A pat on the back
Thursday, September 02, 2004
It's been a scramble but I've made my major goal for the day - 2000 words of my novel. I've got bits of the novel scattered all over the place; beginnings, middles, and an end. So today I started putting it all into a more cherent shape by creating an outline. I've previously subscribed to the idea that planning what you write in too much detail can have a limiting effect. If there are no surprises then it can be as deadly dull to write as it will be to read. One of the great joys of writing fiction is when a character comes alive and does something or says something that takes you unawares. Where did that come from, you think, even while realising that what was said or done was completely in keeping with this fictional charcter's persona.
If you leave a work alone for a while, however, the chance that your characters exhibit spontaneity to any great extent decreases. I've found that with "Donna's Nipple" (fnaar, fnaar). That's why I decided to creat a full outline of the story.
I'd never done outlines until I worked on The Bill, where after having a premise (or story suggestion) bought by the production team, the next stage was to create an outline that showed how all the plot elements panned out and intersected and how all the characters got from the beginning to the end. It was a lengthy process of write and review with the script editor but it was a worthwhile exercise. It certainly made writing the final script that much easier, in the sense that you didn't need to worry so much about the mechanics of the plot and could focus more heavily on dialogue and nuances of character.
The 2000 words of outline I've done today (2025 words, to be exact) has taken me through part one and up to the first major turning point of part two. The good thing is that I know I have a lot of the major scenes written so I'm finding out where I need to strengthen linking scenes and details of secondary characters. It also helps show up potential dead spots in the story as well as passages that look likely candidates for humour. Above all else, of course, it has got me clicking out words on this Dell X300.
I subscribe to the old writer's prayer: If I take care of the quantity may God take care of the quality. ('old writer' can be taken in whichever way you deem appropriate.)
If you leave a work alone for a while, however, the chance that your characters exhibit spontaneity to any great extent decreases. I've found that with "Donna's Nipple" (fnaar, fnaar). That's why I decided to creat a full outline of the story.
I'd never done outlines until I worked on The Bill, where after having a premise (or story suggestion) bought by the production team, the next stage was to create an outline that showed how all the plot elements panned out and intersected and how all the characters got from the beginning to the end. It was a lengthy process of write and review with the script editor but it was a worthwhile exercise. It certainly made writing the final script that much easier, in the sense that you didn't need to worry so much about the mechanics of the plot and could focus more heavily on dialogue and nuances of character.
The 2000 words of outline I've done today (2025 words, to be exact) has taken me through part one and up to the first major turning point of part two. The good thing is that I know I have a lot of the major scenes written so I'm finding out where I need to strengthen linking scenes and details of secondary characters. It also helps show up potential dead spots in the story as well as passages that look likely candidates for humour. Above all else, of course, it has got me clicking out words on this Dell X300.
I subscribe to the old writer's prayer: If I take care of the quantity may God take care of the quality. ('old writer' can be taken in whichever way you deem appropriate.)
