The Organized Writer: Using a Chapter Framework to Manage Plots and Subplots

I should start by saying, first, I am not an organized writer. And that's part of the reason I'm writing this post. Until I started writing mysteries, I was a proud pantser who sorta/kinda organized plot events as she went along. But no more.

For one thing, mysteries need to be tightly plotted. For another, I'm contracted to turn in an outline many months in advance of a manuscript. And though the outline was helpful, it wasn't enough for me in terms of structuring my story. I needed an extra layer of organization that would help me flesh out and manage the main mystery plot, as well as the subplots. So I tried each of the following, sometimes in isolation, sometimes all together:

• sticky notes
• colored sticky notes
• index cards
• colored index cards
• writers' software 
• highlighting text in Word
• changing the color of my text in Word
• using an Excel spread sheet
• using the table function in Word
• using a large whiteboard with different color dry erase markers
• using a blotter-size desk calendar for the timeline
• making a flow chart of plot events

As you can imagine, my office is a pretty messy place. The index cards kept getting lost and the sticky notes wouldn't stay stuck. Excel, it turns out, will screw with you even more than Word, and I would end up getting confused by my own flow charts. (And I know that one of the QT bloggers uses writing software with great success, but her name is not Rosie.)

 So now I'm down to three main tools: the white board, which is invaluable in terms of scribbling ideas, re-ordering them, or just writing little notes to myself. The blotter size desk calendar serves well for a timeline; the blocks are large enough to write in, and personally, I need big visuals. But the board and the calendar, like my editorial outline, aid me in macro-plotting: where the story is going and how it's getting there. I think of those things as a map. It's the micro-plotting--exploring motivation and showing cause and effect, planting clues and red herrings, both to the mystery and to the personal life of my protagonist, and delineating the interior life of my main character--that I tend to get lost. So my third tool is the table function in Word, which I use to create a compass to go with the map:  

The table function in Word helps me track my main plot and subplots.

While working with Word can be less than rewarding for a writer, I do like the nifty table function. It's easy to use and manipulate. I set up a fairly simple chart for myself; the one pictured here is the one I'm using for my WIP, The Wedding Soup Murder. It uses a chapter breakdown in which I indicate place, time, date, and characters. I use red text for the main mystery plot, and other colors for the subplots. As I draft each chapter, I go back and fill in the chart. The chart, or my story compass, helps me stay on course in a number of ways.

For example, cozy mysteries move at a fairly quick pace. If I look back over my chart and see that the green, purple, and blue text is taking up more space than the red, I go back to the ms and ensure that the subplots aren't bogging down the main story. I can read straight down the red text and isolate the main plot from the subplots, to make sure the mystery arc is swift, tight, and logical without the distraction of my main character's love life. On the other side of things, I can choose a color and follow that subplot, but I can also see how it is threaded into the main story, chapter by chapter. The chart also helps me identify a missing element. My main character has two love interests; I indicate one in green text and the other in blue. When I looked over my chart I realized that the blue ink didn't show up until Chapter Six. Her second guy had gotten short shrift in the story, so now I am working on ways to introduce him sooner. One last reason to love the chart: it makes a nice break from composing. Filling in another chapter is rewarding, and provides evidence of my progress.

Whether we use sticky notes or fancy software, we all need to find our own way through our stories. What about you? What serves as your map? Your compass?

A Jersey girl born and bred, Rosie Genova left her heart at the shore, which serves as the setting for much of her work. Her new series, the Italian Kitchen Mysteries, is informed by her deep appreciation for good food, her pride in her heritage, and her love of classic mysteries, from Nancy Drew to Miss Marple. Her debut novel, Murder and Marinara, will be released October 1. An English teacher by day and novelist by night, Rosie also writes women’s fiction as Rosemary DiBattista. She lives fifty miles from the nearest ocean  in central New Jersey, with her husband, two of her three sons, and an ill-behaved fox terrier.