DR: Plotting the Plot

After thirty-one years of marriage, my husband and I recently bought our first house. The day we moved in, my mild-mannered (Clark) Ken peeled off his business shirt and tie to reveal a t-shirt emblazoned with SG—Super Gardner.

As a couple, we’ve always epitomized the old “opposites attract” saw, but never did this become more apparent than when we signed on the dotted line for this little plot of earth with a fenced in back yard.

Here, step-by-step is my landscaping technique:
*Select random pots of pretty flowers from discount store.
*Three weeks later, find sunny spots in yard, dig holes and set plants in.
*Two weeks later, discover some plants need shade to thrive.
*Pull out scorched plants and buy more pretty flowers at discount store.
*Discover some plants just don’t look good in the spot I chose. Pull out and relocate.
*Repeat throughout planting season until all plants are thriving.
Ultimate outcome: Very pretty yard
Total cost: $665.89

Landscaping for Ken, however, began with careful survey of the yard, then transferring those dimensions to the computer to create a precise schematic of lawn and buildings, including position of sprinkler heads, distance of easements, and location of existing landscaping. Next Ken attended landscaping workshops, and studied the makeup of our particular soil and drainage. After a month and a half of preparation, he was finally ready to purchase a few plants, carefully chosen for their size, coloration, blooming season and compatibility with companion plantings.
Ultimate outcome: Very pretty yard
Total cost: $665.89

Typing my technique beside nice, tidy bullet points doesn’t hide the fact that it is haphazard at best. And I confess that I plot my novels the same way I would plot our garden—if my super hero would let me anywhere near it.

I write seat-of-the-pants, knowing only the most basic elements of the plot when I begin, and getting to know my characters as I go. Often I’ll discover midway through my novel that a secondary character is unnecessary and must be killed off. Or a plot point simply doesn’t work and I must toss four chapters and start over from there. A character will often take on a mind of his own and start doing things I never expected and can’t seem to control.

If Ken were a novelist, I have no doubt he would subscribe to
Randy Ingermanson's meticulous snowflake method of plotting, spending weeks on a synopsis and outline before one word of the story was ever written. I’m sure once he finally started putting words to paper, his story plot, like his garden plots, would unfold with amazing precision, never wasting so much as a paragraph.

For $665.89, Ken’s finished garden might have a few more plants than mine, since none of his would have shriveled in the sun. And his plantings might be established more quickly since no time is wasted moving things from one spot to another. If he were writing a novel, I’m sure his first draft would be finished long before mine.

But the point is, regardless of our different creative styles, when we finally type “the end,” whether the project involves a plot of earth or a story plot, I think we’d end up with a similar finished product for a comparable “cost.”

I used to lament the fact that I don’t enjoy surveying or schematics—whether they pertain to gardening or novels. I tried to learn to be more of a “plotter.” But I’ve finally accepted that my slapdash, seat-of-the-pants method—crazy as it may drive Super Gardener types—works quite well for me. I like the journey, discovering my story much the way my readers will.

I guess I’ll plot my books my way and leave the garden plots to my super hero.

Deborah Raney, author of A Nest of Sparrows and Over the Waters
http://www.deborahraney.com