I don’t plot the books out ahead of time, I don’t plan them. I don’t begin at the beginning and end at the end. I don’t work with an outline and I don’t work in a straight line.

As a writer, I can completely relate to Diana Gabaldon’s quote. Sometimes it’s just a nugget of an idea and I build around that. Other times it’s a character that comes to life and I write about what they are doing. Anyway it happens, I love when I get a spark of a story.

This year’s KidLit Summer School is focused on plot and I’ve been trying to soak it all in while working on my W-I-Ps and balancing summer life with the kids. It’s not easy, to say the least. There is so much good advice happening that if you haven’t checked out Nerdychickswrite.com yet, you’re seriously missing out.

Today, writer Lee Harper talked about plotting with post-it notes which is something I’ve done myself. It works for me because I’m a visual learner and I need to see things in their place. This is helpful when plotting a book with post-its and not so helpful when rearranging furniture in your house.

Me: “Maybe you can just move it there so I can see what it looks like.”

Husband: “It won’t fit there.”

Me: “Just try.”

Husband tries. *grunts* *curses*

Me: “Yeah, you’re right it doesn’t fit there. Oh! How about over here?!”

(This conversation may or may not have happened MANY times)

If you just need to see something in it’s space, then plotting with post-its is for you. Check out this link to see Lee explain it much better than I can.