I like this grid idea. I've done pantsing before on a book that I ended up having to revise over and over to the point of madness to wrangle it into something coherent. I'm never going throughh that again lol.
I love how you always make it seem like you're sharing your knowledge with us. Most UA-camrs make their videos a lot more formal, at times even aggressively so. I really love your gentle way of explaining. I hope you keep writing and making videos! ^___^
Hey recommendations for next time you show a plot grid. I get not wanting spoilers for your book. Perhaps show an empty one with the titles at the top of each column not blurred? It's really confusing to have you try and say what they are while we look at blurry words. Thank you
As soneone whos wanting to write a highly detailed story, but the amount of detail leaves me unsure of where to begin, this seems like an absolute GODSEND!!!!! The story im trying to write is a multi-film/television series that follows a powerful family through a political revolution. The difference between mine and others is im wanting to follow what would be traditionally called "the villain," and the story will reflect this. Villain/main character is conspiring to not only take over the gov't but also keep his family out of the loop for as long as possible.
Interesting... I may try this but have a column for each character. I have a terrible habit of forgetting to give secondary characters anything to do. This might help make sure they don't fade into the background for so long readers forget they exist. 😅
Try giving your secondary character(s) aspects of your theme to work through that are different from your main character. For example say you have a female protagonist that cannot trust a man enough to be in a relationship with someone. She avoids dating. You’re going to work that issue through on a big scale via the main plot. Meanwhile a secondary character in the story who is the protagonist’s best friend is promiscuous (the opposite extreme). She has the same fear as the protagonist; but she wears hers differently than the protagonist by trivializing intimacy in order to avoid being hurt if she got serious with someone. Same issue, just differently manifested but both should be resolved. And bonus points if one learns from the other’s “ aha moment” to complete their arc. To be clear, they should not be totally different issues - like bestie has anger issues and mc has trust issues. You know what I mean? They should rest under the same theme but with their own wounds and misbeliefs that put them in lack of their need. So now all of a sudden that secondary character has her own issue that’s related to the main plot but explores the theme from a different angle. It will naturally be a part of the scenes with the two women talking and keeping up with each other’s lives. You should explore the side character’s aspect of the theme on a smaller scale than the main plot - but it gives the audience something to track and adds layers to the story. This also helps you avoid the appearance that the side characters are only created to avoid exposition and to allow your protagonist to talk to the audience via conversations with the bestie 😂😂 Maybe there’s even a scene where the two friends argue and call each other out on their issues (conflict) 😂 Just another little tidbit that I don’t take 100% literally but if a character is given a name, they need to want something. They need to have a goal even if it’s a small one or else they have no reason to act and nothing to contribute to the story and shouldn’t be there. And their action should move the plot or develop the main characters or something along those lines. Even Bessie, the waitress in the rest stop restaurant should have a goal - to take your protagonist’s order and earn a good tip and in doing so, maybe she gives your protagonist that nugget of information that otherwise would have been delivered via dry exposition instead of active dialogue. Then if we don’t see her again, it’s fine because she served her purpose! Anyway, hope that helps!
