She mentions it in the piece & also explains in further in another post. A bookmap is simply a way to analyze your story to find out why it's not working or something feels off.
After a few novels, what I have found to work best for me is to have a pretty good outline – notes on the major characters and plot points, with a good idea of what the climax is – but I let myself feel free to enhance or diverge from this as I write.
The key to the simpler revision is that when I make such a change, I make a note of it in a separate document. For example, "Chapter 2: as I later on decided to show the villain doing XYZ, must fix chapter 2 that states he cannot do XYZ."
This was probably one of the most helpful posts on substack for me. Just finished my first draft 2 days ago and this is certainly something I'll be digging into! Thank you so much 🙏
Wonderful post! I outline my book between each draft, but am going to start calling them book maps because I love the term. Much more visual. I also really appreciate that you highlight the problem of the inciting incident not being big enough to alter the character’s life. I see this in a lot of manuscripts and by simply identifying this it can ratchet up the tension and the stakes organically. Thanks for this post!
Thank you, Kelly! So glad this was helpful. I love calling it a 'map' too. I think for some writers, outline is kind of a dirty word. Map feels more functional somehow!
I think two of my main problems have been not strong or specific enough goals and not high enough stakes. I don't know why they are so difficult for me, but I'm working on it. My genre is romance/romcom
Hey, just identifying the issue is half the battle! With goals, sometimes our characters aren't even aware of what they need at the start of the story. It might help to think about what your character is like at the END of the story so you can reverse engineer and figure out what it was she needed to get there.
Thanks! Why is it so hard to create good goals? I feel like I'm not great at coming up with or maybe putting together the elements for an interesting idea.
Labelibg files & drafts & notes is important!Also saving.
To prevent myself from being too attached to scenes or characters, I always make a copy of my 1st draft, title it 2nd draft, & work on that & so forth. I also keep deleted stuff in a seperate folder or file, labeled as such. That way if I need it, I have it.
I also hand write & then type, so I also make notes while typing & either highlight them or put them in a seperate file or section to refer to later.
I'm new in the editing process though, so this was very helpful!
Also, great quote I came across recently: "It’s characters that bring any piece to life, so concentrate on how to create memorable people rather than intricate plots. Simple stories, complex characters — that’s the gold at the end of the rainbow.”
A post about bookmaps & editing on general sounds great!
Noted! :)
Yeah, I feel like I missed something…what’s a bookmap?
She mentions it in the piece & also explains in further in another post. A bookmap is simply a way to analyze your story to find out why it's not working or something feels off.
After a few novels, what I have found to work best for me is to have a pretty good outline – notes on the major characters and plot points, with a good idea of what the climax is – but I let myself feel free to enhance or diverge from this as I write.
The key to the simpler revision is that when I make such a change, I make a note of it in a separate document. For example, "Chapter 2: as I later on decided to show the villain doing XYZ, must fix chapter 2 that states he cannot do XYZ."
I love a good-but-loose outline that allows for flexibility! This sounds like a great approach.
This was probably one of the most helpful posts on substack for me. Just finished my first draft 2 days ago and this is certainly something I'll be digging into! Thank you so much 🙏
I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you :) And congrats on finishing that draft!!
Wonderful post! I outline my book between each draft, but am going to start calling them book maps because I love the term. Much more visual. I also really appreciate that you highlight the problem of the inciting incident not being big enough to alter the character’s life. I see this in a lot of manuscripts and by simply identifying this it can ratchet up the tension and the stakes organically. Thanks for this post!
Thank you, Kelly! So glad this was helpful. I love calling it a 'map' too. I think for some writers, outline is kind of a dirty word. Map feels more functional somehow!
I think two of my main problems have been not strong or specific enough goals and not high enough stakes. I don't know why they are so difficult for me, but I'm working on it. My genre is romance/romcom
Hey, just identifying the issue is half the battle! With goals, sometimes our characters aren't even aware of what they need at the start of the story. It might help to think about what your character is like at the END of the story so you can reverse engineer and figure out what it was she needed to get there.
Thanks! Why is it so hard to create good goals? I feel like I'm not great at coming up with or maybe putting together the elements for an interesting idea.
Very helpful post at just the right time in editing. Thank you.
Happy to help, and thanks for reading!
Hello, Michelle,
Yes, I'd be very interested in seeing a post about bookmaps.
Thanks for offering the possibility.
Consider it done :)
A post about how to compile a bookmap would be much appreciated!
Thanks! I'm on it :)
I use Scrivener & it has helped editing SO MUCH.
Labelibg files & drafts & notes is important!Also saving.
To prevent myself from being too attached to scenes or characters, I always make a copy of my 1st draft, title it 2nd draft, & work on that & so forth. I also keep deleted stuff in a seperate folder or file, labeled as such. That way if I need it, I have it.
I also hand write & then type, so I also make notes while typing & either highlight them or put them in a seperate file or section to refer to later.
I'm new in the editing process though, so this was very helpful!
I do, I do! *Stands at the back of the class, hand raised and maybe waving a bit* Here are my thoughts about plotting: https://sanjidakay.substack.com/p/to-plot-or-not-to-plot?r=2wm05e
Also, great quote I came across recently: "It’s characters that bring any piece to life, so concentrate on how to create memorable people rather than intricate plots. Simple stories, complex characters — that’s the gold at the end of the rainbow.”
Novelist and screen writer, Simon Booker
Let me know what you think!