I'm always worried that I'll sit down all ready to go on June 1st and find myself staring at a blank page, frantically hoping words will jump onto it. So I've chosen a specific manuscript that I'm going to work on over the month. I'll be writing a Regency romance set near the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and my heroine is a French woman who goes undercover as an English actress to spy on the British war plans.
If you don't already have something you want to work on, here are some excellent resources to help you plan your novel:
- Seventh Sanctum have a romance-specific plot generator!
- "This story starts in a tourist town in South America. In it, a brave cab driver falls in love with a religious merchant - all thanks to a theft."
- The Snowflake method is an interesting take on how to do extremely detailed plotting before you begin writing. You can find it on this site. (Though I note they also try and sell you the software - still, good free information.)
- Some writers find it helpful to read through the key aspects of story-telling that Joseph Campbell outlined as the hero's journey.
- If you write Regency novels, there is an extremely detailed plot generator here. And I mean REALLY detailed. Right down to what number child they were and character likes and dislikes.
- Prefer to get your title first and work out a plot that fits? There is an excellent romance title generator here.
- "Fleeting Flames", "A Winter Stranger", "The Nightingale and the Voyagers".
Anyone else have any great resources that help with plotting? And do you know what you're planning to write this June?