My goodness! I see so many possibilities with this! I’m creating my process as a new writer starting a first ever writing project. I don’t count the random scenes I’ve pantsed over the years for fun. I’ve never met a spreadsheet I didn’t like, so you had me at “grid” 😂. I cheered out loud when you said this was excellent for mysteries and thrillers because I am going to attempt to write a romantic thriller! That’s one column for each of the genres. I’ll give the couple their own individual columns so I can track their character arcs in relation to the overall theme. Plus, I’ll use another column to track an important side character’s arc to explore yet another aspect of the same theme. I like the idea of a separate column for reveals and plot twists. My antagonist will have his own column which I will populate with text reflecting his POV. I’m just getting started. Color coding you said? Yes please! I can see using an ombre effect down each column - over successive boxes - to show the escalation of each subplot’s conflict and the resolution towards the end / the arc. Visually that should really help me see how steep I get and how quickly I get there over all the subplots. I could use colored thick lined outer borders for boxes that refer to scenes that include important plot beats and genre conventions, like the couple’s first kiss in the Romance subplot column for instance. I could use the notes function to jot down ideas on how to subvert the beat expectations and twist the tropes. Like maybe my female protagonist initiates the first kiss in an unexpected place at an unexpected point in the scene - much to the male protagonist’s surprise and delight! I will list out and number by scenes - not just chapters. That keeps it easy to move a row to another part of the story if I later find I could prolong a suspenseful aspect of the plot by doing so, for example. Listing by scene will also help me to use the underlying, hybrid plot structure I’m compiling which I will overlap with eight sequence which is a plot structure that is often used by screenwriters but that can be used for novels too. Eight sequence really appeals to me - especially as a way to break up the second act into trackable, well paced “chunks” of plot. Each of the eight sequence will have its own sequence specific goal that is a smaller goal that advances the overarching story goal. When I first learned about this, the example I liked best was how in Avengers: Infinity Wars Thanos pursues four different infinity stones in the second act having already obtained two of the six total in the first act. Each stone had its own sequence of Thanos trying to get the stone and the Avengers trying to stop him. All the sequences served the larger goal of Thanos to get all six stones in his possession to do what he did in Act 3 of the story. You don’t even have to take your reader through one sequence at a time. Instead you can jump back and forth between sequences and their goals similar to the way you do with subplots by chapter. Humans naturally love to chunk information together so we can leave one sequence and fall back into it without losing track or getting confused. Sequences can be tracked within the grid as well - encompassed by the related individual scenes. I even anticipate being able to implement a significant amount of scene craft within the grid as well by tracking action vs reactive scenes, scene POV (which I’ll distinguish between by using a different font for my male and female protagonists. I already know which fonts I’ll use! 😂 I’m soooo excited about this idea!! I think I was headed in this direction as I was learning about the two genres and trying to figure how to best combine them in the plot. I had heard of the Story Grid before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it “in action” and I’m HERE for it! Once I break my story in the grid, I’ll be so free finally writing it because I will be able to trust I’ve worked out all the creative kinks first. I can still be flexible though as I go and I can easily incorporate changes in the grid to track the ramifications of the changes…both forward and backward through the story because of the bird’s eye view! I’ll probably even save my various revisions on separate tabs of the workbook. 😂 Thank you, Claire! Just know that by showing me the potential of the Story Grid here, you’ve created a monster!! 😂😂
Thank you so much!! Rowley's grid was intuitively interesting the first time I saw it, but you made it come alive and make sense. Keep track of the subplots should make the writer so much richer. Again, thank you.
Thanks for this. Amazing video. Was cool to see the plot grid in a PC form as well as the JK inspired pic. Overall just really well structured video and I’m very inspired now lol. Happy writing, everyone!
I love spreadsheets and I think I finally have a plan for the scenes for my first book in a series but there have been so many plots to try to remember. I love this idea, I have debated doing a puzzle dependency chart but this would probably work way better 😅
This was really helpful. I'm just doing a trial of the fabulous new Plottr software and was interested to hear how you approach this kind of outlining task.
4:35 I understand the need for the blur, but can you just don't blur the top row because that is really useful and have nothing do with the plot. Thank You
I'm like 30% of the way through one of my stories and I do not have a strong outline yet and that story is floundering. I shelved it to work on something else, but I will try this out when I pick it back up. Thanks for explaining this so well!
Hi! I have some experience with this that might help you out. I start a new project by writing bullet points of all my ideas and just jump in. Like you I usually get stuck around the 20-30% mark. From there, I let it marinate in my brain and then start again with the snowflake method, but this grid method would work too. This way, I have an idea of so my characters are and what the plot will become, but the structure of the snowflake method makes me take a step back and think of the novel as a whole instead of plot point by plot point. My project now has a clear, full outline and I know my characters really well :)
I am using a plot grid... But instead I use it for scenes and not subplots but who is there, what happens, where and when it happens and what I need to describe and also conflict, goal and resolution and how the case proceeds since mine is a detective story.
