To answer the prompt: I am unpublished, and I have yet to start writing my first book. This post is my opinion, and may help in some way. I’m going on vacation next month, and I will begin writing my first book after I return and when I feel ready. I am 9½ months into learning, researching, creating databases and lecture notes, and so on, of starting from ground zero. I like to challenge myself, and I want to learn every aspect I can. I built my fictional world into four eras with multiple books (17 in all) each era. I want to learn how to do project management for a series. I took it a step further and bifurcated my concept to two series with one, shared setting. This opens a lot of possibilites, such as: intermingling try-fail cycles, following one series only if the other does not do well, and so forth. Rowling took some seven years to get her first HP book out (started in 1990 and finished book one in 1996, I believe). I created a lot of Word and Excel databases to keep account of my characters (where they left off last, how they felt, and so forth) and facts I need to keep straight. As far as plotting vs. pantsing, it’s a spectrum. Everyone, to some extent, does at least a little of both. I am a huge planner. I would not try to plot everything; it takes away from creative freedom. Quantity (heavy on pantsing) vs. Quality (heavy of plotting). This is not to say pantsed novels cannot be high quality. Brandon Sanderson noted problems with each approach. He said there is a tendency for people who pants most to have strong characters but weak plots.
Quick and dirty response: Use plot structure diagrams and other graphics (and templates) to help you through the work. Many of these can be found on writer blogs and simple Google Images searches (one listed at the bottom of this post).
* * *
Long response…. Learning to write well, starting from ground zero, can be summed up in one word: plateauing. We can chart a visual to explain it. Y-axis is skill. X-axis is time. On your own merits, you can reach a certain point then not progress to a higher level of skill. Someone helps you over some stagnant level of skill development (a hurdle) to get you to the next level of skill, over time. This repeats till you are at some level of skill you are comfortable with and work from. This is relational to writer’s block, as noted here:
http://www.writingeekery.com/writers-block-know-your-plateau/
For me, someone starting from ground zero (as of August of last year), this is the frustrating route; one I did not take. I wanted to expedite my learning curve. I watched almost 50 hours of free, online instruction from Brandon Sanderson and his guest lecturers. From his lectures, I visited A LOT of blog sites (where writers and those learning the process share what they know and learned). If you go to the right blog sites, all free, they provide some intermediate-to-advanced instruction (compared to Sanderson’s nuts-and-bolts approach). I created a 50 page Word document with notes and links from the aforementioned sources. If I need a quick refresher, I just type a Ctrl+F, type in the search term, and all instances pull up.
Sanderson teaches you invaluable information. For example, we do not sell stories. We sell skill. If you want to write for yourself, and not focus on making money from it, go about it as you like. If you want to make money, Sanderson offers great advice: become skilled. He tells of the structure box (the author’s approach to prose). It is what makes readers excited about the story. He tells of character ROMPS, developing characters with slides, and age-appropriate content (MG and YA). He tells of the cultural and physical settings of worlds we create. He and his guest lecturers talk about fight scenes, romance, and comedy.
He talks about magic systems (hard and soft). He talks about reader learning curves and what is age appropriate. He talks about his revision process and why he did not sell one book till his 14th novel. He speaks of world-building and iceberg theory. He speaks of feminist theory and the Bechdel test. We learn of flipover points and much jargon (to help us relate to other writers on forums, at conventions, in writing groups, and so forth). We learn nine ways to get readers to identify with characters and make them matter to them.
Sanderson does not teach everything, and it is impossible. He and his guest lecturers provide a wonder nuts-and-bolts understanding. I watched almost 50 hours of his videos, and I spent many more transcribing them to Word. This is extreme, but I will use it for every project I write. Another thing to learn, if interested, is series writing (and tools to stave off continuity problems, like literary bibles, series symmetry, character sheets, and series grids). With character arcs, there are different stages: growth/transformation; maturity; alteration; and decline/fall. Learn each.
Skill or change over time. The way I chose to do it still involves plateauing, but with a lot less frustration. I spent a lot of extra time digitizing notes, building databases, and so forth. These will be used in every new project I start.
There are numerous plotting methods. For example: Coming of age story; hero’s journey (much of this takes place in Greek dramas, so you’ll learn of odd words like katabasis and apotheosis; six-stage plot structure; archplot structure; Lara Willard’s Eight C’s method; Gustav Freytag’s dramatic structure; and so on. Many of these are the three-act method, just re-imagined. You’ll come across, in your research, things like plot and pinch points, try-fail cycles, plot (structure) diagrams, and so on. Character (including antagonist and protagonist mesh) arcs, story/narrative arcs, plot arcs, and what not, are other things to learn.
Don’t let anyone hurry or infect your learning and getting ready to write. If you are not ready, to your standards, you are not ready. This does not mean to research and learn endlessly; there is a point it becomes excess. It is your project and no one else has any say in it. Don’t let anyone take the wind out of your sails; the learning and work is grueling enough (especially if you start from ground zero).
If interested in Sanderson:
2016 videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH3mK1NZn9QqOSj3ObrP3xL8tEJQ12-vL
Older videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXI_L_ZrAnXyvMfpJLlx4ng
Here’s a site I pulled 142 templates from (and it will take work to find them all, if interested). She offers a way to buy them, but you can find them if you are willing to spend time sleuthing them....
https://www.eadeverell.com/worksheets/