How To Plan Novels & Stories

A plan should fit on one page. That is what sensible people say. Sensible people also say things like take it one day at a time and communication is key, which proves sensible people should be gently removed from crisis management and given a fern to supervise. Maya's plan does not fit on one page.

There was also the fact that New York would be an excellent place for him to go, since he would have to leave Seattle for a while. As he thought of this, he gritted his teeth and gave in completely. “I’ll start planning, Young Master Fox. We have to make a comprehensive plan if we want to succeed! Just one plan will not be sufficient. There must also be at least one or two contingency plans for backup, in case the first fails.” Homer grinned, pleased. “With your intelligence and wisdom, Finley, I’m sure things will turn out perfectly!”

His mind moved faster than he remembered it ever could, calculating risk, plotting milestones. Within an hour, he had laid out a rough six-month plan: Month 1: Branding, domain acquisition, setting up a small team. Month 2-3: Beta testing the core product and scaling MVP. Month 4: Pitching to investors or self-funding. Month 5: Market penetration with a targeted PR rollout. Month 6: Break-even projection and aggressive growth. He leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply. The plan stared back at him from the screen, the edges glowing faintly in the dark.

"What does that matter?" I shook my head. "How do you just... go on without a plan?" "Because I believe in having a good plan, a back-up, and the knowledge that no plan survives engagement." I groaned. "Then why plan at all." "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Going in with a plan doesn't guarantee success. It just means that you're controlling your reaction to what could happen more than if you went in with nothing." He poked me in the forehead. "Your problem is that you don't understand the value of brainstorming, imagining, fantasy even." He shook his head. "All those science journals have taught you one mode of thinking, and it's rigid."

That is, after all, what pack was for. As he dealt with that, Janine laid out charts and graphs of how things would happen, when and in what pattern. They set scopes and needs out so that they would have a gauge of whether this would work. What would they accept and what wouldn’t? It was all so complicated, but logical at the same time. Mind you, she’d hosted events that took just as much planning and with the information that Haden received from his Beta it helped greatly to organize the bulk of it into more manageable sections, divide it up with possible contact information and log the responses they got back and where they were with each person.

She hoped she could get him to do the same, at least in time. “So, I should be buying things starting when?” Mitsuhide asked. He was beginning to do what he did best. Make plans. Making plans and then back up plans is what he was trained for. In a way, it calmed down his mind, and he could have ninety different things going on, but they all had to be in their right place within the plans. “That is a hard one, Mitsuhide.” She replied as she looked over to him as he sat there with his eyes closed, resting his head back on the couch. He opened his eyes and glanced at her.

You would think I’m seventeen on my first date. Since leaving the bar with Max and receiving Shana’s text that she was done for the week and wanted me to take her mind off work, I’ve been in planning overload. It’s what I do. I plan, probably excessively. After all, a structure doesn’t become a fifty-story building without planning. First there are specs. What will be needed to secure the foundation? A building or a bridge, no matter how well constructed, won’t stand without a strong foundation. After that, preliminary plans are developed. The investors’ desires are taken into consideration but always with safety regulations in mind.

“You need to eat.” “Thanks, Mom.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Any time, pumpkin.” Joe laughed and sat in the chair next to me. “Give me the rundown.” I handed him the map labeled ‘A’. “This is the first plan we are going to run, if things go awry then I have six other back up plans. We can have stores here and here. In case we need more bullets.” “That’s good,” Joe said as he squinted at the papers in front of him.

I reply, settling into the seat and pulling out my planner to review my checklist. I let out a quiet sigh as I scan the endless list of tasks. How is there still so much left to do, even after spending nearly a month planning this event?

Jude questioned “Like I said earlier, being a CEO is tasking but the best you can do is to plan out what and how you want the business to be in days, months and years to come . Planning comes with focused so you must picture the destination from the start. All I did was put things in shape and order then renewed business contract terms as well as signing new ones” Charlotte explained “What an amazing plan, Miss Charlotte how do you see the company in the next few months?” Jude asked