OMG!! i love the idea of using this ( first time knowing about a plot gird), after the first write! *swoons* totally gonna add this to my arsenal! I did my first write- planned out the trilogy… now let’s plot the book!!!
Thank you Claire! I've been trying to find a video for a while which really makes me understand what a plot grid is for and what it can do and between this and your plot gridding The Lion King, its finally starting to click for me. I only found your channel yesterday so forgive me if you cover this in another video (I'm working my way through them!) but I'm not sure at what point a plot grid is most helpful. I think I would, at least for now, like to use the Hero's Journey structure because that makes sense to me so would you suggest putting those steps into the plot grid and then basically finding the scenes which connect them all together within the grid? Or would you suggest a step before I go to the grid? I hope that made sense! Thank you for the videos-they're enormously helpful :)
Since I have DabbleWriter, this is so good! I read the tutorial on the sight 20 times, and I still didn't get it! And the guide isn't exactly bad, I just couldn't rub my two braincells hard enough to make it make sense.
Ooh I hadn't heard of DabbleWriter but I just looked it up and it's so cool that there's a software for making plot grids! I'm in love with plot grids they make my life so much easier :)
Good way to avoid 2:04 "The pitfalls of dropping subplots because I would forget that I even establised them." >>> Nested sub plots. Start Plot A = Main plot (eg: revenge) Start Plot B = Love interest Start Plot C = Leads to midpoint Start Plot D _End Plot D Start Plot E Start Plot F = Fun and Games adventure _End Plot F _End Plot E _End Plot C = Midpoint Start Plot G = Leads to climax Start Plot H _End Plot H _End Plot G = Climax _End Plot B = Couple gets together _End Plot A = End main plot / book. It will visually make more sense if you write it out and draw lines between each plot point.
@@shanerooney7288 I learned a bit of C+, HTML, and CSS and ended up teaching HTML and CSS, among other things, but now I dabble in creative writing too. LOL
Thank you for sharing to fellow writers. I almost cried when you presented the whiteboard & markers JK Rowling first run through because the "grid" is hand-written. You then moved on to the Excel app, which I have on my Mac, but fear. This vid walked me through Excel's key features. Yikes. I'm confident I can plot-grid, after using my fab colored markers, then transfer the wonky doc to Xcel. I love plot grid method to tighten up weak storylines. Using Excel ensures I've hit all the beats. Oh, yay!
I'm so glad I could help! I am so bad at Excel, I only know the basics (like what I used in this video). There are so many features it's hard to keep track, haha. But plot grids are amazing, and I'm so glad you think so too :)
Sure! I would start by writing in the top row all of your different categories (I usually do Chapter number, POV character, day/time that this takes place, main plot description, and then all of the subplots I want to incorporate in the book), and then you can start filling it in from the top down. I'm going live this week and am setting up a plot grid from scratch with viewer participation which could help show you. Or I also made an example video (How to outline a book example) which shows me creating and setting up a plot grid. I hope this helps :)
Hello there just found your channel, never had a clue about plot grids. I am writing a book, seat of the pants kinda guy, ha ha but I certainly see the advantages of a plot grid. Thank you for your clear and excellent you tube voice. Thank you for explaining just enough detail to give the person a balanced information session. May I make a constructive comment, I was not clear on the titles of the grid. Timeline, did you say title? Main plot sub plots and characters all good, for me maybe zoom in on the grids and explain why you choose them and what a person like me could choose for options. Thanks again all the best from Vancouver Island Canada. PS I would like to buy you a coffee, in case you did not know you can add that feature to your videos . Cheers James
Hi James! Thank you so much for leaving such a nice comment. I'm so happy this video could be helpful to you! I envy you being able to write a book seat of pants style, I have never been able to do that and I think it would make my brain explode. Sorry about the confusing titles. I will definitely keep this in mind for future videos. And if you're interested, I'm going live this week on Thursday to build a plot grid from scratch collaboratively with the people who attend and I will go over everything I do to build them. The replay of that will be available afterwards too :) Thanks again for commenting!
