Finding Out Why

I don’t outline. That is, I can’t sit down and bullet point all the aspects of my story. Instead, what I do I call a short draft.

A short draft is kind of like a summary I write before I write the story. It hits all the main plot points and it’s all tell/no show. It’s a way to organize my story in my head. Things may not go the way I plan, but it still helps to have some sort of map.

I wrote a short draft for the story in the point of view of my main character. Now it’s time to do the same for this evil wizard.

I have a what. I need a why. Why would this wizard go to all this trouble to work such a spell? It has to be for love.

Then all the pieces fell into place. Take a lost love. Combine it with the characters and situations I already had. Mix until it makes sense. Let the ingredients bake together. And a climax that makes sense emerges.

Whew! For a while there, I thought I was going to have to give up.

How do you “map out” your story (if you’re a plotter)? Do you outline? Or do you do something similar to what I do?

Wrapping it up

Resolution
It's also known as the falling action. This is the part after the big climax, when things begin to settle down. The  fallout is dealt with. Lingering loose ends are tied up -- or not. This part of the story can be very short, or it can run for some thousands of words, depending on how much you need to clean up, what your readers expect you to address in wrapping up the story, and whether you're laying groundwork for further novels.

Major life changes
Death, marriage, a serious psychological upheaval... readers want to know the characters are going to be okay. That they've adjusted to the new situation, or are making progress toward that.

Back to normal
If your story was about fixing something and getting back to normal, show us that it worked. A little zinger can be fun, though, if things aren't quite they way they used to be.

Ask: what next?
If your characters are riding off into the sunset for further adventures (whether you're going to write them or not) then do give us that riding-into-the-sunset shot. In some ways, this is very similar to the "Back to normal" situation, especially if your characters are career adventurers -- heading off is normal, for them. If you've got a follow-up novel in mind, you can throw a few hints in here.

Don't let this slide
Getting to the end of a novel is exhausting. But bear in mind that this the last of your writing the reader will see until your next book. You don't want to leave them frustrated -- though curious is good, maybe a hint of "hmm, that could be a problem in the future," and warm fuzzy feelings are popular too.

Getting to the end of this series of posts was exhausting too. See you for the contest in August!