Evolution of a Plot: Planning Your Novel

So I'm sure a lot of you have come across the pantsing and planning debates. Or maybe you haven't. It doesn't matter. Whether you pants, plan, or fall somewhere in between, I have one nugget of wisdom: IT'S OKAY TO LET YOUR PLOT EVOLVE.

If you plan every detail down to a sneeze, this may not really touch you that much, but I'm willing to bet it does in the editing room. Things change. It's a fact of life. When writing a novel, you can bet your frilly little undies things will change. Maybe that character relationship you wrote fell a little flat and needs some extra TLC. Or maybe there's a plot hole you missed. Whatever the case, it is FINE if your plot needs to evolve to fill in the gaps.

So on pantsing or planning, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I throw out a vague outline of plans to cover my plot from point A to Z, but I let character interactions kind of move the plot at a more natural pace. It's worked well for me, but it also means my plot has to evolve as I write. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The plantser element served me well in my first book, and it still stands for the next in the series. Chaos Rising is still in first draft mode, as in...unfinished. I recently had to restructure some of the plot, which meant adding some new bits and pieces into a formerly vague outline.

As an example of how my plantser method looks, I'm going to now share with you the ORIGINAL planning points for part one of the story. Try not to laugh too hard.

PART ONE:

Prologue

• Llilinth got what she wanted and had Selgetorn, but she foisted him off on Kea. So Selv is forever trying to win his mother's love and she could give a shit less. 

Chapters

• Invidia escapes Sotanocte with tome, but breaks her leg upon exiting the tunnels. Meets Gelfein and is taken aboard ship bound for Drow community, Shtepi ni’Det.

• Assault on Invidia by Neeral leads to mutiny. Crew rallies under Akorafae’s flag.

• Akorafae takes them on a dangerous assault of…somewhere on the coast? They sack a town, plunder and such, are almost trapped, use their own boat as a fire-ship to escape, and take on a captured vessel as the new flag ship.

• When they finally make it back to Shtepi n’Det, Invidia is introduced to “Stone,” the ossified elder. Through touch-transfer, Invidia sees what really happened to the Forefather (Forebelo), why his name was wiped from the records, and why the book she possesses is so very important.

• As she settles into her life in the community and continues to heal, Gelfein becomes her constant companion. He is relieved of his duties as quartermaster and made Invidia’s personal servant. Gelfein’s grandmother hopes to make a match between them (priestesses on surface can have families and are not separated from the community like they are in the Sotanocte). Neither Invidia nor Gelfein has any interest in romantic bullshit, but the arrangement suits them otherwise. He teaches her to understand languages by ear instead of relying so heavily on sign.

• Neeral is shunned within Shtepi ni’Det because of his foul behavior, and he’s stripped of all rights. He finally steals the tome and a small schooner, running along the coast until he disembarks in Midterkyst (the capitol of learning). He tries to find a buyer for the book, but nobody can read the Drow dialect.

• A member of the Tiernon steals the book from him and returns it to the tower to be translated. Saxa, a young scribe and linguist, takes months to fully understand the depths of the Drow language and transcribe the book, but she keeps coming back to the passage “On Breadth Keys,” completely fascinated by the prospect of a key that can transport the user ANYWHERE.

• Lleu is in Himin, getting pissed about all the unfair treatment at Freyr’s hands. A human monk—Filip—is allowed unfettered access to Himin while the angelli can’t even go near the well without reprimand. His anger gets to the breaking point and he stages a coup.

• There’s also shit going on in Sotanocte, not sure WHICH aspects to highlight, tbh. The Dell are the least clear to me in their affiliations and motivations. Llilinth is crazy bitch lady; Kea is sneaky sneak lady; and Selgetorn knows nothing, Jon Snow.

EPILOGUE

• ?? Um…stuff…

At it's conception, I knew the basic storylines and which characters I would concentrate on, so my planning was mostly character-based with a few high points in the plot thrown in, but it was in no way COMPLETE. I mean...LOOK AT IT.

Now, as the plot evolved around these characters, so did the planning. If we were to actually address which bits of this show up in the book, it might look a little more like THIS:

PART ONE:

Prologue

• Llilinth got what she wanted and had Selgetorn, but she foisted him off on Kea. So Selv is forever trying to win his mother's love and she could give a shit less. 