Oooo gonna look for that live collab 😂😂. Should be great. Did you ever turn on the ability for people to super chat you - buy you a cup of coffee - support you in your efforts? Do that. Accept the love!
Claire, thanks for this information. I watched this after I watching your video on scene-building. Given my advanced age :), I'm not connecting the dots between what you've stated here with the recommendation to write based on scene. Is it just a matter of taking the advice herein down to the scene level? TIA for your input.
Hi Claire - this is a great new technique that I just learned. Do you think it can be applied to other areas beyond using it as a tool for authors. Do you think something visual like this could be a much better index or table of contents for writing, especially non fiction writing?
Good morning @Claire @Kirit, You can absolutely apply plot grid to non-fiction. I use it for both non-fiction & creative projects. What Claire describes is based on either Blake Snyder’s beat structure or 7 act story plotting. There are more authors that explore this topic also. @Kirit, even planning non-fiction💫, you’ll still want to hit all the bullets, entice your audience to keep reading. This method keeps you on task. Go for it! 😎
Haha@Kirit, Yes, very cool method. I was the poster child for Little Grasshopper, the student “not yet ready.” Then bks covid, bks self-reflection, I began reading, I became ready, I met all these seasoned writers via UA-cam, noodling around on Google. Best practices for authors of any content starts with pre-production, intense planning before writing. Whether you like & utilize sticky notes & index cards 1st, like Claire & me, the intention in incubation stage is to guide you through a gnarly smooth wave 🌊 🏄🏼♀️
Hi Kirit! I definitely think you can use plot grids to plan out non fiction books, and as far as tables of contents go I've never thought of that. It sounds like it could be a cool idea, since people would be able to track which parts of the book talk about the sub topic they're interested in reading about
Great question! I changed from third person past to first person present because 1st person felt more intimate and urgent to me. I liked how I could get deep inside my characters' heads. It made me feel like I was right there with them experiencing the story instead of being told about it later. Because I write YA thrillers, it worked better for my genre!
The Screenshot of your plot grid is Fuzzy. I can't see a thing. I am sure everyone who processes everything by the spoken word understands everything you're saying. I need to see it. Unfortunately when you try to show the viewer what you are talking about everything is out of focus. No help at all.
it's meant to be blurred as she doesn't want to show her own plotting of her own book for privacy reasons. if you'd have watched, you would have seen that it said "sorry for the blur, no spoilers today!" at the bottom of the screen.
I like this grid idea. I've done pantsing before on a book that I ended up having to revise over and over to the point of madness to wrangle it into something coherent. I'm never going throughh that again lol.
I hope the plot grids help!
I love how you always make it seem like you're sharing your knowledge with us. Most UA-camrs make their videos a lot more formal, at times even aggressively so. I really love your gentle way of explaining. I hope you keep writing and making videos! ^___^
This comment made me so happy, I'm so glad! :)
Hey recommendations for next time you show a plot grid. I get not wanting spoilers for your book.
Perhaps show an empty one with the titles at the top of each column not blurred? It's really confusing to have you try and say what they are while we look at blurry words. Thank you
she posted this that does that ua-cam.com/video/Wn2_aAF9bjU/v-deo.html
This was so helpful, was 40% through a first draft and was starting to feel a little like I was losing my plot. This helped a ton.
I'm so glad this helped!!
As soneone whos wanting to write a highly detailed story, but the amount of detail leaves me unsure of where to begin, this seems like an absolute GODSEND!!!!!
The story im trying to write is a multi-film/television series that follows a powerful family through a political revolution. The difference between mine and others is im wanting to follow what would be traditionally called "the villain," and the story will reflect this. Villain/main character is conspiring to not only take over the gov't but also keep his family out of the loop for as long as possible.
Interesting...
I may try this but have a column for each character. I have a terrible habit of forgetting to give secondary characters anything to do.
