A Writer's Woes

The Art of Juggling

The art of storytelling can be compared to juggling many, many balls all at once. How each author keeps track of their numerous plot lines, characters, foreshadowing events, items not-to-be-forgotten, and other important story elements alludes most people, the authors themselves included.

I use several mechanisms, some seemingly brilliant, and others crude and barely workable. The two I rely on most, though, include the plot outline and the “Forget Me Not” file. The plot outline is the forward-looking mechanism; the “Forget Me Not” file is the retrospective mechanism. In the plot outline, I document what I plan to put where. This is where I have all of the important story elements in my head and I sprinkle them across my scenes. The “Forget Me Not” file is the tome I check when I’m writing the critical “revealing” scenes. Don’t forget he stole that precious gem back in scene 6 while impersonating the wife, just before he caught the husband in bed with his lover! These are the pieces that tie the whole story together and can not be forgotten or lost track of.

A story is not a stagnant piece of work. As much as you plot beforehand, other ideas and thoughts and twists arise. They may have found their way into your story, but not your plot outline. They definitely need to be remembered, though, and these are always added to my “Forget Me Not” file.

Other authors print their manuscripts as they write and highlight things in different colors: pink for foreshadowing elements, yellow for critical pieces of the story that need to be revisited in later scenes, blue for storylines that need to be followed-up on, green for budding ideas that might go somewhere, but if they don’t, they need to be deleted later on, etc.

There are as many different ways to write as there are authors. In all likelihood, authors themselves change their own methods over time until they find the one that works best for them. In addition, these methods may vary depending on the genre. A mystery or suspense novel has different requirements than a biography or a romance novel. So however you keep your balls in the air, make sure you catch them all before the story comes to a close.

posted by chrmisha @ 2:08 PM 0 comments

Plotting Along

Each author writes differently. Some authors outline their entire story first, others write their hearts out knowing it will all come together in the end. I think most of us, though, choose a middle ground. I write until I hit a snag or a plot hole, and then I have to think about where my story is going. If I find myself struggling to move forward, it tells me that I need to take a break from the writing and analyze the plot.

This is where I have been lately. I never struggle to write; writing comes easily for me. Sometimes, though, I struggle to fit all of the pieces together in the “right” way. Each scene needs to be carefully crafted. What pieces of information are parceled out in this scene that are essential to the plot? If there aren’t any, then this scene needn’t exist.

When moving forward becomes a struggle, I look back to my scene outline. Maybe I didn’t even have one up until this point, but if I find myself stalling, I create one. I look at it to see what has happened so far, what happens later in the book, and what needs to happen to bridge the gap between the present and the future.

Thus, to move from here to there, I write one line summaries of each scene. These summaries include what will happen in the scene, what information is presented that is essential to the plot, and who the POV character will be. I can then put these scenes in whatever order makes the most sense.

With a renewed sense of clarity, I write each scene according to my plot outline. Now, my story is moving forward again and I am “plotting” along.

posted by chrmisha @ 1:35 PM 0 comments