Plotting and editing - an overview

Plotting is a core activity for writing fiction. However, it's possible to approach the task in many different ways. There is no right/wrong way, and don't let anyone tell you there is. What matters is the final product ie your story or novel. It has to be professional, entertaining and gripping. It has to compete with work from hundreds, if not thousands, of other writers. How you get to that stage is your choice.

Some people like to plot in advance, going into all sorts of detail before they ever start the 'real' writing of the piece. That's fine, if you can do it. The method doesn't suit everyone. Some people do a rough plot and then develop it further as they write. At the other end of the continuum, there are people who can only visualise characters in a certain situation, with a certain problem, and then have to accompany the characters through the book/actions to find out what happens.

Don't let anyone tell you that one way is superior to another. It depends not only on what suits you, the writer, but also on what suits you at this time in your writing life. I started as a non-plotter, knowing only the characters and their general situation. Now, with 16 novels and 11 other books published, I couldn't write that way. I have to develop a 5-10 page outline before I start. But I still couldn't plot out a story in greater detail, as some writers do. They can write up to 100 pages of an outline, specifying what happens in each chapter/scene. And good luck to them.

I believe that editing is, for most writers, inextricably linked to plotting. Editing is not tiddling with words, but can happen on several levels. You need to edit the plot as well as the words, if you're to tell your story to best effect, and there are various ways of doing this.

In the coming months, I'll be writing a series of articles on various aspects of plotting and editing. I have a great deal to say about this topic, because I have a how-to book of that title published in both electronic and paper form and because like most writers, I made a lot of mistakes in my long trek towards publication. You can find links to purchase my PLOTTING AND EDITING book from my web site, if you want to know the whole picture (http://www.annajacobs.com) - well, the picture as I see it!

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