(The sound of a pen scratching.) LOGO.
Hellooo everybody! A lot of newbie writers get a story idea, pull up a
Word doc, and start writing!
Then wonder why it all fell apart. It’s ‘cause you didn't plan anything,
ya big bag of beans! Planning a novel quite often saves the
writing experience. It's only a couple of weeks or months of organization,
and yet it could be a MAJOR factor in getting your book done.
Thus, I'm teaching you how I plan MY novels in ten (10) easy steps!
Before we get started, I am BEYOND excited to announce that today's video
is sponsored by Milanote! Milanote is a super easy-to-
use tool that allows you to organize projects and ideas into visual
boards. It's also my newest obsession! Ever since
I discovered it, I've literally been using it every
single day. What I like about Milanote is it's
supremely different from traditional software. It's like working on a studio
wall or an endless poster board. And as a visual
learner, I think it has the perfect layout for brainstorming. It
serves as a creative hub for whatever you're working on,
like your author platform or obviously - your book.
Plus, most writing software exists on a linear document,
which doesn't totally make sense because the writing and creative process
aren't linear WHATSOEVER. Milanote allows you to take your jumble of ideas
and move ‘em around in whatever order you please.
One of my boards is for the next book in The Savior’s Series. It's been
SO helpful to have my character portraits, my outline,
my thought dump, maps, to-do lists, and SO many more pieces
all in one place! I can collect everything and organize it right here on
my board. PLUS I can share it with my critique
partners if I want comments or feedback! I also have a second board that looks
VERY different from the first one, and that's because I'm using it to
organize my Youtube schedule. That's another amazing thing about this
platform - you can create a bunch of boards that serve
so many different purposes, and have COMPLETELY different layouts!
“But Jenna, what's the catch?” There is no catch, because you can try out Milanote
for free! Seriously, zero dollars. I've got
Milanote linked below! You can try them out for
free or upgrade to their premium platform.
Whatever you choose, you're gonna love it! Speaking of novel organizations, let's
talk about how I organize MY novels in ten (10) steps. Please
note I am going to be covering these steps
in the rough order in which they should occur. However, some of these steps
can and should occur simultaneously. If you want more tips on the writing and
publishing process, be sure to subscribe to my channel and ring that bell!
I post content on Wednesdays with bonus content on Mondays,
so subscribe! We have a good time here, you'll love it!
And don't forget my upcoming dark fantasy novel The Savior’s Sister
is available for pre-order right now in ebook, paperback,
and hardback! I’m also hosting an ENORMOUS presale giveaway!
Everyone who enters gets the first five chapters of TSS as a thank you,
PLUS I’m handing out over thirty-five (35) prizes, as well as
three GRAND prizes! All the information is in the description below!
On to the tips in three, two, one, go! Number One (1): Find your inspiration. Every
writer has SOMETHING that triggers their
inspiration. Find YOUR thing, and milk it! For some writers, it's nature.
For others, it's reading or other forms of media,
like TV or movies. For me, it's music. I listen to music
while I plan my novel to help the ideas flow.
I actually have several writing playlists for the sole purpose
of visualizing my characters and scenes. In my opinion, this is the MOST important
time to utilize outside resources for inspiration, because once you have that
bud of an idea, you can rely on your own imagination and
creativity in order to make it blossom and grow.
Tap into whatever art form helps stimulate your mind,
and let her loose! Number Two (2): Simplify! Before I do any heavy lifting, I like to
nail down a general idea of what my book is going to be about.
Note, I said GENERAL. We are NOT getting into specifics like the entire cast of
characters, or the entire world you plan to create.
We are just creating a generic concept to build off of. For example, my general
concept for The Savior's Champion was a man enters a gladiatorial style
tournament where he fights to stay alive and falls in love. For The Savior's
Sister, my general concept was a queen fights to prevent her own
assassination and ALSO falls in love. These ideas are
super simple, and that's what you want. You want
something that you can expand and grow. It's a lot easier to create a
detailed, layered story when you start small and work your way
up. Number Three (3): Thought dump. This is my FAVORITE part of
the planning phase, because one: it's easy, and two: it's entirely
creative. This is your opportunity to write down
any and all ideas you have about your story. Worldbuilding,
characters, plot points, plot twists, arcs,
physical descriptions, whatever! Any idea you have,
write it down! It could be streams of dialogue, or full-on conversations, or
hell, sex scenes! Do you. It doesn't matter if
the ideas suck, nor do they have to be in sequential
order. You can worry about that later! The point is to put all of your ideas in
one place so you can analyze them at a later date. For now,
ignore your inhibitions and let the ideas flow freely my child.
Number Four (4): Chronology. Remember that later date I mentioned, where you were
going to analyze your thought dump and see if it sucked? The time is NOW!
Go through your thought dump and put your ideas in the order in which you
would like them to occur in the story. Again, the content doesn't have to be
perfect, but now's the time to at least organize that big mess of ideas. If your
thought dump is relatively small, you can organize it within the Word doc
itself. Or, if you're a visual learner like myself,
you can create a board on Milanote. That way you can arrange the ideas however
you'd like. You can color code and label them. You
can highlight them. And of course, if they suck, you can
delete ‘em! The next three steps I'm about to cover
can and should be done at the same time. And the first of those three steps is
Number Five (5): Outline. An outline is the blueprint of
your novel, letting you know where the story is going. If you want to pants your
story, that's fine - you're entitled to your
wrong opinion. But an outline will save you from extensive rewrites, multiple
overhauls, and of course, writer's block. How you outline your
story is completely up to you. I have several videos about my outlining
process. You can yoink my idea, or you can do
something entirely different. Some people prefer a bare bones outline.
