Lori Devoti, paranormal romance and urban fantasy author

I’m plotting again–nothing evil, just some ideas for books. :) Currently, I have the four proposals with my agent–two she sent to Zebra/Kensington, one to Harlequin, and one is still on her desk. Obviously, the woman needs more from me, don’t you think?

Anyway, I think I have finally settled into a method for plotting. Here’s how it goes. First, I have a spiral notebook I use for my initial planning. It has a number of story ideas in it–most of which have been converted to synopses.

I start with the characters–just the main ones. What are their names, a few key characteristics and some back story? Then, what do they want? Oh, and hopefully, why they want it and what is in their way. Now the fun begins. I try and target 6 plot points–which in a romance are usually tied to first meet, first kiss, realization of love, love (sex) scene, black moment and resolution. It so happens none of the ideas I have right now are romances–more women’s fiction–so I do it a little differently. I zig zag.

So you start with the basic world of the character and something happens–right? Is it good or is it bad? Let’s say good. So, she is going along thinking things are headed her direction until wham something else happens, something that sets her off course. So, now she is heading in another direction, life isn’t so good, blah, blah, but then something else happens–something good that redirects her again. You do this over and over, until the poor creature has suffered enough, then she finally makes a stand, conquers the world and the book can be over. Simple.

Well, it works for me. :) Anyway, I scribble all this down and eventually convert it into a synopsis. My synposes usually run around 7 pages. A pretty good length, I think.

Two basic tips for writing syposes: 1.) you don’t have to tell every little thing that happens, and 2.) you should use phrases like until, but then, meanwhile, etc. These tend to show a change in direction, and in a plot that is a good thing.

Till later

Lori