Just wow! As a newbie writer trying to organize my ideas and thoughts in one place, this tutorial is giving me life! Another author recommended the software and this video makes it clear why they love it so much! I will definitely be subscribing! Thank you! ❤❤
Liselle does a wonderful job of sharing her knowledge on plotting and the Plottr software. I've heard about the software for years, but I became a customer when I watched this presentation. .
Thank you, Liselle. You answered so many questions I didn't even know I needed to ask. You did a great job showing how to outline and what the process actually looks like.
I’m so happy it was helpful for you!! And yeah it’s hard with this program to kind of know how to go about things so I figured just sharing the full process would be the most helpful
Liselle, this video is so beyond generous! I’m amazed you created a story just to share your process fully. It worked too-it’s incredibly helpful to see your process in so much detail. I’m not even a plotter, at least not to start. But I’ve created many spreadsheets, some of which are surprisingly similar to Plottr, during the editing process. I love the visuals on Plottr, especially the linking and minimizing features. I am also all about the colors :0) (plus the icons in Scrivener!) Thanks so much for this video!!
I’m glad the example helped! It was a lot of work 😅 but it’s just so much easier to share the whole process when I can fully spoil something. And I didn’t want to spoil my own books because I want people to read them lol. So this seemed like it would work best for everyone. And it’s nice because now I’ve used this same story for multiple in depth process tutorials/walkthroughs. I could totally see how you would do a similar process in spreadsheets, that’s a method that seems like it would work really well for this sort of plotting. And yes haha I love colours. I should use the scrivener icons more tbh
I was JUST looking for the FOLD video and couldn’t find it and was thinking about asking you if you had access to it and here you are with an entire video on the same topic! Thank you!
Yeah another viewer told me the FOLD video was down (it was never meant to be permanent in any case) and asked if I’d make a YT video a while ago and so I finally got around to getting it together. I knew it would be long so I had to work up to it 😅
“Is this a very lengthy and involved process?” Yes and now I have to go and buy Plottr, because I’ve been interested in it since you started talking about it and wanted to see how you use it in depth because I’m a visual learner and needed to see it and now I know I need it. 😂
I am blown away by this video! And I know you have a full docket, but I seriously hope you reconsider not writing this story - I was so invested in reading this story as I listened to you explain how to outline and had to keep reminding myself of what you said at the beginning of the video, lol
Haha I’m glad it was keeping you engaged!! I can’t see myself writing it 😅 but I can at least keep using it for examples. I feel like it helps the example for it to be something people could actually see themselves reading
@@LiselleSambury I know you’re not interested in publishing this, but I think it would be a fun and educational project. Imagine creating a TH-cam tutorial series where you guide your subscribers through the entire process of writing a book or novel. You could start with the initial idea, develop characters and plot, and work through the writing and editing stages. Think of it like a behind-the-scenes look at your creative process. You might even find inspiration from Bethany Atazadeh’s ‘The Butter Book’ series on TH-cam.
@@KeiNicole I fully see the appeal of this as a video watcher, but this is a terrifying amount of work to me as a video creator 😂 which is why I mostly try and replicate this with works I am publishing as much as I can through my vlogs. But I admire other creators who do that!
This is incredible, truly. I have tried to make charts like this in Microsoft Word, and needless to say, it’s a challenge. 😬 Thanks so much for sharing.
Yeah I feel like if any Microsoft program is a good alternative that excel would probably be best since at least you can move the cells around and stuff. But it seems like it would be really hard in MS word
Thanks for this! My ears perked up when you said you use Notion for a calendar for your story! I am still learning Notion. Could you make a video to show how you use the calendar for that? That would be great!
Great video! I have a similar layered method, though a bit more comprehensive since I'm working on a multi-book series (more than a trilogy). I do everything on google docs, but this was a nice visual tool. I may try the free trial toward the end of my project to see if it helps me organize things a bit more clearly. BTW, You can probably just delete the save the cat thread when you're done with it so you don't constantly have to select everything.
