I’m not an outliner.

The very idea of making decisions on behalf of my characters before I hear their voices in my head makes me itch. I write to find these things out. To do it any other way feels like planning out all my rest stops on a road trip–a waste of time. And a horrible way to spoil the surprise.

Nothing turns me off of a story idea more than knowing the particulars of how it will end.

That said, I don’t like burning pages and pages going in the wrong direction either. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with writing words you’ll eventually toss, but if I can point myself toward some landmarks with potential, I give myself a shot of getting where I’m going a little quicker and with a little less pain.

My fall 2020 release, WINTER, WHITE AND WICKED was ideal to plot in this way. As a journey book, my characters move from one location to another and, for the most part, they do it as a team. To keep the story moving forward, I drew a (TERRIBLE!) map, marked out their trail, and then added obstacles. 

I didn’t decide how my characters were going to respond to each obstacle–I just dropped trouble onto the road and trusted my characters would respond as they should.

A journey book is easy to draft this way because the physical journey of the characters–the moving from one place to another–is such a visual representation of the hero’s journey–the process a character goes through as they move from what they were when the story began to what they will be at the story’s end.

But you can use landmarks to help you plot any story. The key is to use landmarks with potential. But potential to do what?

Potential to:

1. Cause a problem that must be solved
2. Establish or raise the stakes
3. Show off your character(s)
4. Show off your setting(s)
5. Inflict pain, loss, or embarrassment
6. Damage a relationship
7. Compel sacrifice
8. Present a choice
9. Turn the comfortable uncomfortable
10. Offer redemption

This is not an exhaustive list by any means. It’s just to get you thinking. Determining whether or not a plot point in your story has potential is as simple as asking yourself “how difficult can I make this for my characters?”

If you’re telling a contemporary, coming-of-age tale centering around a high school track star, a landmark with a lot of potential could be your hero breaking his leg. Or suddenly being pitted against his mentor. Or having to decide if attending the championships is worth losing a chance at the girl he’s loved his whole life.

Your track star’s landmarks won’t look anything like the avalanches and frozen waterfalls my characters have to traverse, but they’ll actually have a lot in common.

The goal of any landmark is two fold: to give you, the writer, something to aim for, and to somehow, someway initiate change within your story.

If you’d like to try your hand at plotting by landmark, start by making a list of all the things you know about the story. You don’t need to think too hard at this point. You already have a story idea (or perhaps even a story beginning). What else do you know? Do you know what the story problem is? How about the love interest? What do you know about that? Is there a villain? What other obstacles have been rattling around in your head?

Once you have a list, pinpoint the items that might act as landmarks. Moments of change you can draft a scene around. Ideally you want to have at least four or five landmarks. I know some authors who continue to develop their list until they have ten or fifteen. And I know others who expand their list to forty. There’s no right way, no perfect number.

Once you have a list you’re satisfied with, organize it into chronological order and tada! You have a very rudimentary roadmap of your book!

This map of landmarks can be used to scratch out a synopsis or outline, if that’s how you work best. For me, I keep this list near my elbow as I write and I fiddle with it as I go, all the while aiming for the next landmark on my list. When I’m a third of the way into my first draft, I’ll trade in my list of landmarks for an open-ended synopsis that will act as my guide the rest of the way. 

What do you think about plotting by landmarks? Do you think it’s a tool that might come in useful as you work toward finishing your novel? Any questions I can answer for you?