Creative Writing Tips - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
5 Questions to ask before purchasing a book online
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A Guide to Creative Writing That Sells
Article Writing: How To Use Your Chakra Energy To Write
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Can Your Theme Be Proved In Your Story?
Discover What Good Writing Is All About
Documenting Everything: Your Journal is Your Logbook
Does Each Element of Your Story Further The Theme?
Does Your Plot Suit Your Characters And Vice-Versa?
Does Your Story Have A Theme?
Does Your Theme Contain Character, Conflict, Resolution?
Do You Know What A Plot Is?
Do You Plot With Your Character In Mind?
English as a Medium For Indian-Writer
Essay Reveals a Writer in You
Field Notes on Country Linguistics
Five Ways A Writer Can Make More Money With A Personal Website
Four Useful Lies About Writing
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Have You Completed A Character Questionnaire?
Have You Plotted Your Story Before Writing It?
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Have You Tested Your Theme Against Your Plot?
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers
How Are You Plotting?
How the Writer Survives
How to Have an Effective Reading Group
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How To Select a Great Topic For Your Book or Ebook Part 4 of 5
How To Select a Great Topic For Your Book or Ebook Part 5 of 5
How to Write Bad Poetry
"I Am An AUTHOR" - Is This The Next Big Fad?
If The Viewpoint Character Is A Secondary Character, Have You Established Who He is?
Interviewing an Author: Don't Be Left Speechless
Is The Theme Reinforced In The Ending?
Is The Theme Running Throughout The Story?
It Was Good Enough For Shakespeare!
Learning to Question your Elephant Child: Who, What, Where, When and Why
Making Freelance Writing Niche Types Fit
Mission Possible: Get Published with Goals, Guidance and Persistance
Realize Your Book’s Potential: Join (or Form) a Writer’s Group
Savage Nature: The Life of Ted Hughes
Secrets to Creating Great Headlines
Speak and Touch the Heart
Steps to a Writing an Effective Press Releases
Ten Tips For Budding Authors
The Biggest Challenge Facing A Poet, Getting Published
The "Casablanca" Secret
The effective way to purchase your favorite product online
The Golden Hour
The Indie Author Revolution
The Right Words Can Make You Wealthy
The Three "Questions" Of Science Fiction
Tips For Cover Letters To Get More Interviews
Top 10 Tips to Complete a Creative Writing Project Without Losing Your Creativity
Unusual Points of View
Ways To Increase Traffic by Writing Articles
What Can Go Into A Plot?
Why Do I Write – A Masochists Dream
Why You Need a Newsletter
Writer’s Web Resources
Writing Is Fun!
Writing Nonfiction
Writing Short Info Reports
Writing Tips For Novice Authors

Have You Plotted Your Story Before Writing It?

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Creative Writing Tips –

The writer, who doesn’t have the time to plot, always finds the time to rewrite.

Sound familiar?

I’ve been guilty of this too, back in the early days of my writing apprenticeship. I was so eager to get stuck into writing my story that I wouldn’t bother with plotting.

Plotting gives you a sense of direction. It’s your map, which will lead you to write your story. Leaping into the unknown rarely works. Without a plot several things can happen….

• Our stories aren’t focused
• We lose our way
• Our characters don’t come to life because we don’t take the time to develop them
• We get stuck
• The story strays from us

And all this happens when we haven’t figured everything out first.

Your plot is the foundation of your story. It’s the skeleton, which will hold your story together. Your plot is there to work everything out first – to see if it can be worked out, and then flesh out that skeleton with other elements that make a story.

Plotting is the difference between writing a story for yourself and writing one for an audience. Writing for ourselves doesn’t require too much strain because we only have ourselves to please. It’s when we have to please our readers that the hard work begins.

If you are aiming to sell your stories, plotting is a must.

Have you plotted your story before writing it?

This article was posted on August 24, 2004