That’s cool that you’re able to do your style in Google docs! But yeah the trial may be worth it later on. And yeah, so I always get paranoid that somehow I’m gonna need the save the cat thread which is why I wasn’t deleting it haha. But I started just duplicating the file and then I delete the save the cat line off that one. Which actually solves that weird thing of the navigation not working properly or showing the chapters.
Sounds like an interesting tool :) Thanks for the video!! I guess I could use it also after I've written the first draft to then fill out the missing parts and see what scenes I still need to make the story work? Over the past years I found myself to be more of a Plantser and exploring a lot through writing it instead of planning before hand. Is it an offline tool? I'm kind of skeptical about online tools and putting my work in there :P I don't know if you've done videos about these topics, but I would be really interested in how you specifically build a Horror Story and also I would love to see a video on your progress in writing Short Stories!
Yeah that’s definitely an option or to use it for revision which is something I use it for too. It’s very dependent on each person. And yes, it’s an offline tool. And I totally get the skepticism about online tools, I feel that too to some extent given this whole AI training things some of these companies insist on doing. I actually use this same process for short stories though I don’t really write short stories anymore. And the same for horror except like “how can I make it scary?” and maybe more focus on those TRDs I mention in the video to make it more fast paced. This is really my tried and true process for every story I create across genres and age categories. And I basically just change out the story specific layers I use to match what the story needs.
I don’t do zero drafts so I’m perhaps not the greatest authority on this 😅 I plot and then go straight into a first draft, but I feel like whatever works for you can work. If you want to plan first you can do that. Or if you want that experience of drafting first and then what to use it as a revision tool after. I don’t really think you can go wrong either way.
Hi you have more than one card on some scenes. Eg your scene 14 has a card for the main plot and the CA line. Also some have 3 layers of scenes. How does this work in your story as you can’t tell all these cards at the same time.
Yes, so the main plot card has information about what’s happening in the plot, and the CA line has what’s relevant for the character arc. So each layer represents information that’s specific to that layer. And when you switch to the Outline view, you’ll see all the cards under a single scene heading. So scene 14 would show the main plot card, the CA line card, and any other card underneath it. That’s how I can see them all at the same time when I go to write the actual story. Sometimes for a single layer I will also do multiple cards and this is simply to separate thoughts or topics. Like in scene 14 under the subplot infiltrate summer program, I have one card about the school assignment and another about the study night. They could technically just be one card. But sometimes I like to separate my thoughts. Does that answer your question?
@@OtoLivingston I don’t really use any sort of order? I just look at everything that needs to happen in that chapter and add it in where it makes sense. So it’s not as if the stuff that comes first in the layers is what I put down first in the chapter.
I don’t really use any phone apps 😅 I always write on my computer. And occasionally I may make notes in Notion but that’s all so I don’t know that I’m the best source for that info
Thanks so much Liselle for this video ! t's been 1 year I've been using Plottr for a year now and I'm in awe when I see how faster I've been able to plot my 4 books series (even if I'm not done yet) Have you experienced plotting a series in plottr ? I would be interested in your experience in that matter. For now I planned the whole series (with the series vue) : my 1st book is already written, Book 2 in plotted and I put some milestones for Books 3 and 4. Though I have some issues : I was thinking about reorganising and rewriting book 1 because it's too big and I feel like I can tighten the story, maybe using your method and STC. For Book 2, even if I planned and plotted with all the arcs, subplots etc, I somehow can't pass from my plotting phase to the chapter and scenes planning phase... If you see what I mean. So thanks for these templates, I hope it will help me to pass this threshold ! Can't wait to see if you have more things to say about Plottr !
I actually have been plotting my new trilogy on Plottr. And I was planning to do a video at some point about plotting series so maybe I’ll incorporate that. But essentially I’m just plotting it the way I did the first book. It’s just I have access to the character sheets from the series. But I keep them on separate timelines. And yeah, for me, because of the way publishing is, I don’t plot or write the second book until I finish editing the first book. And I don’t think I would be able to plot the next book until doing that. So I would plot them one at a time personally, and just have general ideas about the other books.
