course several years ago, and I can't find any upcoming dates for this class. However, her book Second Sight talks about some of the revision techniques she talks about in her online class. 

Be forewarned, you must love spreadsheets (and I do!). It’s a great way to see into an editor’s mind and really be able to delve into your own book. You need to have a book already written and ready to revise to really make this class worth your while. If you didn't have it written, it would be hard to employ the revision techniques. 

Techniques I’ve Used

1) Study books as mentor texts

After reading James Scott Bell’s book Plot and Structure, I realized I needed to study novels in the same way that I study picture book texts. I picked several of my favorite middle grade novels and mapped out their plots, chapter by chapter. Because none of the above resources (with the exception of Cheryl Klein’s class) are really for children’s writers, I wanted to see how the plotting was handled in the kind of books I wanted to write. 

Bell’s technique used index cards for recording the plot of each chapter in the mentor texts.  I recorded a summary of the chapter, characters, setting, ending (did I want to keep reading), and type of chapter it was (action, reaction, setup, deepening). James Scott Bell describes in detail how to do this type of study in his book. 

By walking through this process with books I loved, it helped me see the big picture and how those smaller plot pieces were woven together to make the big picture. 

2) Spreadsheets

Cheryl Klein’s class uses a lot of different spreadsheets. I use spreadsheets because it is another way that you can see the different plot elements of your book in a big picture way, while also keeping track of those little items. There are some elements I’ll always want to track, but some will change depending on the book. For example, for one of my novels, my spreadsheet headers tracked these elements for each scene: 

* Action

* Emotion

* Setting

* Characters in this chapter

* What does the character want?

* Climax

* Ending/Hook for next scene

* Clue revealed (specific to that book)

* Magic element (specific to that book)

The advantage of spreadsheets is that they are easily color-codable and it’s easy to see your whole book on a few pages. 

3) Scrivener

I’ve written a previous blog post about Scrivener, but I always draft my novels in Scrivener. It helps me see things as a whole and I can also easily move parts around, much more so than in Word. 

The index card feature is helpful when trying to have summaries of your story at a glance on your computer. You can also print them off, cut them apart, and physically arrange them just like you would with real index cards. 

4) Plot chart

Remember 5^th grade when you plotted stories on a chart that looked like a steep mountain? Another way to map out your story and see where it falls apart is to actually make one of these large charts of your book. After reading The Plot Whisperer, I actually got brave and did this with one of my books. 

5) Shrunken Manuscript

Darcy Pattison teaches how to do this technique here. Basically, it’s another way to see your novel as a whole. It helps identify your weak spots and strong spots. 

Plot On!

I still have a lot to learn about plotting. I’d love to know your favorite books about plot and your favorite techniques for revising for plot. Tell me about it in the comments. 

I Have Mentor Texts I Want to Use, Now What? by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

Last week we talked about where to find mentor texts that you can use as a writer. Now that you have them, what are you going to do with them? 

It depends on what you’re writing. I know that’s a terrible answer. It also depends on what area of craft you want to improve. 

Here are some ideas for ways you can use mentor texts:

1) Plot it out. 

I struggle with plot. I have actually plotted out mentor texts to help me with this. I’m still a work in progress on plotting, but I have learned a lot by studying other texts. 

James Scott Bell recommends plotting another book chapter by chapter in his book PLOT AND STRUCTURE. 

In THE PLOT WHISPERER by Martha Alderson, she mentions taking another book and plotting it on a story line. 

Both of these techniques help you get the feel for the story that is not your own and how the plot works. 

2) Try it out. 

Find something you really like in someone else’s writing. Whether it’s the way they introduce a character, incorporate the setting, the way a beginning is constructed, or the way a nonfiction text is constructed, you can try out the craft aspect with your own story. You may not end up using it, but you might find it gives you a different way of looking at things. 

3) Type it out. 

I’ve said this many times, and I’ve heard others say it numerous times, typing out the text helps you notice what the author left in, what she left out, and how they paced the book. I find this especially helpful in writing picture books, though I’ve heard a writer says she’s typed out several chapters trying to get the feel for a particular genre. 

4) Go on a word hunt. 

I do this with students all of the time. We look for vivid verbs, sensory words, onomatopoeia, and more. Sometimes, getting into the language is inspiring. I find this to be especially helpful when writing picture books and poetry. Make a list of your favorite words. When you are writing you own work, brainstorm the best possible words for the subject. How can you make your word choice unique and perfect? How can you make every word count in your manuscript. 

5) Soak it in.  

Georgia Heard's book FINDING THE HEART OF NONFICTION, she says, 

“Some people call them mentor texts; I call them guardian angels. These are the books that guide me with a whisper of words, inspiring me to find my own voice as I write. They give me the knowledge and the wisdom of what good-quality writing sounds and feels like.” (xii)

Find those handful of books that really speak to you. Books that you wish you’d written. Books that you don’t tire of reading again and again. Read them over and over again. Have them in your personal library. Revisit them. Every time I read BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo, I learn something new as a writer. I soak in something great. I like to go about studying mentor texts in an intentional way. But sometimes just reading and rereading those books will help you as a writer too. 

There are dozens (probably hundreds) of ways to read and study a mentor text. These are just some of the ways I’ve studied them. 

Tell us. What ways do you use mentor texts?