Creating a Plot Board for Your Second Draft is an Editing Game Changer
Trust me on this one.
I’ve been teaching writers how to create plot boards for their novels since 2015. It’s one of my favorite things to do. It’s also something that I have done myself for so long, that there are some aspects that I forget other people might need to learn.
Every single time I teach a plotting class, someone says that they hate plotting because they never, ever stick to their plot board. And I’m always grateful to that person, because they give me the chance to say — neither do I.
Think of plotting more as a suggestion than a dictate, and you’ll understand why a second-draft plot board is such a great idea.
A plot before you write is just one way through the story.
What I’ve found over the years is that there are a handful of plot points that, if you figure them out before you write your first draft, generally stay about the same.
- The Inciting Incident: The first really unusual thing that happens to your main character.
- The Lock-in: The decision to move into the world of the story, and the end of Act I.
- The Midpoint Climax: Something really good that happens smack in the middle of…