Chapters

• Invidia escapes Sotanocte with tome, but breaks her leg upon exiting the tunnels. Meets Gelfein and is taken aboard ship bound for Drow community, Shtepi ni’Det.

• Assault on Invidia by Neeral leads to mutiny. Crew rallies under Akorafae’s flag.

• Akorafae takes them on a dangerous assault of…somewhere on the coast? They sack a town, plunder and such, are almost trapped, use their own boat as a fire-ship to escape, and take on a captured vessel as the new flag ship. [Bunk plot point. Reworked to become character growth.]

• When they finally make it back to Shtepi n’Det, Invidia is introduced to “Stone,” the ossified elder. Through touch-transfer, Invidia sees what really happened to the Forefather (Forebelo), why his name was wiped from the records, and why the book she possesses is so very important.

• As she settles into her life in the community and continues to heal, Gelfein becomes her constant companion. He is relieved of his duties as quartermaster and made Invidia’s personal servant. Gelfein’s grandmother hopes to make a match between them (priestesses on surface can have families and are not separated from the community like they are in the Sotanocte). Neither Invidia nor Gelfein has any interest in romantic bullshit, but the arrangement suits them otherwise. He teaches her to understand languages by ear instead of relying so heavily on sign.

• Neeral is shunned within Shtepi ni’Det because of his foul behavior, and he’s stripped of all rights. He finally steals the tome and a small schooner, running along the coast until he disembarks in Midterkyst (the capitol of learning). He tries to find a buyer for the book, but nobody can read the Drow dialect.

• A member of the Tiernon steals the book from him and returns it the book to the tower to be translated. Saxa, a young scribe and linguist, takes months to fully understand the depths of the Drow language and transcribe the book, but she keeps coming back to the passage “On Breadth Keys,” completely fascinated by the prospect of a key that can transport the user ANYWHERE.

• Lleu is in Himin, getting pissed about all the unfair treatment at Freyr’s hands. A human monk—Filip—is allowed unfettered access to Himin while the angelli can’t even go near the well without reprimand. His anger gets to the breaking point and he stages a coup. [Expanded.]

• There’s also shit going on in Sotanocte, not sure WHICH aspects to highlight, tbh. The Dell are the least clear to me in their affiliations and motivations. Llilinth is crazy bitch lady; Kea is sneaky sneak lady; and Selgetorn knows nothing, Jon Snow. [Expanded.]

EPILOGUE

• ?? Um…stuff… [Filled in to tie up a subplot.]

SO, as you can see, it is perfectly normal to let your plot evolve and to rewrite, add to, or otherwise discard things. In the course of your writing, allow yourself to get it wrong, because you WILL eventually get it right, and then you will love the end result all the more for what it has become.

Write on, wordsmiths. I'll be cheering you on in the background.

Copyright: Yea or Nay?

So there's a lot of debate on whether or not you should file for copyright. Why waste $35 when you have the publication date? Simply put, the digital age is a free for all in pirating. I can list a handful of friends--indie and otherwise--who have had their work pirated in various markets. Would having a copyright claim help them?

Well, let's break this down, guys. You publish a book, decide to run a free campaign, or send out a few ARC copies to people you assumed were trusted friends, but now someone has pirated your book. You have the publication date, but that doesn't really mean much without the legal protection of a copyright claim. Can you prove YOU didn't steal your manuscript?

What does the pirate have on their side? No way to know. Can you get them to take down your pirated copy? Sometimes. Is this going to impact your sales? Probably.

There are a lot of things that end up in the air when something like this happens. Let's say the pirating site is based outside US territory. This doesn't always happen, but sometimes this ends up with a scary loophole where you can't do anything to get it taken down. The worst part of this, however, is if the pirate decides to press against you, that may mean your book gets frozen on Amazon until the issue is resolved.

A blogger posted about this very incident (a blog which I've now lost). The author's account and sales were frozen pending an inquiry. But then, another person swooped in and offered help for a nominal fee. Obviously a scam, but I'm sure unsuspecting indies have fallen for it when they didn't have the backing of a press to go to bat for them. Could this author have saved themselves by having a copyright claim? Again, probably.

This is on the more dire end of the spectrum, of course, but the result is clear. If you want protection as an indie, copyright is your friend.

