Are you a meticulous planner when writing or a seat of the pants writer? I was fortunate enough to have attended a workshop given by William Bernhardt who is a meticulous planner when writing novels. Part of that process was sketching out each chapter on cards, or more latterly on an Excel Spreadsheet. Unfortunately, I had already begun writing by the time I went to Bill’s class and continue to maintain my seat-of-the-pants style. I know I’m making progress when the latter parts of my draft contradict the new material. Then its time to go back and rediscover the characters and motivations. My friend Cassandra Brown has a nine grid system: http://www.onlycassandra.com/2011/08/nine-grid-plan.html, which is a loose plot organizer and may appeal to some writers who don’t want to commit to a fully sketched out plan but want to have some overall plan for the novel, as laid out in a grid of nine boxes. Cassandra provides a great example with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Anyway, check it out.
My latest opus, He Might be Still on Mars, is close to publication, while I have a way to go with my new WIP, Wedding Presents from PyongYang