How to: Plan a Piece of Creative Writing

Truth is, planning saves you time in the long run. It is not the most “fun” part of creative writing, but we feel that a fantastic plan will usually produce a fantastic outcome. Whether it’s a piece of music, art, or writing, having a place to throw your ideas down will not only help to organise them, but also create a space to get everything out of your head, and organise those thoughts! It’s like a “save button” for your fantastic brain. You can revisit it, cross things out, write little notes and generally unravel the knot of thoughts in your head... So let’s show you some effective ways to plan a piece of creative writing.

Mind maps

Mind maps are great. They’re fun, busy, bright and colourful, and you don’t have to worry about staying within the lines! Here, we have started to plan a piece of writing using question prompts to support our ideas. We have split them up, developed them, and now we can put them in a chronological order without (and most importantly) losing any valuable ideas!

Flow charts

This is ideal for the more organised of writers, who might feel a little overwhelmed by masses of writing and all those colours and arrows, because realistically, a mind map is a SPLASH of ideas that don’t really consider the natural flow of a story. Whereas a flow chart is fantastic for knowing exactly where you are going with your plot line. It’s clear, organised and flows nicely from one idea to the next. We recommend these for a longer piece of writing.

What to actually include…

As we’ve learnt, a plan is generally an outline of your own creative ideas. Remember, a plan can include anything you want! It is for you and for you only. No one has to see it. It is a reflection of what is going inside your brain.

We suggest organising your story plans by time period (introduction, build-up, event, conclusion), questions, or even by paragraph! It really is an easy way to relax your creative brain!

We have a rule at Sammie Allen Tutoring. Never throw out your plans. You don’t know how valuable some of those ideas are.