Self-Publishing Your Own Book From The First Page To Book Cover Part 1: Getting Your Plot Out Through “Islanding”

Advice From an Author Crazy Enough To Learn How A Writer Can Do It All For Themselves, & Still Make It Look Good!

In the last few articles, I discussed a FREE website with hundreds of links to paying short story markets and how to write a lean, impactful submission letter to those publishers/magazines. Today, I’m going to take a little break on the formal side of getting published, and today, focus on the heart and soul of your story: its plot. More specifically, getting the plot out in one piece before even writing it. So, pull up your Word Doc. page, prepare your flaming sword, or prime your laser-pistol-our adventure awaits!

In the near-decade I’ve spent making a living as a writer, I’ve published a dozen books, three times as many short stories, and four or five articles about Roman history(I was OBSESSED with Rome’s Ninth Legion for a couple years, because I have Scottish heritage & sometimes I think about murder). Putting the stories together wasn’t always easy, but after a few years of practicing and planning, I am now able to write 7,5k-10k/day! Most people don’t believe me until they see it happen over a day’s time, especially when it’s known I’m a relatively slow typer. My answer: a pre-planned first draft helps writing SO much easier. The technique I use is called ‘islanding,’ and helps you not only focus on your story’s plot.

Personally, it removes a lot of self-doubt I feel for my manuscript because I’m be able to SEE the story while I write it. Allow me to explain.

How Islanding Works: Think of the story you are trying to write. Is is a short story? An epic? A fantasy? Nonfiction? Or perhaps even…steampunk?(I don’t know where I come up with such genres)Once you have your story (roughly) all in mind, think about the ‘momentum scenes.’ These are the pieces that make your story move from one scene to the next. Now, using a notepad, note cards, or dashes on your Word Doc(I personally use sticky notes), write down whats needed in your first scene to give it momentum to the second scene. From second scene, to third, and so on.

***INCLUDE ONLY the needed details. Put aside how many people you want inside that darkened hallway, or how many bards are drinking mead. Only mention what propels the scene. ‘The lights turn off-someone shouts for help,” or “Bards get drunk-hit on barmaid until Hero draws sword.” This is why I recommend using sticky notes or note cards, because they naturally force you to write less. If you prefer Word docs for your note taking, then I suggest keeping your ‘momentum scene’ notes to one sentence each.

Breaking down the islands: Imagine all of the ‘momentum scenes’ you’ve written about are individual islands, creating an archipelago of your story. When you start to write the first, actual, manuscript draft, think of this as the ‘ship’ carrying you from scene to scene. That way, if you start to get ‘lost’ while you write your manuscript, you can always look to your map of literary islands to reset your course.

Let’s check out an example: So, let’s say we are writing a story about a man who gets chased out of a tavern. My ‘islands,’ or ‘momentum scenes,’ might look something like:

Man walks into tavern

Man orders drink

Bartender denies Man drink

Man physically hurts bartender

Bartender draws weapon and swings at Man

Man is chased out of tavern to his horse

Now that I have my entire story ‘mapped out,’ I can actually start writing it. All the detail that naturally fills a manuscript to tell a story, will link one of your scenes to the next. See how little detail I include in my islands above? I don’t even mention what weapon the bartender uses(still debating on a broken wine bottle or a sword) But I can fill that later, as detail to the actual manuscript draft. And then, I’ll have the first full draft of my completed manuscript!

• **Final Note: I find this strategy very helpful, as I become very nervous and doubtful about my first drafts. When I would start writing full-fledged manuscript drafts without ‘islanding,’ my anxiety and self-doubt often swelled to crippling levels. This forced the creation of my stories to a crawl. Then, once I discovered how to ‘island,’ I noticed my jitters of writing a first draft were gone. I blame the lack of writer’s block on being able to reference my ‘momentum scenes,’ and stay on track when I feel deterred. I hope this also helps you in your stage of writing!

Why give away my writing secret? The last year or so, I’ve received a lot of emails, dms, and questions in general, asking about how I can write 7,5k-10k words/day. My answer is always ‘islanding’. When people ask what that strategy is, I’ve tried to encapsulate it in the best way possible. Over several attempts, I think I’ve found the best way to explain it. So, instead of waiting for more emails, I thought I’d write an article to help anyone who is struggling on the plot of their book out their head, and onto the page. Like I’ve said in a previous article: I believe the world of writing is meant to be encouraging. The more we promote each other, the more readers hear about us. So go out, plot, write, edit, and go get published!

If you liked this article, or feel it might be helpful to others, please ‘clap’ it and don’t forget to follow me for my next post on helping you expand your writing career!

Kyle Newton lives in his renovated caboose deep in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He is a #3 daily bestseller, and current, two-time winner of Mount Washington Cog Railway’s ‘Steampunk Author of New Hampshire’ award. He writes steampunk erotica on Amazon, and steampunk adventure/horror on Medium