Some like the snowflake method. Some like the three act structure. This is where
it's going to come down to research paired with personal preference and
experimentation. But ultimately the goal is to take the chronological order you
created and fine tune it into an easy to follow
outline that works for YOU and YOUR process. Number Six (6): Character
profile. A character profile is a detailed look
at each of your characters from their physical appearance,
to their backstory, to their personality. It's kinda like a social media page,
except it actually tells the truth about them. If you're not sure where to start, I
have a video all about the character profile process. You can also find sample
profiles all over the internet. This is your opportunity to create fully
fleshed out, well-rounded characters BEFORE you start writing them,
which will make the drafting process SO much easier. The reason it's a good idea
to create your character profiles WHILE you're outlining is because your
main characters and the plot have a direct effect on one another.
For example, in The Savior's Sister, the main character kills a lot of people,
so not only did I have to account for this in my outline, I also had to account
for it in her character profile. How did she learn to fight? Why
is she fighting? How does she feel about killing people?
All of these facets are relevant to one another, which is why
it's a good idea to build them side by side.
Number Seven (7): Worldbuilding. If you're writing a contemporary story, then the
odds are you'll be able to skip this step.
But if you're writing genre fiction - for example, sci-fi, paranormal, or fantasy -
the odds are this is going to be a pivotal part of your planning process.
Check out that alliteration! This is another situation where it's going to
come down to personal preference. Some people
like to spreadsheet their worlds. Other people like to create world profiles
similar to character profiles. Again, you can find lists of world
building facets here on my channel, and again, you should also build your
world alongside the character profiles and the outline. Say one of your plot
points involves traveling through a magical forest.
You're gonna have to build that bad boy in order to make sure the scene is
transportive. Say one of your characters is a prince.
You're going to need to know how royalty works in your world, which again
ties in character profiles and worldbuilding.
Number Eight (8): Organize. It's time to take ALL of your
hard work and organize it into something that's easy to manage and reference.
Once you've created multiple documents that will dictate the course of your
novel, it helps to keep them in one organized
location so they're easy to reference at the same time.
And also so you don't lose ‘em... Guess who's lost entire documents before?
This bitch! You guys already saw I'm organizing my current work in progress
on Milanote. I've got my word documents available for safe keeping,
as well as any visuals I need. My character portraits are here.
I got a list of everything I want to make sure I don't forget. It's all
available in one board! You can organize your story
however you please, just make sure your work is all readily available in one
location and is conducive to YOUR writing and creative process.
Number Nine (9): Hole check. Sounds REALLY awkward out of context...
Once you have your story outlined, your world created, and your characters
profiled, it's time to check for holes. PLOT holes. Go through your organized
plan several times and check to see if there are any stones left
unturned. I promise you, there will be. The idea once again is to make sure the
drafting process goes as smoothly as possible.
You are guaranteed to find issues throughout the writing process,
because we're all flawed creatures - let's be real. But the goal is to have as few
issues as possible. So check your organized board once,
twice, or ten (10) times. If you find a plot hole,
inconsistency, or any other hurdle, tinker with that sucker until it's fixed. Your
future self will thank you! And Number Ten (10): WRITE! You did it! You
planned an entire novel! Now it's time to write that sucker. “But
Jennaaa.” I said DO IT! This is the part that a lot of writers
struggle with. They'll think of any excuse to stay in the planning phase
forever. I've already checked for plot holes one hundred
times, what's a hundred more? Fast forward a decade, and they're still
building that world. Because it's necessary, right? Hello?
You're delaying the inevitable because you're scared, but that fear
is NEVER going to go away. At the end of the day, you're hurting no one but
yourself. You're preventing your OWN dream from coming true. Bite the
bullet, clench those butt cheeks, and start writing! So that's all I got
for you today! Thank you SO much to Milanote for sponsoring today's video!
If you are starting your next work in progress, I CANNOT recommend them
ENOUGH! I'm using it to organize the third book in The Savior’s Series. I'm
also using it to manage my Youtube checklist.
It is SO easy to use and a total lifesaver!
Best of all, you can try it out for FREE right now!
I've got it linked below! Enjoy your new obsession!
You'll thank me later. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new
videos on Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as SOON as they upload,
ring that bell! The Savior’s Sister is available for pre-order in ebook,
paperback, and hardback right now! You can also enter my presale
giveaway and gain access to a TON of prizes! I
have all the information listed below! And be sure to follow me on social media!
I'm on Instagram, Tumblr - and of course, you can Tweet me @JennaMoreci!
Bye! (Flippant Male Voice) Hey! Everyone! I'm Flynn! I fucking love myself!
So if you love me, and you don't mind a bit of Jenna,
then why don't you press the fucking subscribe button? You know you want to,
‘cause then you get to hear more of me! Anyways,
press that button, ding the bell, and we'll have a great fucking time!