I feel like self-pub authors must be really good at that though because they publish books at a much faster rate. I wonder if there’s a self-pub author with tips about writing series in that way in which you plan them more upfront?
@@LiselleSambury Thanks a lot for your answer ! I'd love to see this trilogy plotting with Plottr ! That would be interesting, indeed ! I usually do the way you do too. Book 1 was finished and edited before I started planning Book 2 in deep, while thinking about big events in Book 3 and 4. Though I feel like it's somehow difficult to find a balance between what you need to know about your further books while you're writing the previous ones, in order to place some foreshadowings here and there. Planning the whole book series from start to finish might also be daunting if you find out in the middle of the writing that you go in a totally different direction than planned xD
@@ArtofCodaleia yeah I think that’s why I’d prefer not to try and plan the whole thing in one go because then it feels like I would just end up constantly adjusting things. I don’t know that a trilogy plotting video is on the horizon though considering that I wouldn’t be done that until likely 2026 😅
![Writing Craft: How to Create Compelling Characters [CC]](/img/n.gif)
Just wow! As a newbie writer trying to organize my ideas and thoughts in one place, this tutorial is giving me life! Another author recommended the software and this video makes it clear why they love it so much! I will definitely be subscribing! Thank you! ❤❤
Thanks for subscribing!! And I’m so happy this was helpful to you, and excited that another author recommended it too. It’s just so useful!
You literally are the best authortuber 💐
🥹💛
Liselle does a wonderful job of sharing her knowledge on plotting and the Plottr software. I've heard about the software for years, but I became a customer when I watched this presentation.
.
I’m so glad this helped you with deciding whether or not the software is for you!!
Fantastic video, Liselle! It's awesome to see how you're using Plottr 🔥
Thank you!! I really do love the program and am excited to see all the updates to come ☺️
This is amazing. Thank you so much. I’m a visual learner and you are amazing for going through this so well.
So happy this could help you!! And yeah I figured the screen recordings would be more helpful for visual learners
For the amount of free advertising youve done for Plottr they should sponsor you. 😅
As always I LOVE this type of content. Thank you!!! 💜💜💜
Haha I think that’s why they gave me the affiliate link
Thank you, Liselle. You answered so many questions I didn't even know I needed to ask. You did a great job showing how to outline and what the process actually looks like.
I’m so happy it was helpful for you!! And yeah it’s hard with this program to kind of know how to go about things so I figured just sharing the full process would be the most helpful
Liselle, this video is so beyond generous! I’m amazed you created a story just to share your process fully. It worked too-it’s incredibly helpful to see your process in so much detail.
I’m not even a plotter, at least not to start. But I’ve created many spreadsheets, some of which are surprisingly similar to Plottr, during the editing process. I love the visuals on Plottr, especially the linking and minimizing features.
I am also all about the colors :0) (plus the icons in Scrivener!)
Thanks so much for this video!!
I’m glad the example helped! It was a lot of work 😅 but it’s just so much easier to share the whole process when I can fully spoil something. And I didn’t want to spoil my own books because I want people to read them lol. So this seemed like it would work best for everyone. And it’s nice because now I’ve used this same story for multiple in depth process tutorials/walkthroughs.
I could totally see how you would do a similar process in spreadsheets, that’s a method that seems like it would work really well for this sort of plotting. And yes haha I love colours. I should use the scrivener icons more tbh
I was JUST looking for the FOLD video and couldn’t find it and was thinking about asking you if you had access to it and here you are with an entire video on the same topic! Thank you!
Yeah another viewer told me the FOLD video was down (it was never meant to be permanent in any case) and asked if I’d make a YT video a while ago and so I finally got around to getting it together. I knew it would be long so I had to work up to it 😅
Wow I finally had a chance to watch in full and this was so helpful! Thank you again!
