Skip to main content

Part Four of One Way to Write Your Story

 You've studied, read, and found authors you like; now, it's time to get busy and start.

I've found it helpful to produce a single word or sentence about the theme/question/issue before I get started. Some people decide what the story is about after they finish. It works either way, and the only way to find out what works for you is to try different methods.

James Patterson, a very successful and productive best-selling author, claims that making a detailed outline for your novel is the best way to organize your thoughts and story. So do J.K. Rowling, E.L. Stein, and John Grisham. They're Plotters.

Best-selling novelists Margaret Atwood, Pierce Brown, and Stephen King are writers who plop down in front of their keyboards and start typing. They're Pantsers, writing by the seat of their pants.

Obviously, either method works, but only trial and error will determine what you like best. Also, if you're writing screenplays or television, it's vital that you work from an outline. Usually, time constraints preclude being a Pantser, and you'll hand off your drafts to producers, directors, and studio development people at various stages for notes.

Now, getting started. Several practical and efficient word processing programs can help you organize your work. I don't use them, but I've heard they're excellent.

I use Microsoft Word for prose. There are novel and story templates that work very well for a draft that you could show to an editor or agent. I use Final Draft for screenplays.

I sometimes have sticky notes or 3 x 5 cards with ideas for scenes on them for screenplays and novels. They're easy to rearrange and help me visualize the story's shape.

In the last couple of novels, I've tried being a Pantser, and while it's sometimes frustrating and terrifying when I paint myself into a corner, the reaction from readers is more positive.

Again, whatever works for you, works for you.

Now that you've decided on your characters, some of their dominant traits, and what you think the issue or question will be about, it's time to start with Chapter 1, page 1.

I like to introduce the main character first unless it's a horror story. In those stories, most writers introduce the villain/monster first. But, again, no rules is the rule.

I try to put the characters in a situation where the reader can relate to their problem/mission/issue/question and give them a visual cue that helps the reader understand the question/issue/mission/problem.

The first scene is important, but you'll rewrite it a dozen times before you're satisfied, so type and don't overthink. Next, you need silence, music playing, coffee, a drink, or whatever works. It doesn't matter as long as it's legal and it works for you.

I believe each scene should begin in the middle, In Medias Res, and you work out from there. Some writers think it's important to set the stage with descriptions of the weather, the room, and the house, or wherever, but I think placing the reader in the middle of the action grabs the reader's attention and holds it until you're at the end of the scene/chapter.

Do this from the beginning to the end, and you have a story.

Make sure the scope of your story will carry the action for the prescribed number of words that most publishers are looking for in the genre for which you're writing.

Most novels these days fall between 60,000 and 120,000 words. Genres have different target counts because of the reader's expectations. Thrillers are usually shorter than fantasy novels. Romances fall somewhere in the middle.

Stephen King has a daily goal of writing 2,000 Words each day when working. That's approximately eight typewritten pages. Let's say each chapter in your story is about 2,000 words. Let's also say you meet the same goal as Stephen. In 30 days, you'd have a finished manuscript of 60,000 words. That's the first draft.

Once you've finished, celebrate. It's a huge accomplishment, and you deserve it. Put the manuscript away, and don't look at it again for several days, weeks, months, whatever amount of time it takes to objectively look at your work and see where you might make improvements. It's a bit short at 60,000 words, so you may be hesitant to cut scenes/chapters. Here's the weird part. Every time I cut something; the manuscript gets longer. This is because there's always some different setup or payoff that needs to be added that will help the scene before or after clarifying the cut.

Once you have a draft, you're comfortable with someone else reading, find an impartial fan of the genre and ask them to look. Some readers are better than others. Relatives are okay if they will be brutally honest with you. Writing groups can also be great readers because they know the struggle and will have helpful insights.

In the next installment, I’ll go over setup and payoffs.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dealing with Rejection

 Every writer gets rejected. It doesn't matter how many books you've written or how many you've sold. There's no way of getting around it. I remember an interview with Barbara Streisand, and she said if someone rejected her for a project, the onus was on the producers for failing to recognize her talent and ability. Paraphrasing, “What, are they nuts?” I like that. Editors and producers don’t know what they want until they see it. It’s kind of like pornography as defined by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when you see it.” Gatekeepers don’t know what they want until they see it. However, that doesn’t soften the sting of rejection. Dealing with rejection is a difficult skill, but it is essential. Everyone experiences rejection at some point, whether in the form of a job application not being accepted, a romantic interest was not reciprocating feelings, or a friend group excluding someone. While rejection can be painful, it is essential to remember ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meanwhile

 Writing your novel can feel nearly impossible, but many techniques can help keep your readers engaged. One such method is using parallel stories, which writers can use to create tension and suspense. An effective way to do this is to end your scenes so that you cut between them at moments that leave your readers hanging. Writers sometimes call this technique “Meanwhile, back at the ranch.” The nickname dates back to silent movies when title cards between scenes signaled transitions. In the earliest days, studios didn’t make new cards for each movie but used a set of stock cards: “One Year Later,” “Comes the Dawn,” or “Wedding Bells.” “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch” was the card used most often when the action, for example, cut away from the heroine being tied to a log just as the villain turned on the sawmill. The literary version of this technique dates back to at least Homer. Still, it was probably perfected in the nineteenth century when newly popular magazines serialized nov...
Post a Comment
Read more

These Dreams

Are your dreams trying to tell you something? Dreams are intriguing phenomena that have captivated humans for centuries. Some people believe dreams are messages from our subconscious, revealing our hidden desires, fears, or conflicts. Others think dreams are just random images and sensations our brain produces during sleep. But what does science say about the relationship between dreams and the subconscious mind? And how can we use our dreams to better understand ourselves and our conscious minds? And what can creative writers take away from the idea that our subconscious minds are where we do our best writing? One way to approach this question is to examine the process of dream recall, or how we remember our dreams. Dream recall is not straightforward, as most of us forget our dreams soon after waking up. However, some people can recall their dreams more frequently and vividly than others, and some factors can influence the likelihood of dream recall, such as sleep quality, emotio...
Post a Comment
Read more