This might help make sure they don't fade into the background for so long readers forget they exist. 😅
Try giving your secondary character(s) aspects of your theme to work through that are different from your main character.
For example say you have a female protagonist that cannot trust a man enough to be in a relationship with someone. She avoids dating. You’re going to work that issue through on a big scale via the main plot.
Meanwhile a secondary character in the story who is the protagonist’s best friend is promiscuous (the opposite extreme). She has the same fear as the protagonist; but she wears hers differently than the protagonist by trivializing intimacy in order to avoid being hurt if she got serious with someone. Same issue, just differently manifested but both should be resolved. And bonus points if one learns from the other’s “ aha moment” to complete their arc.
To be clear, they should not be totally different issues - like bestie has anger issues and mc has trust issues. You know what I mean? They should rest under the same theme but with their own wounds and misbeliefs that put them in lack of their need.
So now all of a sudden that secondary character has her own issue that’s related to the main plot but explores the theme from a different angle.
It will naturally be a part of the scenes with the two women talking and keeping up with each other’s lives. You should explore the side character’s aspect of the theme on a smaller scale than the main plot - but it gives the audience something to track and adds layers to the story. This also helps you avoid the appearance that the side characters are only created to avoid exposition and to allow your protagonist to talk to the audience via conversations with the bestie 😂😂
Maybe there’s even a scene where the two friends argue and call each other out on their issues (conflict) 😂
Just another little tidbit that I don’t take 100% literally but if a character is given a name, they need to want something. They need to have a goal even if it’s a small one or else they have no reason to act and nothing to contribute to the story and shouldn’t be there. And their action should move the plot or develop the main characters or something along those lines.
Even Bessie, the waitress in the rest stop restaurant should have a goal - to take your protagonist’s order and earn a good tip and in doing so, maybe she gives your protagonist that nugget of information that otherwise would have been delivered via dry exposition instead of active dialogue. Then if we don’t see her again, it’s fine because she served her purpose!
Anyway, hope that helps!
Claire Fraise is a great name for an author!
We also love the plot grid. You explained this awesome tool very well. Thank you!
Yay! Another plot grid fan!
My goodness! I see so many possibilities with this! I’m creating my process as a new writer starting a first ever writing project. I don’t count the random scenes I’ve pantsed over the years for fun.
I’ve never met a spreadsheet I didn’t like, so you had me at “grid” 😂. I cheered out loud when you said this was excellent for mysteries and thrillers because I am going to attempt to write a romantic thriller!
That’s one column for each of the genres. I’ll give the couple their own individual columns so I can track their character arcs in relation to the overall theme. Plus, I’ll use another column to track an important side character’s arc to explore yet another aspect of the same theme.
I like the idea of a separate column for reveals and plot twists. My antagonist will have his own column which I will populate with text reflecting his POV. I’m just getting started.
Color coding you said? Yes please! I can see using an ombre effect down each column - over successive boxes - to show the escalation of each subplot’s conflict and the resolution towards the end / the arc. Visually that should really help me see how steep I get and how quickly I get there over all the subplots.
I could use colored thick lined outer borders for boxes that refer to scenes that include important plot beats and genre conventions, like the couple’s first kiss in the Romance subplot column for instance. I could use the notes function to jot down ideas on how to subvert the beat expectations and twist the tropes. Like maybe my female protagonist initiates the first kiss in an unexpected place at an unexpected point in the scene - much to the male protagonist’s surprise and delight!
I will list out and number by scenes - not just chapters. That keeps it easy to move a row to another part of the story if I later find I could prolong a suspenseful aspect of the plot by doing so, for example.
Listing by scene will also help me to use the underlying, hybrid plot structure I’m compiling which I will overlap with eight sequence which is a plot structure that is often used by screenwriters but that can be used for novels too.
Eight sequence really appeals to me - especially as a way to break up the second act into trackable, well paced “chunks” of plot. Each of the eight sequence will have its own sequence specific goal that is a smaller goal that advances the overarching story goal.
