Author: Lisa Saul

In my article “7 Steps to Plotting Your Novel”, I talked about creating character sheets. Filling out character sheets can be a really effective way to know your characters inside and out before you write. It is also a valuable first step in making your characters memorable, well-rounded, consistent and alive to your reader. I find that the easiest way to do a character sheet is to fill out a pre-made questionnaire.

These steps were originally in the blog post, “Plotting: Is it better to be a Planner or a Pantser?” I moved them here to make it easy to use as a reference and to shorten the other post. There is a bit more to say about planning, and I recommend you still read the post above if you haven’t already.

You might have already come across this debate: Is it better to plan your novel or to wing it? Once upon a time I held a firm opinion in one direction, but then something surprising happened. And it led to a whole new way of seeing things – a different solution that I had never heard of before.

Before we get into any other piece of advice, we need to start with the most important thing I have to tell you. It is not just the most important piece of writing-related advice I ever received, it also led to some of the most important lessons God ever taught me, a decade after I first put the advice into practice. If you read nothing else, I hope you read this.