The Importance of Planning

So, you have a great idea for a story that you want to share with the world. You need to ensure that you have not missed anything, and that your reader is going to understand it. You have the passion, the idea and the skill to let rip. You are grammatically competent, the greatest prose writer and can instigate more twists than a corkscrew. You are “wonder writer” and you type your work, beautifully presented, on your Word Processor and submit it for publishing. Some time later (if you are lucky) you get your manuscript back with a big, ugly thumbs down across it, and more often than not no reason given for the rejection.

 

Why? The reason very well may be because you have ignored the planning stage.

 

The problem is that what makes sense to you will not necessarily make sense to someone else. If you are extremely good, and this usually only happens when you are contracted, you will be required to perform a rewrite, that – while it sounds promising to the hungry writer – is in fact an absolute nightmare! With experience in writing for the BBC I can assure you of this.

 

One final word before we start on planning. Planning is an integral part of the writing process and therefore equally as personal. Choose a method of planning that suits you. There are lots out there and it is just a matter of finding one to suit. If in doubt, try tailor-making your own.

 

Why Use This Method?

I for one use a technique that I learned over thirty years ago in secondary school called “The Fish Method”. I still use it today before I tackle any writing project to test my story. One good thing that this planning process shows is whether your story has any weight and is worth continuing with. It will help you notice things that might be irrelevant, while at the same time highlight areas of inclusion that never occurred to you. The end result will be a very exciting project on your hands.

 

The Setup

The Fish method requires you to use an A4 piece of paper (8.27 X 11.69 inches), which you should position so that its orientation is landscape (use a larger piece of paper, if you wish). In the middle of the page draw a flat fish (not to scale - boom! boom!) using the width of the page. Draw two vertical lines that dissect the head and the tail leaving a nice fat, meaty body. Into the space at the top of the head, insert a bullet point. Repeat the bullet points vertically until you reach the bottom of the fish's head. Follow the same process on your fish’s tail. Repeat the same process on the fish’s body, but as you will notice, the body of the fish is large enough for you to make two, three or four columns – so perform the same task there.

 

Congratulations, your story now has a framework and you haven‘t written a word. You have a head (the beginning), a body (the middle) and an end (the tail). The head and the tail will take up approximately 20% of your fish (10% to introduce your story and 10% to conclude it), while you have a nice big 80% in your fishes body to get all the meaty things down for your piece. Now, your fish needs to speak to you, so draw a series of large bubbles from the fish’s mouth in a vertical direction towards the top of the page.

 

It's very important that you highlight your theme or title in the center across the width of the fish. This will help you maintain focus, as it is easy to stray from your intended issue when so many ideas start to flow.

 

Round 1

Now, write down points that you need to include in your story. You can use notes you've already written, or come up with them right now. You need to place them next to the bullet points in the appropriate part of the fish (beginning, middle, and end). If you are not sure whereabouts your point belongs, then place it underneath the fish, somewhere towards the bottom of the page. Do not waste time. Your creative juices are overflowing and you do not have time to ponder on what goes where and what doesn’t – do this later, as a further part of the planning process. Seize the moment!

 

Suddenly, with sparks flying off the nib of your pen through the sheer ferocity of your idea flow, you think of a shift in direction for your story. At this point, write it into the fishes bubble because this story is starting to speak to you. Again, do not dwell on it. Get it into that bubble and if another one comes stick that in another bubble and so on and so forth until you have a fish full of words. Stop when you have exhausted your ideas for your chosen project. You should have a fish full of words and a big smile on your face, or a fish with hardly any words and a glum expression.

 

In the case of the latter, you have done yourself a great favor – your story does not carry the weight that would enable a reader (and probably you the writer) to enjoy. Abort the idea for now, but keep your fish because you never know what may come around through future inspiration. Whatever you do, do not feel down about it.

 

Following this process, I promise you, will go a long way towards avoiding having to leave a project ’unfinished’. Honestly, ask yourself, “Have I ever written work which I have left incomplete?” I bet you have answered in the affirmative, and you certainly are not  alone in that – trust me!

 

In most cases, however, your fish will be full of words and you will be grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Stop. Do not even admire the work that you have done. Make yourself a drink, go for a walk, anything that gives you at least a five to ten minute break from your previous exercise.

 

Upon Your Return

Label your fish by inserting a title at the top of the page, something like “Draught One”. Grab another piece of paper and set about drawing another fish. Label it “Draught Two”. Refer to the points that are outside and below the fish in “Draught One”. Place them into the appropriate part of the fish – you now have the time to do this.

 

Starting at the bubbles, go through every point that you have made in the fish, deciding whether you wish to continue or disregard them. Delete your rejects and carry your approved points through to the brand new fish in “Draught Two”. There may well be further points that you wish to make. Write them into the appropriate part of the fish too and so on and so forth until you have mangled, dead “Draught One” and have a very proud looking fish in “Draught Two”.

 

Draw a smile across the fish's face because you are about to embark upon an exciting part of the creative process – the writing process.

 

 

The Fish Method: Part 2 coming soon!