When I first learned about this, the example I liked best was how in Avengers: Infinity Wars Thanos pursues four different infinity stones in the second act having already obtained two of the six total in the first act.
Each stone had its own sequence of Thanos trying to get the stone and the Avengers trying to stop him. All the sequences served the larger goal of Thanos to get all six stones in his possession to do what he did in Act 3 of the story.
You don’t even have to take your reader through one sequence at a time. Instead you can jump back and forth between sequences and their goals similar to the way you do with subplots by chapter.
Humans naturally love to chunk information together so we can leave one sequence and fall back into it without losing track or getting confused.
Sequences can be tracked within the grid as well - encompassed by the related individual scenes.
I even anticipate being able to implement a significant amount of scene craft within the grid as well by tracking action vs reactive scenes, scene POV (which I’ll distinguish between by using a different font for my male and female protagonists.
I already know which fonts I’ll use! 😂
I’m soooo excited about this idea!! I think I was headed in this direction as I was learning about the two genres and trying to figure how to best combine them in the plot. I had heard of the Story Grid before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it “in action” and I’m HERE for it!
Once I break my story in the grid, I’ll be so free finally writing it because I will be able to trust I’ve worked out all the creative kinks first. I can still be flexible though as I go and I can easily incorporate changes in the grid to track the ramifications of the changes…both forward and backward through the story because of the bird’s eye view!
I’ll probably even save my various revisions on separate tabs of the workbook. 😂
Thank you, Claire! Just know that by showing me the potential of the Story Grid here, you’ve created a monster!! 😂😂
Holy mole! As a visual learner this makes so much more sense! Thank you
So glad it was helpful!
i love this. thank you! will have to check your work out!
Thank you so much! 😀
Thank you so much!! Rowley's grid was intuitively interesting the first time I saw it, but you made it come alive and make sense. Keep track of the subplots should make the writer so much richer. Again, thank you.
I'm so glad I could help!
You are not only beautiful, but also a great teacher. Congratulations! I wish you great success!
Thank you so much for this kind comment! I hope you have a lovely day 😊
Okay you make so much sense and structured the “plot” of this video wonderfully! Saved this helps me so much
Wow thank you very much, i'm going to take notes 🙂👍
So glad I could help! I really love this method, it makes outlining so much easier!
Thanks for this. Amazing video. Was cool to see the plot grid in a PC form as well as the JK inspired pic. Overall just really well structured video and I’m very inspired now lol. Happy writing, everyone!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the video! I love plot grids, they are my favorite. Happy writing! 😄✍️
I love spreadsheets and I think I finally have a plan for the scenes for my first book in a series but there have been so many plots to try to remember. I love this idea, I have debated doing a puzzle dependency chart but this would probably work way better 😅
I appreciate your vid, your instruction, and your openness to share. Thanks, from Texas!
This was very helpful. Thanks!
I'm so glad!!
This was so helpful! Thank you!
I'm so happy I could help!! :)
This was really helpful. I'm just doing a trial of the fabulous new Plottr software and was interested to hear how you approach this kind of outlining task.
Plottr is great! From what I have heard about Plottr, it seems perfect for this style of outlining
4:35 I understand the need for the blur, but can you just don't blur the top row because that is really useful and have nothing do with the plot. Thank You
I'm like 30% of the way through one of my stories and I do not have a strong outline yet and that story is floundering. I shelved it to work on something else, but I will try this out when I pick it back up. Thanks for explaining this so well!
Thank you so much for commenting! I'm so glad the video was helpful!
Hi! I have some experience with this that might help you out. I start a new project by writing bullet points of all my ideas and just jump in. Like you I usually get stuck around the 20-30% mark. From there, I let it marinate in my brain and then start again with the snowflake method, but this grid method would work too.
This way, I have an idea of so my characters are and what the plot will become, but the structure of the snowflake method makes me take a step back and think of the novel as a whole instead of plot point by plot point. My project now has a clear, full outline and I know my characters really well :)
I am using a plot grid... But instead I use it for scenes and not subplots but who is there, what happens, where and when it happens and what I need to describe and also conflict, goal and resolution and how the case proceeds since mine is a detective story.
