Actually Finishing Your Novel

The Eternal Debate

So, you've finally committed to tackling that novel you've always wanted to write. You've got the ideas, you've carved out the time, and you're all set to begin. You're faced with a blank page, and have to make your first choice:

1. Plow ahead, and just keep writing to get that crappy first draft out.
2. Start planning, outlining everything meticulously, before starting on the prose.

In other words, are you a "pantser" or a "plotter"?

Each has it's strong proponents, it's benefits, and it's drawbacks. As a pantser, you're discovering things as you go, and you can change your mind at will, sometimes surprising even yourself. But, things get more difficult towards the end, and your stories might just fizzle out, if you manage to get to the end at all.

As a plotter, by the time you start writing, you'll know exactly where you're headed and how to get there. Your story holds together well as a whole. But, your prose might lack that sense of spontaneity and play, assuming you ever get to the writing phase in the first place.

The thing is, few people are completely in one camp, and we all use elements from both of these approaches.

But word processors don't let us seamlessly flow from one mode to the other

Best of Both Worlds

In Gingko, you're always able to see and edit the overall structure of your story, and jump in and write the details out. You're able to write whatever comes to mind: whether it's a great line of dialogue, a sparkling description, or a summary of the final Act.

There's no division between outlining and writing. You're always doing both, and flowing easily between the two.

Now you can stay in flow as you write, be flexible and spontaneous, while still keeping the overall plot in mind and working towards a killer ending.

In other words, you can plan your novel, and write it too...

Gingko and the Hero's Journey template.

"I can recommend gingko — very cool web tool for structuring prose. Got me through the third act of the last novel..."

Michael Marshall Smith

New York Times best-selling author

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