Literary Salon #4
A Magazine for Readers and Writers
Re-imagined Plotter Tools
for Discovery Writers
The concept of using an outline to do my thinking is as beyond my mortal grasp as heaven's cloudborn shores, for I'll never be redeemed of my discovery-writer ways. In the past, that's led to a horrifically lengthy writing process, but I've learned to change how I view plotting techniques, transforming them from failures to tools by a simple reframing.
If you ask a discovery writer why she doesn't plot her books, a common reason is that she never uses any plot she develops. If that's you, stop right there. Reframe the purpose of the plot. Turn it into something that can solve the problems of a pantser and, in particular, the problem of a need for extensive rewrites. Reduce the time spent chasing failed story ideas down blind alleys, and instead work through those bad ideas quickly and in advance.
With one particular project, I wrote sixteen different plots I never used, and that was a successful use of my time, transforming the plot from something that needed to represent the finished story to something more useful for a discovery writer.
Imagine you have a map of a city, and you're trying to draw a line from point A to point B, but you don't know even where point B is. That's the process of being a discovery writer. You're writing your way to point B and looking for clues to tell you which way to go. If you don't find the best path on the first, second, or third tries, that means extensive rewrites. You learn your way in the process, but it takes forever to get there.
That's why I wrote sixteen plots. Some were brief. Some were more extensive, but the whole process only took me a couple of weeks. When I was done, I had a map of the city with sixteen routes drawn up, none of which worked for me completely, but I knew that city well. I knew many of the streets I wanted to take, and I had a pretty good guess of where I'd find that elusive destination. I was still discovery writing, but I'd made most of my mistakes, quick and early.
Detective, 26 A.D. took me three years to work to completion. Steampunk Cleopatra took me two. This project, with the sixteen plots written but not used, took me six months from beginning to final draft.
If you're not a plotter, but wish the plotter's tools were for you, stop thinking of them as plans you must follow. They are outlets through which all the half-formed ideas flow, allowing you to come to the final solution faster.
You might write a few character sheets for your main character, trying out all sorts of possibilities, all the while knowing the point isn't to consult them as a guide. As a discovery writer, you probably can't imagine creating a character separate from the story which forms her, and you won't ever have to. These tools become fast and easy ways to clear away all the bad ideas, and the good ones will stick in your head. They'll accumulate. As you write, they'll be ready.
Gene Wolfe once wrote, “You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing.” The point of all this isn't to say that sixteen plots is the way to write. This isn't a system but a way to reframe tools into something we can use when we need them.
Before I leave, if you're one of those mythical creatures we call plotters, I want to pull back the curtain and reveal just a little of the pantser mystery. So often, plotters expose how little they understand our thinking by saying that foreshadowing is something a discovery writer would have to go back and add, after the fact.
My friend, our minds are not the same.
As a discovery writer, I'll take note of something I've written, recognizing it as foreshadowing, and wondering what exactly it points to. I see it for what it is, a hint dropped either by my unconscious or by an unthinking serendipity that this is the way.
Plotters also like to say that discovery writing only works if we use our first draft as an outline. It's a thinking that assumes that successful creation must only have one form. It assumes that in the end, we all work the same way.
We are not the same, but we can learn from each other, just not in the ways you may expect.
—Thaddeus Thomas
Literary Salon #4
A comment from Corey Evans regarding my upcoming book: Deeper Stories. “This section [on sentence length] might be the best piece on the craft of writing I’ve read in any trade book.”
Now is the perfect time to commit to a new relationship with the Literary Salon.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe at no cost.
Already a subscriber? Become a paid subscriber at a huge savings.
Already a paid subscriber? Become a True Fan and help me keep those discounts going for writers and readers on a tight literary budget.
A note to email readers: this magazine concept only works if you allow yourself to click on a link and leave the email. If you’ll make the commitment to do that, I’ll do everything I can to make it worth your time and effort.
Looking for a fresh new Author Newsletter?
Find a new author and get a book as a welcome present.
Today’s Reading (and listening)
Headline Article:
Re-imagined Plotter Tools by Thaddeus Thomas
In the Stacks:
Fiction Community Mutual Aid:
Michelin-rated chef, robbed of his pay by his own boss, cranks out the literary greatness. Find out how you can help here:
Books for Sale:
The Last of Etela (The Shieldbreaker: Book 1) by Tom Schecter
A people's last hope for survival is a nineteen-year-old boy with a terrible secret...
I Hear You Watching by Zachary Dillon
A disturbing, deeply interior psychological suspense novel based on Zachary’s experience with auditory hallucinations and paranoia.
Music to Discover:
Fiction: horror to make you squirm
Poetry
From the Literary Salon:
For Readers:
The Last Temptation of Winnie-the-Pooh. Chapter Three. Based upon the works of and includiilng passages adapted from A. A. Milne. A serial.
T. P. Kaaos, Championed by Edward Marlo Ruiz
For Writers:
An Improvement in Quality is the Most Honest Path to Growth: Writing Essays #1
Art Cuts Those Who Wield It: Writing Essays #2
Programs at the Literary Salon:
The Franklin Project / Open-World Fiction: a joint venture with Haly, the Moonlight Bard ✒️
MmmFA (Mighty Fine Arts): Holding one another accountable for getting that book written. See our Slack Forum.
Reading Groups: Currently reading Empire’s Daughter by Marian L Thorpe; see our Slack Forum.
Closing Article:
Community, not Clique by Thaddeus Thomas (see below)
Community, Not Clique
Substack is strange in a new writer’s early days, and at any point, it can become a lonely place where you feel out of touch and out of sync. Meanwhile, those who have managed to become well-connected… blah blah blah. No—this isn’t the way this essay’s meant to go. No abstraction. No distance. I’m writing this as real as I know how.
First of all, I probably owe some of you an apology. That poem on the cover of this issue repeats the phrase, I don’t mean to be rude, and I frequently felt like I was being rude in DMs and other communications this week. If it came across that way, I apologize.
I’ve been struggling with a few things the last month, but the ironic aspect was a sense of isolation here on Substack. I felt out of touch and out of sync and was struggling to reconnect. At the same time, I often did a poor job of communicating and was impatient.
As a friend pointed out, I was spiraling.
It reminded me what Substack feels like when you aren’t fully plugged in. What we intend to be an open and embracing community can feel like a clique. Closed and insular.
That isn’t at all what we want. So, this is your invitation to engage.
Some of you are seasoned and confident writers, but if that’s not you, that’s okay, too. We want to champion great works and build up writers to achieve greatness. Between Emil Ottoman and myself, we should have the tools to get you started on your way.
Thank you for getting me through this last week,
—Thaddeus Thomas
Thank you so much for including my work in this, Thad.
And we’re all very lucky to have you here.
Great summary and THANK YOU for the mention... what a table to be at! better make sure part three is a belter...