January 24th, 2007
Every book I’ve written I’ve approached differently. Like a yo-yo dieter, I try every plot-quick gimmick that comes along. But now, as I get ready to start the heavy lifting on my second Nocturne–I think I have settled into a method. It scares me.
Here’s how it works.
- Come up with an idea–usually for me this involves characters, then something that happens to them
- Start writing cold–as in no pre-plotting really except the bit in my head. I have to get at least the first scene out (although this may not stay as the first scene), but no more than three chapters (even that is pushing it or I will be looking at major revisions).
- Write a synopsis. Scary, I know, but I approach it like I’m telling a story. I just make up what happens, then what happens next and so on.
- Revise horrible synopsis–cause it is going to stink up Denmark.
- Revise again, and so on, and so on.
- At some point when I think the synopsis is a little less ripe, I do the plot point check. I take a highlighter and highlight turning points–making sure there are enough to keep the book moving–you know that something continues to happen past that first scene.
- Revise synopsis again–cause I’m going to find something that just doesn’t work. On my latest synopsis this amounted to about 10–that’s right 10 pages. Yanked them and put in all new “happenings”.
- Finally, sit down in front of my writing program (Write Way) and work out an outline. Write Way let’s you make a place for chapters and scenes that you can title, move around later, etc. So, I figure I’m going to write however many chapters I think are appropriate for the type of book, break them into Acts (based on turning points) and then add scene titles. The scenes match my synopsis. I even copy the scene descriptions from the synopsis into “note cards” in the program. This way when I get ready to write that scene I already have a brief sketch to follow.
- Right the darn thing. Scenes may change–they may be split between chapters, but I have a good solid direction to go. I also have a good idea if I have enough “happenings” to carry the book.
So, there’s my method. It works for me–maybe it will for you too. :)
Lori