But maybe you've heard of poor man's copyright. Mail your manuscript to yourself and don't open it, right? TOTALLY legit. No, actually. This is a myth, and it will not protect you.

What about getting a notary to stamp the seal of approval on a signed contract stating you are the owner of your copyright? Mmm...shady, iffy, maybe, but it may not hold up in court should things ever progress to that point. And really, this will still cost you about $10. Why not go the extra mile for the extra protection?

You present an actual copyright in any of these situations, and it will clear itself up a lot more quickly. Plus, you avoid the whole "maybe" scenario. There is no MAYBE involved when you have a legit claim. And, let's be honest, there isn't much you can do outside of this. As mentioned, a publication date doesn't do anything protect you, poor man's copyright doesn't exist, and other (SEE: Cheaper) avenues aren't necessarily legally binding.

In all, I'm firmly in the "why risk it" camp. For $35, you get the legal backing to protect yourself from a handful of scams and pirating tactics that could impact your brand and sales. Don't risk it.

Carry your ass to the US Copyright Office online and follow their VERY simple instructions to register a copyright claim. Don't argue. Just go. Keep in mind you only have 30 days to register after you publish your book, so if this is a case of needing to find the funds, plan ahead. Much like a condom, copyright protects you from oopsies. Keep that shit in your back pocket.

Marketing: What the Actual Fuck...

Hey...ho...yeah! I see you over there. I wrote a friggin' book, hummie! When I started this blog...however long ago (feels like 10 years ago...but that's definitely not true), it was with this ephemeral little goal in mind that I've finally managed to achieve. Friggin' awesome, right?

CHECK THAT OUT! LOOKIT! Skeins Unfurled, my lovely book that I'm so very friggin' proud of, is now live on Amazon and CreateSpace (and for those that subscribe, free on KindleUnlimited). Yeah...obligatory plug. Whatever. I'M PROUD, DAMN IT! Have I mentioned I'm proud? I did? Oh...well...yeah, I am...

But just writing a book, making it pretty, and pushing the publish button doesn't really mean shit in this day and age when everybody and their dog can do (and are doing) the same thing, right? You're just a drop in a bucket in a sea of fuck its. Sad, but true.

That's where marketing comes in. Now...I'm no guru when it comes to this end of the field. I have this...flail about until I fall into the "right" way mentality. Sort of...trial and error, I guess? Only I kind of tend to ignore it like a big ugly stain on a tie ("Don't look. Don't look, K. DAMN IT. I looked.").This is yet another thing I've read about a million blogs about and they don't help one damn bit. You wanna know why? Because the advice is ridiculous.

You've got some people saying their life is consumed by a 9 to 1 ratio of marketing to writing. Who has time for that shit? Who WANTS to spend that much time at their pc shoving their book under other peoples' noses? I mean...I don't. I feel weird enough just plugging my book occasionally (like...once a week) in circles with other writers. Forget doing so in EVERY conversation I have with people I don't even know. Ew.

Then you have people that just DON'T market. Kind of...sit there...obsessively clicking buttons to check stats and such. But the stats never move. Because they don't say anything to anybody. Ever. Even when there's an appropriate conversational piece to slip it in. Just...clicking away, staring at that never-changing stat...

But let's get real. Neither of these approaches is ideal when you're an indie. Push too much, people ignore you and roll their eyes when they see you coming: "Oh. It's fucking Karen again. She's going to talk about her stupid book. Don'tmakeeyecontact! Lookawaylookawaylookaway!" Don't push at all and people don't know you exist: "There comes that weird guy that always brings his laptop to the coffee shop and stares at the same screen for an hour while he sips chai latte. I think maybe he's a serial killer."

So what DOES work? Simply put, I dunno. One thing I do know, however, is that it helps immensely to have people in your corner. Meet, greet, connect, uplift within the indie circles. If you like something by another author, share that.

Your job as an indie is to find the middle ground in marketing, wherever it may rest, but indies depend on word of mouth. Without a team of other people to help you, your career is probably never gonna get off the ground. Give and take, guys. Give and take. Support others within the community and you'll receive the same in return.

This blog is not really a nugget o' wisdom...but...maybe more of a reality check? I can't really give a real marketing strategy because I don't have one yet. Kind of. Whatever. There will be more on this particular devil when I have some actual nuggets for ya.

Until then, write on, wordsmiths.