OMG!! i love the idea of using this ( first time knowing about a plot gird), after the first write! *swoons* totally gonna add this to my arsenal! I did my first write- planned out the trilogy… now let’s plot the book!!!
Thank you Claire! I've been trying to find a video for a while which really makes me understand what a plot grid is for and what it can do and between this and your plot gridding The Lion King, its finally starting to click for me. I only found your channel yesterday so forgive me if you cover this in another video (I'm working my way through them!) but I'm not sure at what point a plot grid is most helpful. I think I would, at least for now, like to use the Hero's Journey structure because that makes sense to me so would you suggest putting those steps into the plot grid and then basically finding the scenes which connect them all together within the grid? Or would you suggest a step before I go to the grid?
I hope that made sense! Thank you for the videos-they're enormously helpful :)
Since I have DabbleWriter, this is so good! I read the tutorial on the sight 20 times, and I still didn't get it! And the guide isn't exactly bad, I just couldn't rub my two braincells hard enough to make it make sense.
Ooh I hadn't heard of DabbleWriter but I just looked it up and it's so cool that there's a software for making plot grids! I'm in love with plot grids they make my life so much easier :)
@@WritewithClaireFraise how did u make ur plot grid?
@@xxvielkaswagxx I use Google Sheets or Excel!
I needed this! I’m currently working on an outline that just keeps expanding with all my ideas. This is perfect. Thank you. New sub from me!
Thank you SO much! This is awesome advice, I'm looking forward to trying this out
Good way to avoid 2:04 "The pitfalls of dropping subplots because I would forget that I even establised them."
>>> Nested sub plots.
Start Plot A = Main plot (eg: revenge)
Start Plot B = Love interest
Start Plot C = Leads to midpoint
Start Plot D
_End Plot D
Start Plot E
Start Plot F = Fun and Games adventure
_End Plot F
_End Plot E
_End Plot C = Midpoint
Start Plot G = Leads to climax
Start Plot H
_End Plot H
_End Plot G = Climax
_End Plot B = Couple gets together
_End Plot A = End main plot / book.
It will visually make more sense if you write it out and draw lines between each plot point.
You're a programmer, right? LOL
I used to dabble in programming.
Now I dabble in creative writing.
@@shanerooney7288 I learned a bit of C+, HTML, and CSS and ended up teaching HTML and CSS, among other things, but now I dabble in creative writing too. LOL
I love you thank you for this !!!!!
Thank you for sharing to fellow writers. I almost cried when you presented the whiteboard & markers JK Rowling first run through because the "grid" is hand-written. You then moved on to the Excel app, which I have on my Mac, but fear. This vid walked me through Excel's key features. Yikes. I'm confident I can plot-grid, after using my fab colored markers, then transfer the wonky doc to Xcel. I love plot grid method to tighten up weak storylines. Using Excel ensures I've hit all the beats. Oh, yay!
I'm so glad I could help! I am so bad at Excel, I only know the basics (like what I used in this video). There are so many features it's hard to keep track, haha. But plot grids are amazing, and I'm so glad you think so too :)
Life-changing
Thank you Claire, I am still struggling to understand how to create this Plot Grid from sratch. Could you elaborate a bit on that.
Sure! I would start by writing in the top row all of your different categories (I usually do Chapter number, POV character, day/time that this takes place, main plot description, and then all of the subplots I want to incorporate in the book), and then you can start filling it in from the top down. I'm going live this week and am setting up a plot grid from scratch with viewer participation which could help show you. Or I also made an example video (How to outline a book example) which shows me creating and setting up a plot grid. I hope this helps :)
Thanks Claire. ❤
Very nice. Are you able to print this to have as a hard copy?
Nice!
