Preptober 2020

It's mind-boggling to finally, after so many years, be looking seriously at the THIRD BOOK in the world of When Stars Burn Out. There's a strange difference between knowing the way a story should be told, and actually telling it — and Book Three has held true to this reality.

I've known for years the way this five-book series goes, and yet it's impossible for me to stick to an outline. Whenever I'm writing, inevitably there are bigger, better ideas that crop up, all of which seem to better tell the story at hand. This doesn't mean I divorce myself from plot as much as it means I don't cling to my outlines like they're life rafts — because sometimes, they are the very opposite.

But regardless, I've never been one to jump into a story without at least some semblance of an outline. And so, with Preptober in full swing, I've been using the image below to plot out the basics for Book Three in the series! (The title of which I can't wait to announce.)

What are some of your favorite, go-to resources for plotting?