What do you do to plan for your novel?

Question

I would like to know how you plan for your novel. Do you use any websites?

♥◦°ϻαiɳε إ ˢᵗᵐᵘᵑᵍᵒ* · Accepted Answer

Everyone is different, but I'm a scrupulous person, so I like to get down-and-dirty-and-really-get-into-detail. 

I use Microsoft Office Word Documents. There are different documents for different things - one is a list of character names and who they are. (i.e. "John Doe - husband of Jane Doe, father of protagonist Jim Doe.") 
One is a set of character histories. (i.e. "Jane Doe - forty-three. Childhood of poverty. Graduated UBC Okanagan on full scholarship. Met husband John Doe in her third year of Bachelor of Sciences. Married three years after graduation of university at twenty-six, and had son Jim at age thirty. Likes - dislikes - doesn't respect people who - skills - friends, etc.")
One is a careful planning of exactly what goes on in each book - I'm writing a series. It's not chapter-by-chapter, it's just beginning-middle-end.

All the best with your writing. (:

Whisper in the Wind · Answer

no websites just paper. This is how i do mine. First i come up with an idea. The i write kind of a summary of how the whole story with play out. Beginning to end. Then i put the summary into chapters and write on paper. So i have every chapter planned out of what it will b about. But i dont in force following it as much. If i want to change something or add another chapter then thats fine. Then i start writing. Thats how i do it and find it very effective :) Good Luck! :)

hiderandseeker33 · Answer

A little, but not very much at all. My preparations for writing include reading books, usually non-fiction reference books, and going out to interview people. You'd probably be surprised the number of people who are ready to talk to you about what they do when you say you're a writer. In my researches, I've sat in on a seance, interviewed a witch (who said she was going to cast a spell to benefit me, but nothing came of it), and talked with a number of government employees.

Lorenzo VonMatterhorn · Answer

i just make a list of the characters and think about them - name, age, clothes, personality, attitude.
then i plan out how much detail i am going to use when it comes to each moment and chapter 

hope i helped

? · Answer

Litlift is a good one:

http://www.litlift.com 


And there is also a variety of free writing software available for download, if you're not opposed to that.

Anonymous · Answer

I don't use any websites... I write up character descriptions on Word and save them in folder, and then I write the plot and stuff...

Clever and Snide · Answer

I don't I write it, print it out, and then leave it lying around my house.

I might revise it at some point.

What do you do to plan for your novel?

7 Answers