Talli Roland – To Plot or Not to Plot?

To Plot… Or Not?

Plotting has always been a source of great debate amongst writers. Should you, or should you not? Many authors dive right in to their manuscripts, content to  ‘write into the mist’. Personally, I am not a ‘writing into the mist’ kinda gal – I’m always afraid I may never emerge! I need something to drive toward, and I have to know where my character will end up, when everything is said and done.

But how much plotting is too much? After all, you don’t want to stifle any creativity that might occur. New characters could pop their heads in, just begging to be written. Events might not always happen according to plan – in life and in fiction.

I always start with a few key questions. What does my character want? Who or what will stop her from getting it? And by the end, how will she have grown and changed? In Watching Willow Watts, my most recent novel, Willow begins her journey as a person who’s keen to keep everyone happy. By the end of the book, she’s learned that her own happiness is important, too, and she needn’t lose herself to please others.

Once I’ve decided what the character arc will be, I plot the main events that will propel her toward this change. First of  all, I think about what will happen to set my heroine on her journey. What will turn her in the wrong direction, and what will eventually put her on the right track? Finally, I determine which obstacles will stand in her way once she has made the correct choice – and I’ll decide what’s the biggest hurdle she’ll have the overcome.

In total, I might have four or five major plot points set out. Then, I fill in the blanks as I go – that’s the fun bit for me. Once the first draft is finished, I take a look at everything I’ve got, review where I want my character to be by the end, then re-craft the story so everything fits into place. Of course in the meantime, I’m pulling out my hair and drinking lots of wine to deal with the agony of getting it all to make sense.

But that’s for another blog post!

Talli Roland has three loves in her life: chick lit, coffee and wine. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Despite training as a journalist, Talli soon found she preferred making up her own stories – complete with happy endings. Her first novel, The Hating Game, was an Amazon UK best-seller, remaining in the top 100 for over two months. Watching Willow Watts is available in paperback and on Kindle now. Talli blogs here and tweets here.

A bit about Watching Willow Watts: 

For Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father’s antique shop and nights watching TV, as the pension-aged residents of Britain’s Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night. But everything changes when a YouTube video of Willow’s epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits after a viewer spots Marilyn’s ghostly image in a frame.
Instantly, Willow’s town is overrun with fans flocking to see the ‘new Marilyn’. Egged on by the villagers — whose shops and businesses are cashing in — Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn’s legendary curves.
But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village’s newfound fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

​

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.