Step 5: Have a roadmap, and you won't get lost

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Before you start writing, consider creating a high-level storyboard that serves as a guide for your story. A storyboard is a simple outline of major plot points, i.e., moments that impact the protagonist's journey. For my storyboards, I include the inciting incident (what gets the story started), conflicts, deaths, betrayals, and other key plot points. It rarely looks like an outline; it's more of a page with plot points jotted on it, and arrows leading from one plot point to another. Some plot points have no lines to or from them, because I don't yet know how they'll fit into the story. As I write my novel, I update the storyboard to reflect the scenes actually written, chapter by chapter. It makes both self-editing and the synopsis writing much easier.

Don't spend too much time on your storyboard. Once you begin writing, your characters will take over and lead you down paths you never expected.

Having a solid understanding of your story's premise, demographics, and characters will give you armor to blast through writer's block. Identifying your world and having a roadmap will help you write faster, which can help you stay in the groove as you write your novel. 

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