“Is this a very lengthy and involved process?” Yes and now I have to go and buy Plottr, because I’ve been interested in it since you started talking about it and wanted to see how you use it in depth because I’m a visual learner and needed to see it and now I know I need it. 😂
Yes so fair about being a visual learner which is why I wanted to make a more clear/involved video like this. I hope it’ll work well for you!
I am blown away by this video! And I know you have a full docket, but I seriously hope you reconsider not writing this story - I was so invested in reading this story as I listened to you explain how to outline and had to keep reminding myself of what you said at the beginning of the video, lol
Haha I’m glad it was keeping you engaged!! I can’t see myself writing it 😅 but I can at least keep using it for examples. I feel like it helps the example for it to be something people could actually see themselves reading
@@LiselleSambury I know you’re not interested in publishing this, but I think it would be a fun and educational project. Imagine creating a TH-cam tutorial series where you guide your subscribers through the entire process of writing a book or novel. You could start with the initial idea, develop characters and plot, and work through the writing and editing stages. Think of it like a behind-the-scenes look at your creative process. You might even find inspiration from Bethany Atazadeh’s ‘The Butter Book’ series on TH-cam.
@@KeiNicole I fully see the appeal of this as a video watcher, but this is a terrifying amount of work to me as a video creator 😂 which is why I mostly try and replicate this with works I am publishing as much as I can through my vlogs. But I admire other creators who do that!
Can't wait to watch this is so exciting!
☺️☺️
This is incredible, truly. I have tried to make charts like this in Microsoft Word, and needless to say, it’s a challenge. 😬 Thanks so much for sharing.
Yeah I feel like if any Microsoft program is a good alternative that excel would probably be best since at least you can move the cells around and stuff. But it seems like it would be really hard in MS word
Thanks for this! My ears perked up when you said you use Notion for a calendar for your story! I am still learning Notion. Could you make a video to show how you use the calendar for that? That would be great!
That’s a good idea to do at some point! I’ll write that down as a future video!
Tack!
Thanks so much!!!
This was amazing, thank you!
I hope it helped!!
Great video! I have a similar layered method, though a bit more comprehensive since I'm working on a multi-book series (more than a trilogy). I do everything on google docs, but this was a nice visual tool. I may try the free trial toward the end of my project to see if it helps me organize things a bit more clearly. BTW, You can probably just delete the save the cat thread when you're done with it so you don't constantly have to select everything.
That’s cool that you’re able to do your style in Google docs! But yeah the trial may be worth it later on. And yeah, so I always get paranoid that somehow I’m gonna need the save the cat thread which is why I wasn’t deleting it haha. But I started just duplicating the file and then I delete the save the cat line off that one. Which actually solves that weird thing of the navigation not working properly or showing the chapters.
Sounds like an interesting tool :) Thanks for the video!! I guess I could use it also after I've written the first draft to then fill out the missing parts and see what scenes I still need to make the story work? Over the past years I found myself to be more of a Plantser and exploring a lot through writing it instead of planning before hand.
Is it an offline tool? I'm kind of skeptical about online tools and putting my work in there :P
I don't know if you've done videos about these topics, but I would be really interested in how you specifically build a Horror Story and also I would love to see a video on your progress in writing Short Stories!
Yeah that’s definitely an option or to use it for revision which is something I use it for too. It’s very dependent on each person. And yes, it’s an offline tool. And I totally get the skepticism about online tools, I feel that too to some extent given this whole AI training things some of these companies insist on doing.
I actually use this same process for short stories though I don’t really write short stories anymore. And the same for horror except like “how can I make it scary?” and maybe more focus on those TRDs I mention in the video to make it more fast paced. This is really my tried and true process for every story I create across genres and age categories. And I basically just change out the story specific layers I use to match what the story needs.
Would you recommend setting up a thorough plot structure before or after a zero draft?
I don’t do zero drafts so I’m perhaps not the greatest authority on this 😅 I plot and then go straight into a first draft, but I feel like whatever works for you can work. If you want to plan first you can do that. Or if you want that experience of drafting first and then what to use it as a revision tool after. I don’t really think you can go wrong either way.
