Vision: A Resource for Writers
|
WorkshopNotecarding:
|
CHARACTER |
#
OF SCENES |
Elsie |
16 |
Mike |
16 |
Frisco |
9 |
Annabelle |
9 |
This
next bit is pure fun.
Get out
a pack of index cards, write the name of each character on the correct number of
cards, and if you'd like, on a few extras -- I'll make eighteen for Elsie and
Mike, ten or eleven for Frisco and Annabelle.
Once the
names are on the cards, pull out a card set -- I start with the secondary
viewpoint characters, because this lets me let the main story float for a while,
building up momentum.
With one
set of character cards in hand, start writing down one-sentence scene ideas, one
per card. Be a little crazy -- just
write down all the fun things that you can think of that could happen to the
character you have in hand, keeping in mind that all scenes require conflict and
change.
Here's a
demo:
·
Frisco -- playing with the Ouija board alone, runs into the ghost
of Annabelle, who tries to seduce him to her cause.
·
Frisco -- running with Mike, confesses that he's been using the
Ouija board and has had some cool experiences; invites Mike to try the thing
out.
·
Frisco -- meets Elsie and both likes her and has a bad feeling
about her, as if he's seeing her through two pairs of eyes
-- he decides to see if he can get to know her better.
·
Frisco -- and Mike take Elsie snowboarding, and Frisco makes a
careless mistake that almost gets Elsie killed; afterward, he cannot figure out
how he made that error.
And so
on. These are not written in any
particular order, though you'll find that as you're throwing down ideas, some
will fall into a clear linear order. Some
won't. Don't worry about it.
Never deny yourself a scene just because you can't figure out how it will
fit.
Do cards
for each of your characters. Don't
worry about referring to the other cards as you put these scenes down -- just
let yourself have fun with them, coming up with one-line descriptions of
exciting scenes that you want to write. As
you get a few things on paper, you'll find that you start having ideas for other
characters. And a rough idea for
the story itself will start forming, too -- what it's about, where it could
start, how it could finish.
By the
time you have all of your scene ideas on cards, you may have a clear idea of how
the story will go. Or you may not.
Doesn't matter. Find
yourself a bit of floor spare, and put the cards on the floor, laying them out
in the following fashion:
Elsie |
Mike |
Annabelle |
Frisco |
Elsie |
Mike |
Annabelle |
Frisco |
Cont.
¯¯ |
Cont.
¯¯ |
Cont.
¯¯ |
Cont.
¯¯ |
Don't
worry when you're putting the cards out about placing them in any particular
order -- you'll get to that. Just
keep them in character columns.
Now.
There is probably one scene that stands out as the perfect scene to open
the book -- it might be from any of the characters' points of view, but when you
think about what you want to read on the first page, one or two of the scenes
will really stand out.
Put the
scene that you prefer as your opener at the top of your row for that character.
Look
through your other scenes for all the characters, and see which scenes, if any,
are dependent on it, and which scenes for the other characters should be first
for them.
Start
putting things in order, leaving your scene cards in their character rows for
the time being. You'll find that
some of the scenes that you imagined being toward the end do remarkable things
when moved to the beginning, and that your subconscious has given you some
terrific correspondences -- one character will be doing something that meshes
beautifully but strangely with what another character is doing, giving the story
depth that you did not anticipate.
You'll
discover surprises -- scenes that play off of each other to create humor or
tragedy that you had not foreseen. You'll find a great deal of magic waiting as you shuffle your
little squares of paper around.
You'll
also find scenes that don't seem to fit, as well as some that strike you as dull
or pointless. Scrap the dull or
pointless ones, but don't give up on the ones that don't fit.
By working in backstory, changing some of your plot around, and devising
some deceptions and surprises, you can often create a place for the
“out-of-place” scene that will add layers, depth, and power to your story.
Once you
have your notecards in order by character, it's time to put them into one long,
single line. Start with a strong
scene, end with a strong scene, and in the middle make sure all your events
could happen in the order in which you've placed them (though as you start
typing this in, you can change things that don't quite work.)
Once the
cards are in order and you've read through them once or twice to make sure you
have them they way you want them, sit down at the computer, type them in using
either outline or bullet format.
Copy and
paste them into the bottom of your novel document.
Now just look at each sentence-scene, write the scene that it describes,
and delete it when you're done with it.
Working
in this fashion, you eliminate all those “get out of bed have a cup of coffee
drive to work answer the e-mail and FINALLY something happens” scenes that you
can get otherwise. You're writing
from exciting bit to exciting bit, trusting your brain and talent to tie
everything in and to give you some great surprises along the way.
You don't have an outline so much as you have a rather sparse roadmap,
one that leaves plenty of room for adventure and that won't take the fun out of
your story before you've even written it.
And you
have something that can be completed on deadline, and that should be fresh and
coherent and good when it's done.
Good
luck with your project -- and I hope you have as much fun with this technique as
I have.