Our Novel-in-a-Year Plan
First month: Pre-planning—jot down first impressions, big scenes, genre, major and minor characters and conflicts. Note the elements, don’t write elaborate descriptions.
Second month: Set setting—develop your setting, flesh out place, customs, geography, important time-specific details (especially those that will give a better handle on details that will develop later).
Third through fifth months: Develop characters—two to four months along with plot development (total of six months). Write bios for main characters. Create fact sheets about their lives and personalities (for easy reference). Explore their voices.
Sixth and seventh month: Plan your plot—using what you’ve done for setting and characters, develop more scenes. If desired, map out climatic structure for each scene to understand each scene’s purpose. Also, develop descriptions. Clarify “5Ws and 1H” of each scene.
Eighth through twelfth months: Write rough draft—Write outline, if necessary; or, use a stack of notes or note cards. First draft will go well with a clear idea of your setting, characters, motivations and direction. Finish draft by December 31 or earlier, if you want to edit and rewrite what you’ve done.
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