I have promised myself that I will have the chapter structure completed before November 1, when NaNoWriMo starts. I figure, based on my earlier unpublished novels, that it will be easy to go with the writing flow if I have a good idea where I’m actually headed.
It’s going to take a pad of paper for me to do this. I’ve got a few character trajectories that I need to work out before charting the chapters. I need to know where one character will interact with another and where the plot parts occur before I can commit myself to writing it down. So I’ll be using a cloud diagram to figure it all out. This is simply everything that is going to happen, all spread out on a sheet of paper, with lines connecting each to the other.
From there, I’ll be able to take the same information and plot it linearly, this happens followed by that happening. This will turn into chapters, and then I’ll be able to go thru the story and write headings that I can then expand into chapters. Headings like in old Henry Fielding novels, where you get a synopsis of the chapter right up front. Like this:
Chapter iii -- An odd accident which befel Mr Allworthy at his return home. The decent behaviour of Mrs Deborah Wilkins, with some proper animadversions on bastards.
However, until I actually get that done, you won’t see any chapter structure from me. Perhaps I can scan in the splat diagram; it might be fun if I can get a large enough resolution.
On second thought, you wouldn’t be able to read my handwriting.
