Sometimes my plot lines are so convoluted, I get calls from friends at 3 am saying; you SOB, you'll never pull this one off.

- Clive Cussler



There are three more days until the start of NaNoWriMo, Nano Writers! Today we continue drawing out a map of events for our story and see what our antagonist has ( planned... )

Tomorrow we'll review the road map for our story and offer some final words before the real trip begins! In three days! Until then, keep writing!

The beginning of a plot is the prompting of desire.

- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt



There are five more days until the start of NaNoWriMo, Nano Writers! This gives us plenty of time to talk about... you know... the "p" word (hint: it rhymes with "lot"). The poor p-word has gotten a lot of bad press in recent years, taking heat equally from both the vocal pantster party member and the grow-it-organically artiste... But for our Fast Start version, we're going to do this by making up a ( road_map... )

Tomorrow, we'll add more detail to our road maps as we sketch in the first roadblock. Until then keep writing, Nano Writers!

Judge not the play before the play is done: Her plot hath many changes; every day Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play.

- Francis Quarles



It's Day 27 for Nano Writers's Let's Build a World. Read over - Plot Hooks - from Stephanie Bryant's 30 Days of Worldbuilding. Notebooks ready? Then let's tackle today's ( exercise )

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is-full of surprises.

- Isaac Bashevis Singer



It's Day 20 for Nano Writers's Let's Build a World. Read over - Plot Hook Day - from Stephanie Bryant's 30 Days of Worldbuilding. Time for your notebooks and today's ( exercise )

He fishes well who uses a golden hook.

- Latin Proverb



It's Day 13 for Nano Writers's Let's Build a World. Read over: Plot Hooks and the Speculative Element from Stephanie Bryant's 30 Days of Worldbuilding. Time to get out your notes from yesterday and read today's ( exercise )

I don't usually outline a book before I start, but I do have a general sense of where I'm going with the story. I'll often write short paragraphs describing each of the characters: their vocations, ages, appearances, and personalities. I also create a calendar for the period in which the story is to take place, with boxes for each date of the month. This way, I can avoid such things as having someone in two places at once, which almost happened in one of my Nero Wolfe books!

Robert Goldsborough (Fade to Black, Silver Spire)


from: "The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists - Insider Secrets from Top Writers" by Andrew McAleer