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In this article

• Explorer
• Planner
• Deadlines
• Structuring the book (more suitable for longer books)

All writers have their own ways of writing. Some hardly plan at all. They just start writing and see where it goes, being surprised themselves at what develops. Some know the beginning and the end but nothing about the middle. Some start with a plot idea, others a character. I call these the Explorers – they venture out into unknown territory and perhaps discover things they wouldn’t have done had they planned the story in detail. Some writers believe it’s impossible to write a children’s book, or any book, this way much as you wouldn’t build a house without plans, but I know those who do so successfully so it’s up to you to discover which method suits you best.

Children’s books, whatever readership age, length or genre, all have certain elements in common: Idea/plot - characters – theme – setting – styleWhichever way you choose to work, you will have to decide on these fairly early on in the writing.

Explorer

Advantages:

• You don't have to plot ahead.
• If you don't know what is coming next, perhaps the reader won't predict it either.
• It can be a lot of fun - not knowing where the story or characters are taking you!

Disadvantages:

• By the time you decide that a certain plot direction isn't going to work, you might have many wasted chapters ... lots of writing hours down the drain!
• You may even end up with a plot that is too predictable because you tend to take the easiest route

Planner

Advantages:

• You know exactly what you're writing next. No sitting there playing Solitaire while you're desperately wondering how to get the characters out of the impossible situation you've engineered (although you will have had to figure this out in the planning stage, of course).
• You can map the peaks and troughs of the plot and subplots so there's never a flat area in the story.
• You know your characters and their motivations well before you begin.
• You can insert any necessary hooks, red herrings, and clues as you go along. (Writers using the first two methods above get around this by writing extra scenes later and planting them where necessary.)

Disadvantages:

• The finished book can have a stilted feel to it, if you stuck to the plan too rigidly.
• You could be tempted to make the characters fit the plot, rather than being more flexible.

The methods outlined above give you both extremes. There are countless variations in between and into which most writers fall. Experiment with different methods of plotting your story; be prepared to adopt whatever works and whatever you feel most comfortable with. What works for one person doesn’t work for another. Some might say planning wastes time or takes the spontaneity out of your work. Remember, there's no 'right way' to plot. The right way for you is the one that works, and make sure it’s not set in stone, it must be flexible and able to be changed – and usually does, as new ideas arise.

If you do plan, it’s important to make notes and here again you will find your favourite medium.

1. You can have card files of your characters and important scenes.
2. Another way is to write your major scenes on post-it notes and stick them onto a board. Then you can move them about or remove them altogether.
3. Draw diagrams or maps
4. Pin up photos of characters or places
5. Make charts of plot, scenes, characters, spider chart, settings, time-line

I plan my books in a lovely green hardback A3 spiral-bound notebook. I have a page for each character and on this I write everything I know about the character, having asked him/her many questions.

I have a page describing each main setting.

Then a double page spread for the storyline. On this I write all the scenes I know about, in little boxes, not in any chronological form, but connected with lines if there are connections.

It’s also a good idea to allot a page as a timeline so you know the season/month/time of day, etc. and so always have an overview of how your story fits into the time frame.

I have a page to plan my chapters and another to make notes about the points I want to make in the story or any research I have done.

I also do some spider charts exploring any issues or major events in the story to give me more ideas.

When this is complete I have an instant reference to any information I need and I can go ahead and write the story.

Deadlines

There is nothing like a deadline, imposed either by you or an editor, to provide motivation. Calculate approximately how long your book will be and divide it by the number of working days until the deadline. That is your daily quota.

• Mark on a calendar how many words/hours you have done each day.
• Give yourself a reward when you reach your quota
• Stop each session at a high point, not a chapter end.

Do you keep writing to the end without looking back or do you revise each day before continuing? This is also an individual thing.

Structuring the book (more suitable for longer books)

Start with ten chapters - you can adjust this later if it turns out to be too short or too long.

Chapter 1 Think of the inciting incident - the crisis - that kicks everything off. That’s the trigger.

Chapter 2 Explain how the incident began, fill in some background about the hero and explain his motivation for solving the problem, introduce some other characters to help him, and then set him off on his way to sort out the crisis.

Chapters 3 -7 You then need two or three dilemmas or turning points where the situation becomes progressively worse and your hero has to virtually start from scratch with an even bigger problem than when he first started.

Chapter 8... ...is where the tension really starts to mount. The hero now has two or three major problems to deal with, and maybe some smaller issues too. There should be real doubts that the main one will ever be sorted out.

Chapter 9The big climax that takes the hero to breaking point

Chapter 10The resolution - how your character finally solves his problem/achieves his aim. Tying up any loose ends.

Then: Revise – rewrite – read aloud – put away – read again

The right way is what works best for you. Be flexible. Experiment.

Stephanie Baudet
Children's Writer and writing tutor