I am presently faced with one of the most intellectually difficult assignments I have ever had to take on. I have to create a plan for a novel. First of all, my writing process doesn’t know what “plan” is. I have always written stories from start to finish, following the action of my characters in my head and putting it on paper. For a novel I feel like I am not mentally prepared. At present I have only a few ideas for even the basic concept of the novel, certainly not enough to begin thinking in term of rising and falling actions, major and minor conflicts and changes in the characters.
With all of this in mind, I am reminded that it is very simple to write a good story. Take a look at this short horror story: “The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock upon the door.” It says so much, but yet is so simple to construct.
I guess if anyone needs me I will be in the study constructing my manuscript. If anyone knows of a good Whale writing diagram template for Visio, please forward it along to me.