NaNoWriMo & the 7 Point Plot Structure

It’s almost November and everyone’s got their novel on the brain. Or you should. I mean if you’re a pantser, then you don’t need to worry about anything. You’ve got almost 2 weeks to relax.

But if you’re like me and you need a plan before you attempt to write 50,000 words then hopefully you’ve got an idea already and are plotting it out. (Maybe you’re even using Plottr already to get started faster)

I’m not going to try to explain the 7 point plot structure because there are plenty of people and sites that do that much better. Here’s some links:

Writing Excuses

Dan Wells on YouTube

First hit on Google

I was doing some thinking for all of you about NaNo milestones using the 7 point plot structure. My idea is to give you dates and word counts that you need to hit on those dates. Of course this would be a rough guide more than a rule. No story is going to have equal lengths for each of the 7 parts.

So take it with a grain of salt and don’t ruin your NaNo because of this, but here goes:

HOOK — Nov. 4th — 7,145

PLOT TURN 1 — Nov. 8th — 14,290

PINCH 1 — Nov. 12th — 21,435

MIDPOINT — Nov. 16th — 28,580

PINCH 2 — Nov. 20th — 35,725

PLOT TURN 2 — Nov. 24th — 42,870

RESOLUTION — Nov. 28th — 50,015

A couple notes about this guide. Each word count is more like a range, so the hook should be 0–7,145 words and you should be finished with it on November 4th. Plot turn 1 should be roughly 7k words (including transitions in and out of it) and it should fall between 7k and 14k words.

You’re going to do great this year. This year is going to be the best novel you’ve ever written for NaNoWriMo. You’re not going to be stressed out at all … okay maybe that last one is a stretch, but this year is going to be a lot smoother.

Lastly, I wanted to give you a little extra bonus to help this year go smoother. I’ve preloaded the 7 point plot structure into a Plottr template file for you. If you’ve already gotten Plottr, you can download this file and get started right away with a plot structure.

Use this link to download the Plottr file: 7 point plot structure – Plottr – nano

Happy writing!