Patty McKenzie sent this photo of the "bubble" plot she's creating for her story. That's Sophie, admiring her work. Patty says, "I have six dogs and two cats... they all like bubble diagrams because mom is happier now that she's using them."

A week later, Patty sent a follow-up...

"Yay Sophie!  You're famous!   :)
"I actually was going to send you another picture yesterday, but I was afraid my enthusiasm might be pesty.  Oh well, tough luck for you.  Here it is.  ;)   It's my whole novel (as it stands now) in bubble diagram.

"Honestly, working through this process has been a life-saver.  My novel is one that requires quite extensive world building, and I was getting so lost in all its moving parts.  I started with the large bubbles on my board - bubbles for chunks of the story (like in the Sophie picture), then when I would sort a particular section out, I would transfer those bubbles to index cards that I stuck up with magnets in their proper order.   Now I can easily see where I am missing key story points, and it's given me loads of insight about pacing, flow, plotline, etc, etc.  My partner has been calling it Extreme Bubbling, Bubbling Gone Wild, and Girl in a Plastic Whiteboard Bubble.


"When I'm done, I'm going to take the cards and attach them together with an individual ring-binder clip so I can flip through my scenes as I need to refer to them. That way I can use my clean whiteboard for... oh, I don't know... character wheels?  ;)


"Thanks again, Judy. Truly."