Hi you have more than one card on some scenes. Eg your scene 14 has a card for the main plot and the CA line. Also some have 3 layers of scenes. How does this work in your story as you can’t tell all these cards at the same time.
Yes, so the main plot card has information about what’s happening in the plot, and the CA line has what’s relevant for the character arc. So each layer represents information that’s specific to that layer.
And when you switch to the Outline view, you’ll see all the cards under a single scene heading. So scene 14 would show the main plot card, the CA line card, and any other card underneath it. That’s how I can see them all at the same time when I go to write the actual story.
Sometimes for a single layer I will also do multiple cards and this is simply to separate thoughts or topics. Like in scene 14 under the subplot infiltrate summer program, I have one card about the school assignment and another about the study night. They could technically just be one card. But sometimes I like to separate my thoughts.
Does that answer your question?
@@LiselleSambury thanks. How do you decide which comes first in your writing?
@@OtoLivingston I don’t really use any sort of order? I just look at everything that needs to happen in that chapter and add it in where it makes sense. So it’s not as if the stuff that comes first in the layers is what I put down first in the chapter.
@@LiselleSambury oh I get it, thanks for your time. Not many people bother with comments
@@OtoLivingston no problem! I try to answer all my comments if I can. Especially for videos like this where people might need clarification ☺️
Could you do best apps on the phone to use as an author for those authors that are more on the go?
I don’t really use any phone apps 😅 I always write on my computer. And occasionally I may make notes in Notion but that’s all so I don’t know that I’m the best source for that info
Thanks so much Liselle for this video ! t's been 1 year I've been using Plottr for a year now and I'm in awe when I see how faster I've been able to plot my 4 books series (even if I'm not done yet)
Have you experienced plotting a series in plottr ? I would be interested in your experience in that matter.
For now I planned the whole series (with the series vue) : my 1st book is already written, Book 2 in plotted and I put some milestones for Books 3 and 4. Though I have some issues : I was thinking about reorganising and rewriting book 1 because it's too big and I feel like I can tighten the story, maybe using your method and STC.
For Book 2, even if I planned and plotted with all the arcs, subplots etc, I somehow can't pass from my plotting phase to the chapter and scenes planning phase... If you see what I mean.
So thanks for these templates, I hope it will help me to pass this threshold !
Can't wait to see if you have more things to say about Plottr !
I actually have been plotting my new trilogy on Plottr. And I was planning to do a video at some point about plotting series so maybe I’ll incorporate that.
But essentially I’m just plotting it the way I did the first book. It’s just I have access to the character sheets from the series. But I keep them on separate timelines.
And yeah, for me, because of the way publishing is, I don’t plot or write the second book until I finish editing the first book. And I don’t think I would be able to plot the next book until doing that. So I would plot them one at a time personally, and just have general ideas about the other books.
I feel like self-pub authors must be really good at that though because they publish books at a much faster rate. I wonder if there’s a self-pub author with tips about writing series in that way in which you plan them more upfront?
@@LiselleSambury Thanks a lot for your answer ! I'd love to see this trilogy plotting with Plottr ! That would be interesting, indeed !
I usually do the way you do too. Book 1 was finished and edited before I started planning Book 2 in deep, while thinking about big events in Book 3 and 4. Though I feel like it's somehow difficult to find a balance between what you need to know about your further books while you're writing the previous ones, in order to place some foreshadowings here and there.
Planning the whole book series from start to finish might also be daunting if you find out in the middle of the writing that you go in a totally different direction than planned xD
@@LiselleSambury I would be curious to hear about their experience
@@ArtofCodaleia yeah I think that’s why I’d prefer not to try and plan the whole thing in one go because then it feels like I would just end up constantly adjusting things. I don’t know that a trilogy plotting video is on the horizon though considering that I wouldn’t be done that until likely 2026 😅
Who do we need to talk to in order to get you sponsored girl? 😂😊
They gave me an affiliate code haha I think that’s their sponsor option lol