For August's tips and tricks, our topic discussion is 'Plotting'. This month we'll discuss all the wonders of plotting and how it's done!

Ⅰ) What does it mean to plot? To plot means to plan, in simplest terms. And what are you planning, exactly? You're planning how you're going to execute your idea before you write it. It's especially helpful when you've got a lot of details to sort out within your plotline.

Ⅱ) How can I plot my book? There are many different ways to plot a book! One of the common methods that I use is outlining. A few other methods can be simply jotting down notes, constructing a story web (or story map), and so on. If you're new to plotting, jotting down notes may be the simplest way to do this though because you can jot down whatever you want in whatever format you want.

Outlining is very similar to simply jotting down notes, except it's a bit more "organized", I'd say. Simply due to the fact that you're writing your notes out in a specific way. Using bullet points, headings, and whatever else you'd like. Personally, I like to stick to using bullet points and headings. Ex:

Title:
Setting:
Characters + their description:
Act 1:

OR you can also, however, use a question and answer format for your outline. Ex:

What is the title?
A:
Where is the setting:
A:

Story web (or story map) is another specific format you can do. Below are two different examples of a story map sheet, and how it can be done. Some use certain shapes while others may not. But overall, the concept is the same.

Loutka
Team Of Dreams