The eNotes Blog The Best Laid Plans ofNovelists

The Best Laid Plans ofNovelists Ever wondered how some of your favorite authors tackled the crazy job of putting pen to paper and creating those stories you loved to read? Well, were here to tell you its not all magical. As you can see from these intricate spreadsheets and notes, crafting a novel takes a whole lot of careful planning. Just click on any of the following spreadsheets and scribbles for a closer look to find out. This first is from none other than J. K. Rowling, who planned out all seven books of her Harry Potter series before she had even started writing the second. Heres part of her plan for Order of the Phoenix: In the columns, Rowling separates each chapter by its subplots; she lists, Prophecy, O of P (Order of the Phoenix), Cho/Ginny (the romantic subplot of the novel), Snape, and Hagrid as different  story lines  to help her keep track of the plot. For a zoomed in look at the detailed spreadsheet, click here. Even more intricate than Rowlings, though, are Joseph Hellers plans for Catch-22, the entirety of which can be seen in very tiny writing below. I would explain this one, but its about as complicated as the premise of the novel itself. If youre a die-hard Heller fan, spend a good ten minutes zooming into the full-scale version here. Not all novel plans are restricted to pen and paper, though. In fact, some of them cant help but to burst out onto the walls, as Faulkners plot for A Fable famously did: The planning of this Pulitzer Prize winning novel took place at Faulkners Rowan Oak home, which is now open to tourists. It was certainly an ingenious way to immerse himself in his story, but legend has it not everybody was quite so pleased with the method William Faulkner, using a graphite pencil and red grease pencil, penned the outline of  The Fable  on the walls of his Mississippi office. Faulkners wife, disappointed with this decision, had the walls repainted. In return, Faulkner rewrote the outline and then shellacked the wall to ensure a permanent record. Nobel Prize-winning author, yes. Home decorator, I think not. For some other fun and inspiring articles, check out the full gallery from Flavorwire, then tell us which novel youd most like to see the plans of in a comment below.