Great ideas need a plan

From the upcoming The 3by3 Writing Method Planning, Writing and Finishing Your Novel Workbook

Inspiration for a book can come from many places. It could be an amazing life experience, an overheard story, a nightmare, a bizarre image that drifts into your mind as you fall asleep, a vision during a vacation, or a night of fun that results in scribbles on a stained napkin.

But if a writer does not start their book-writing journey with a solid plot concept that includes a beginning, a middle and an ending, the dreaded “What happens next?” question will eventually sneak up and send him walking around the block trying to figure a way out of his dead-end story.

Too many people have discovered the painful lesson that:

You cannot write a novel by just sitting down and writing.