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Hello, all, I’m just curious if there are any other writers here who are aficionados of James Scott Bell’s Fourteen Signposts method of plotting? It’s saved my writerly sanity, and I’m wondering if it has helped others. I’ll tag a few of you whom I’ve already said hello to, but everyone please feel free to reply.
@freedomwriter76 @felicity @lightoverdarkness6 @mineralizedwritings
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comI have never heard of it! XD I might look into it if I hit a rough spot. For now, the controlled chaos of my writing sketchbook seems to do it. I like the blank pages cuz I can make maps, write random stuffs, and make lists all in the same place.
Ok, that’s outlining not plotting 😂 I suppose I will stop before the rant begins. XD
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
I have never heard of it! XD I might look into it if I hit a rough spot.[…]
@mineralizedwritings, I guess outlining and plotting are two sides of the same coin. Or perhaps not? If you feel a rant coming on, I won’t stop you. Plotting has always been a challenge for me, so I’m just happy to have found something that works.Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comI have never heard of that, but then again, I’m a pantser and just recently began looking into plotting methods.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
I have never heard of that, but then again, I’m a pantser and just recently began looking into plotting methods.
I’m a pantser too, or at least a very, very minimal plotter. I finally gave this a go when I was desperate for help with a story that was getting way out of hand. I love James Scott Bell’s methods because they work for pantsers, plotters, and “tweeners.” If you’re looking for some plotting help, I highly recommend the Fourteen Signposts. I can give a brief rundown here, or you can get all the details in Bell’s book Super Structure.
I was trying to tag the people I’d already met here, but I missed a lot. @esther-c and @keilah-h to name a couple. Sorry about that, ladies—feel free to jump in.
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com@booksbyjayna Never heard of it, but then again, I might outline but I never plot. If I plot, I can’t write it. It’s kinda the way I am…..
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
Never heard of it, but then again, I might outline but I never plot. If I plot, I can’t write it. It’s kinda the way I am…..
@keilah-h, @mineralizedwritings, okay, now I’m confused. I was not aware that there was any significant difference between outlining and plotting. Plotting is what you do to create an outline. Outlining is recording the plotting you’ve done. It’s like planning the things you have to do today and then making a to-do list. I’m guessing your definitions are different?Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comFor me, plotting is filling out how my character motivations/themes/goals will come to be (what needs to be shown to the reader when, and what should be left for latter?), and outlining is deciding exactly what events come about to show them, and trying to connect them in a orderly fashion.
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
@mineralizedwritings Ha, it’s the opposite for me. Sorry for confusing you @booksbyjayna!
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
Ha, it’s the opposite for me.[…]
@mineralizedwritings, @keilah-h, well, no wonder I’m confused! I use the term plotting to cover both of those aspects and use outlining for the act of writing out my plot for future reference. I think that’s common to most books about writing. For instance, James Scott Bell and other writing instructors include character development, themes, etc. in the plotting process (Signpost Scene #7 in the Fourteen Signposts is the “Mirror Moment,” which is tied deeply to character growth). Or they’ll talk about writers who create 40-page outlines of their plot points. Just giving you a heads-up so you don’t get confused by advice you may run across.Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com@booksbyjayna Ah ok.
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
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@booksbyjayna. I have HEARD of it (through you, I’m pretty sure…) but I still haven’t used it or researched into it…
I’d probably have to say I’m someone who kind of outlines when events will happen but hasn’t “plotted” much…so I’m probably a lot like @mineralizedwritings when it comes to that. 😅
I’ve never heard of that before! Sounds interesting.
I call myself a plantser. (Plotter/pantser) I used to be a pantser, but found out that didn’t work for me, so I am now a plantser. I write out a short summary for each chapter and follow that as my outline. But I let it change as I write. For example, the last half or maybe more the last third of my book was new stuff to me. I didn’t know that was going to happen. So I really like plotting/outlining that way.
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
I have HEARD of it (through you, I’m pretty sure…)
@freedomwriter76 I did a newsletter feature on it once, so yes, you probably heard about it from me. It’s one of my favorite subjects. 🙂
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comI’ve never heard of that before! Sounds interesting. I call myself a plantser[…]
@esther-c I love your word! I’ve also heard that called a tweener—“between” a plotter and pantser. I fall into that category as well. I used to just write one-line summaries for each chapter to keep track of where I was going, but my WIP got so unwieldy I needed something to help me structure it better. James Scott Bell’s method basically gives you fourteen types of scenes to build your story around. The structure is extremely flexible, which I love. I have my “Final Battle” scene (Signpost #13) on the list, but exactly what happens in it keeps changing!Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com
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