🌱 Plot Gardening: What May Teaches Us About Story Structure

May is a month of emergence. In gardens, green shoots push through the soil, buds swell on branches, and flowers begin to open—signs of life that have been quietly developing below the surface for weeks. For writers, especially those deep in the process of crafting a novel, May is a beautiful metaphor for story structure. Writing a novel is not unlike tending a garden: it takes patience, care, pruning, and trust in slow growth.

Let’s dig into how storytelling mirrors gardening—and what May can teach us about shaping a story that blossoms.

1. Planting the Seeds – Your Story Idea

Every story begins as a seed. Maybe it’s a question, a character voice, a single image, or a “what if” that keeps tugging at your thoughts. In the beginning, you don’t need to know everything—you just need the courage to plant.

Ask yourself:

What kind of story am I planting?
What do I hope will grow from this?

Choose the right “soil”: genre, emotional stakes, and theme. The early days are about getting your hands dirty and making space for imagination to root.

2. Preparing the Soil – Foundation & Worldbuilding

No matter how good the seed, it won’t thrive in the wrong conditions. In storytelling, that means establishing a solid foundation. You need to know enough about your characters, setting, and premise to support the plot as it grows.

This is the phase of mapping backstory, figuring out motivations, and clarifying the “rules” of your world. It’s tempting to rush to writing—but if the soil’s too shallow, your story will struggle later.

3. Water & Light – The Daily Writing Practice

Gardeners don’t plant once and walk away. They water, tend, check the sun, and protect fragile shoots. Your novel is no different.

Writing regularly is like watering your story.
Feeding your creativity—through reading, walking, resting, or journaling—is the sunlight it needs to grow.

Even if progress feels invisible, something is happening. Roots are taking hold. Ideas are connecting. Growth is often quiet at first.

4. Pruning & Weeding – The Editing Process

As plants grow, not every branch thrives. Some need to be trimmed back so others can bloom. The same goes for your manuscript.

Editing is the process of pruning: tightening your plot, trimming unnecessary scenes, or removing a subplot that’s pulling the focus away from your main arc.

This isn’t failure—it’s cultivation. Sometimes, what you cut becomes compost for future stories. Trust that what remains will grow stronger.

5. Patience & Seasons – Letting the Story Bloom

In May, we begin to see the results of early planting—but the full harvest lies ahead. Writing is seasonal. You can’t force a story to bloom before its time.

There’s a temptation to expect instant clarity or a perfect plot arc after a few chapters. But story structure reveals itself gradually. May reminds us to slow down, pay attention, and trust the process.

Allow your story to grow in its own season.

🌸 Final thoughts

This May, treat your novel like a living thing. Show up with care. Be willing to get your hands dirty. Cut what needs cutting. Trust that quiet days are still valuable. And above all, give your story space and time to grow.

Because just like a garden, the most beautiful stories don’t appear overnight. They emerge—one word, one page, one quiet season at a time.

Write like a gardener