Save the Girl, Or Save the World.

The single best plotting device I know.

Art credit, Canva

Hi. Hello! Welcome back to our Writing Series. I want to talk a bit more about Plot today since it seems to be one of the topics y’all are most interested in. (For a recap on previous plot discussions, see here, here, here, and here). If I had to guess, I’d say we have more Pantsers here than Plotters. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, let me explain.

“Pantsers” are those who write by the seat of their pants, meaning they go more by intuition and enthusiasm than an outline or a plot.

“Plotters” (like myself) are the exact opposite. We spend a great deal of time researching and plotting the entire storyline before we write a single word. (Control freaks, much?)

There is no right way to craft a novel. But most people lean more toward one direction than the other. Think of it like being Extroverted or Introverted. Sure there are gradients, but you generally know which side of the line on you’re on.

Now I’m curious. Let’s do a little poll as it will help me with this series in the future.

Of course now I’m curious if there is a correlation between Pantsing/Plotting and Introvert/Extrovert. I am a Plotting Extrovert if that helps. You? Let me know in the comments.

But I digress.

From our conversations in the comments these last few years, it seems like Plot is the the thing you’re most curious about. So I wanted to share the best plotting device that I have ever learned. It is a single choice that you give your Main Character.

I call it “Save the Girl, or Save the World” and this is how it works: