1. Get your ideas together
I am forever asked where I get my ideas from and if you're a writer you pretty much know this question is irrelevant. You can't explain it, they're kind of just there lurking in some back room of your imagination. How you 'open the door' has to be up to you, but once you do you might feel the need to get all of these ideas down onto paper and some people jot them down in a notebook. I mainly record all my ideas and work on A4 sheets. I just find it much easier to keep organised that way.
Secondary research can help trigger your imagination so start saving articles or recording ideas you've read/seen/heard. And as you all know, ideas can hit you at any given moment so you may even feel the need to carry a notepad or recording device. I don't do this - I feel if an idea is strong enough it will stay with me but you might feel completely differently.
2. Decide on your genre
It's really important to understand who you are writing for and pin-pointing a genre can certainly help that. For instance, if you're writing a commercial thriller your plotting is going to have to be extremely tight and there'll be more twists and turns than, say, your average literary novel.
3. List your characters
I do write up character lists before I start and I find it really helps when you come to writing the novel. I don't go into great detail, just a couple of sentences on each person. You want to bring your characters to life, so they're going to need backgrounds, personalities, agendas, skills, flaws . . . . Some writers go so far as plotting family trees.
You will find that once you start writing your novel your characters will develop and may even go in a completely different direction from where you first started. F. Scott Fitzgerald said it best when he said that 'the characters are the plot'. So, if your characters are leading you somewhere it's best to follow.
4. Decide on a narrator
Who's going to be the best narrator? Is it 'you', the all-seeing author, who writes in the third person? Or, is it going to be a character writing in the first person? Why are we following them? Who has got the most interesting story to tell? Who do you think the audience will relate to the most? Will there be multiple narrators? So many questions . . .
5. Write a two sentence synopsis
I really recommend this. If you want to plot a 100,000 word novel, you're going to need a very basic summary of the plot before you start, to keep you aware of the central hook of the story.
6. Think of scenes
Don't worry about thinking of scenes in a linear way. Just jot your ideas down and you can reorder them later. Some people use little cards for each individual scene which is a pretty good idea. Remember when ordering your scenes that they must follow in a plausible manner and try not to make them too similar - it'll only confuse your readers.
7. Location, location, location
Identify where you're going to be setting the bulk of the novel. In the UK? In Rome? In an imaginary village? In a parents house? In a taxi? On a Lord of the Flies-style island? If your plot is beginning to hobble, do what Dickens did in Little Dorrit and move a central character to a different location (Dickens shifted the action to America).
8. Conflict
Conflict is so important. To make a reader want to keep reading your novel there's going to have to be some kind of obstacle in front of your main character. You should be thinking about conflict all the way through your plotting. Your characters have to be in some sort of trouble. Is one of your characters afraid of someone? Do they love an unattainable man? What do your characters want? What's getting in their way?
9. Outline your plot in more detail
There's no perfect plot format and different writers work in different ways but try and start with an opening that throws your readers into the thick of it. They should want to find out more about these interesting characters.
Build up the pace and move fast enough to keep your readers hooked but not to the detriment of your characters. I try and imagine I'm writing for someone with attention deficit disorder who has got the TV on in the background, to give myself a challenge in keeping their attention. Each major plot point should reveal something new but remember to have moments where your readers can catch their breaths.
10. Wrap it all up
Okay, so how are you going to finish the novel? People will want to know what happens to your characters after they've achieved or perhaps failed to achieve their goals. Often the dictations of the genre dictate the ending. In rom-coms the girl gets the guy. In thrillers the murderer is found. However, there are a million subtle ways to add variety to even the most formulaic of genres, so feel free to experiment and add your own unique touches.
Planning and Plotting