How do you organise your novel

[thelionthewitchandthebookcase]

When planning characters and plot etc do you use pen and paper, a white board, IT software?

Like a lot of creative people my organisation skills are TERRIBLE! I can write, I am disciplined but I can't make sense of organisation and my brain gets in a pickle!

I have a notebook where I jot down ideas but I write on Scrivener and use the card file bit to jot out chapters or scenes. I often use temporary titles on the chapters to remind me what they are about. I love Scrivener- it might be worth a look if you haven’t used it? There are some good ‘bootcamp’ training films on YouTube.

I don't plan. I just start writing and see where it goes!

For my first draft, I just wrote. When I got to the end, I figured out things that needed to happen to prevent plot holes and I did a structural overhaul. You can make a rough plan(google the snowflake method) but sometimes writing it is the only way you can figure out what’s going to happen, not planning. My tuppence worth, anyway 😃

I went to see Clare Mackintosh the other day. She said she uses a roll of wallpaper, sideways, and plots it out like a graph. When she's got it looking like a roller coaster, she's ready to start writing.

It does depend on what sort of novel it is, though.

All great advice thank you!

Jut downloaded the trial of scrivener and put it to one side until I have time to look properly at the tutorial. It looks exactly wha I need- I didn't realise you could use it for academic and research purpose too

I have Evernote in my phone and I've just logged in on my laptop--as if by magic my notes are all there

I'd also heard That JK Rowling plans with paper and boards on her wall. I grew up with pen and paper so the tech stuff is harder to start with.

Will google the snowflake method thanks!

Mind map on landscape piece of a4. Dates are crucial. Mine is about a young couple who accidentally get pregnant so had to make sure the dates matched!

popping back here to say I have had success ( hope) in giving each chapter a heading, having a piece of card for each one and organising them on a board with clue tack. As ideas for each character arise I add post it notes. The biggest problem is plot holes so as long as i can edit/move chapters around i guess that saves me from losing time!

I use Scrivener too and find it fantastic for organisation. I'm not a naturally organised person but having everything in one place like this and being able to get around the scenes and chapters is so much easier, also being able to add research notes and just add anything in I think of in another file. So good.

That is interesting. I have yet to dive into scrivener although I still have ALL the days of my free trial left! Is it easy once you know how?

I find I have an idea about xyz and I write that scene, and then any others that come to mind. I give the characters any names, then write a short intro to them, which helps me flesh them out a bit. Then write other scenes, and when it’s at around 10,000 words I just write.
I need to get the “idea” out of my head first, because otherwise if I just start writing I lose momentum more quickly.

I also like Scrivener. It takes a bit of learning, but once you get going it is great. I also use pen and paper a lot, but have learnt the need to transcribe it regularly to the computer otherwise things get lost.

I write very little down.
It starts as a germ of an idea, often a brief scene. Then it builds forwards and backwards from that point, until I feel I'm ready to write it.

I use Ulysses. Less bloated than Scrivener.

My partner just writes in Open Office.