Chapter Three

Plot Planner Parameters

The Plot Planner is divided into Part One: The Beginning, Part Two: The Middle, and Part Three: The End. Before you construct a Plot Planner for your project, it is best if you are able to determine the parameters of each part. In this chapter, I cover two ways to define those parameters.

This entire chapter is optional. If you benefit from fixed, concrete guidelines for determining the breakdown of which scenes belong in the beginning, the middle, and the end of your plotline, read on. If you’d rather let your intuition decide, move to chapter four.

Plan by Scene

Count the number of scenes you have written. Do you envision more or fewer upon completion? If you have not yet started a project, choose any number of scenes based on the scene count of successful novels in your genre and how you envision your story. Write down the total number of scenes.

Now divide the total number of scenes of your book by four to determine the number that should be devoted to each of the three parts of your book. (If there are only three parts, you might ask why you are dividing by four. I will explain the logic behind this in a moment.)

An average novel sold in bookstores typically consists of sixty scenes.

Part One: The Beginning Scenes

The beginning portion of your Plot Planner encompasses approximately one-quarter of the total scenes. Thus, if you have sixty scenes, the beginning portion has fifteen scenes. How many scenes are in the beginning portion of your project?

Part Two: The Middle Scenes

The middle portion of your Plot Planner encompasses approximately one-half of the total scenes. (This is why you divide by four—the middle is twice as long as either the beginning or the end.) If you have sixty scenes, the middle portion has thirty scenes. How many scenes are in the middle portion of your project?

Part Three: The End Scenes

The end portion of your Plot Planner encompasses approximately one-quarter of the total scenes. If you have sixty scenes, the end portion contains the final fifteen scenes. How many scenes do you envision your story having in the end portion?

There is another way to determine the parameters of your plotline that is based on the number of pages in your book. If the numbers you generated in this first section fall into the approximate range, move on to chapter four. If analyzing the page count to determine the parameters better suits you than doing so based on scene count, keep reading.

Plan by Page Count

From an informal survey by Publishers Weekly, an insider’s magazine on the publishing business, the average length of a novel is about 250 to 300 pages. That average length translates to between 60,000 and 90,000 words. Of course, there are exceptions, typically based on genre. A historical novel or a science fiction saga can run 500 pages or more. Keep in mind that the longer the book, the more expensive it is to produce, either for the publisher or for you, if you choose to self-publish. Either way, your readers end up paying those higher costs.

If you have finished a rough draft, determining the length of your book should be simple. If you have just started a project, estimate the length you envision for the final product based on books similar to yours that you admire.

Now, use the same process you did in the scenes method. Divide the total number of pages of your book by four to determine the number of pages for each of the three parts.

Part One: The Beginning Page Count

The beginning portion of your Plot Planner will encompass approximately one-quarter of the total page count. If, for example, your novel is 300 pages total, the beginning portion equals 75 pages. How many pages do you envision your story's beginning?

Part Two: The Middle Page Count

The middle portion of your Plot Planner will take up approximately one-half of the total page count of your project. If your novel is 300 pages total, the middle portion of the Plot Planner equals 150 pages. How many pages do you envision in the middle portion of your project?

Part Three: The End Page Count

The end portion of your Plot Planner will encompass approximately one-quarter of the total page count. If your novel is 300 pages total, the end portion equals 75 pages. How many pages do you envision in the end portion?

With all of these numbers, you have a good sense of where the beginning of your story begins and ends, where the middle—the longest part of your project—begins and ends, and where the end begins and ends.

Take a Break

You didn’t expect to do math to plot out your project, did you? This is it, I promise. You will use the numbers you generated here in the actual construction of your Plot Planner, but after that, no more numbers! And remember that these numbers are simply guidelines.

Before we move to the actual construction of your Plot Planner, why not sit back and look over your numbers. See your story in your mind. Take a deep breath. Invite in a spirit of discovery.