Hello there just found your channel, never had a clue about plot grids. I am writing a book, seat of the pants kinda guy, ha ha but I certainly see the advantages of a plot grid. Thank you for your clear and excellent you tube voice. Thank you for explaining just enough detail to give the person a balanced information session. May I make a constructive comment, I was not clear on the titles of the grid. Timeline, did you say title? Main plot sub plots and characters all good, for me maybe zoom in on the grids and explain why you choose them and what a person like me could choose for options. Thanks again all the best from Vancouver Island Canada. PS I would like to buy you a coffee, in case you did not know you can add that feature to your videos . Cheers James
Hi James! Thank you so much for leaving such a nice comment. I'm so happy this video could be helpful to you! I envy you being able to write a book seat of pants style, I have never been able to do that and I think it would make my brain explode. Sorry about the confusing titles. I will definitely keep this in mind for future videos. And if you're interested, I'm going live this week on Thursday to build a plot grid from scratch collaboratively with the people who attend and I will go over everything I do to build them. The replay of that will be available afterwards too :) Thanks again for commenting!
Oooo gonna look for that live collab 😂😂. Should be great.
Did you ever turn on the ability for people to super chat you - buy you a cup of coffee - support you in your efforts?
Do that. Accept the love!
Thank you 🙏🏾
Claire, thanks for this information. I watched this after I watching your video on scene-building. Given my advanced age :), I'm not connecting the dots between what you've stated here with the recommendation to write based on scene. Is it just a matter of taking the advice herein down to the scene level? TIA for your input.
Hi Claire - this is a great new technique that I just learned. Do you think it can be applied to other areas beyond using it as a tool for authors. Do you think something visual like this could be a much better index or table of contents for writing, especially non fiction writing?
Good morning @Claire @Kirit,
You can absolutely apply plot grid to non-fiction. I use it for both non-fiction & creative projects.
What Claire describes is based on either Blake Snyder’s beat structure or 7 act story plotting. There are more authors that explore this topic also. @Kirit, even planning non-fiction💫, you’ll still want to hit all the bullets, entice your audience to keep reading. This method keeps you on task. Go for it! 😎
@@darcydiamond8645 this is cool stuff, ty! Will be reading up on it.
Haha@Kirit, Yes, very cool method. I was the poster child for Little Grasshopper, the student “not yet ready.” Then bks covid, bks self-reflection, I began reading, I became ready, I met all these seasoned writers via UA-cam, noodling around on Google. Best practices for authors of any content starts with pre-production, intense planning before writing. Whether you like & utilize sticky notes & index cards 1st, like Claire & me, the intention in incubation stage is to guide you through a gnarly smooth wave 🌊 🏄🏼♀️
Hi Kirit! I definitely think you can use plot grids to plan out non fiction books, and as far as tables of contents go I've never thought of that. It sounds like it could be a cool idea, since people would be able to track which parts of the book talk about the sub topic they're interested in reading about
Love from Pakistan 🇵🇰
Ha... I've been doing this (kind of) without noticing it was a known method xD Or "known"
Thanks!
Very helpful video! I was wondering though why you decided to change the tense of your book in your rewrite?
Great question! I changed from third person past to first person present because 1st person felt more intimate and urgent to me. I liked how I could get deep inside my characters' heads. It made me feel like I was right there with them experiencing the story instead of being told about it later. Because I write YA thrillers, it worked better for my genre!
what software did u use to make the plot grid
I use Google Sheets or Excel!
I just subscribed. Still wondering if I'm a panster or plotter. LoL 😂
Thank you for subscribing!!
Plz don't stare into 'the place where my vision seems to be presented to'.
The Screenshot of your plot grid is Fuzzy. I can't see a thing. I am sure everyone who processes everything by the spoken word understands everything you're saying. I need to see it. Unfortunately when you try to show the viewer what you are talking about everything is out of focus. No help at all.
it's meant to be blurred as she doesn't want to show her own plotting of her own book for privacy reasons. if you'd have watched, you would have seen that it said "sorry for the blur, no spoilers today!" at the bottom of the screen.