Bird by bird
By Kathleen Bolton | August 24, 2009 |
While I wait for word on one of the projects that I’m up for consideration, I have a story brewing in my head. Normally I’d scribble the idea on an oversize Post It note, stick it in my idea file and get on with the other projects rumbling around my desk. But this time I thought I’d try something different. I decided to spend the weekend getting the story down in a loose synopsis so that when I do have time to return to it, it’s not just a garbled sentence or two. It’s a possible book.
I decided to break the story down by plot points (some authors call them turning points, whatever floats your boat), write the points on index cards, then draft a synopsis. I swear to god, writing the story this way let the ideas flow so quickly and efficiently that I have the decent framework for something really useful.
Here’s what I did:
1. Lay in a supply of index cards
2. Wrote the following on the top of each (this is a loose amalgam of several different plotting methods)
- The Ordinary World (taken from Vogler’s Hero’s Journey)
- Trouble Starts
- The Special World (where the protagonist starts coping with the trouble)
- Trouble Gets Worse
- Regrouping and More Struggle
- Point of No Return (protagonist is too changed to go back to Ordinary World)
- Pushed to the Brink
- Protagonist Appears to have Lost (or The Black Moment)
- Fighting Back
- Trouble Ends
3. Then I started outlining a plot on the cards. I didn’t worry about theme or character. This was the time to get the bones down. Under each plot point, I had two, possibly three sub-points for internal and external conflict.
4. Once I’d written down all the plot points, I used them to write a synopsis. Now, I hate synopses as much as the next writer. Haaaaate them. I struggled with these suckers and it’s amazing how much agony went into writing them. But with my handy cards, drafting the synopsis was a snap. Better than a snap. Easy peasey. I’d already done the agonizing on the cards, but by breaking it out into plot points, I concentrated on the micro aspect of storytelling instead of the macro.
By the end of the weekend, I had a 12 page synopsis that flows from plot point to plot point, logically laid out. Sure, I’ll probably tinker with the storyline as I write, but for now I feel secure in the knowledge that the story is basically sound and that I’ve covered all the bases.
Do you have a method for drafting your stories out? How do you feel about synopses? Share with us in the comments.
Image by Hallow2.
Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She writes under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ani Bolton.
She has written two novels as Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter–both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President’s teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins, and Tamara Blake, for the novel Slumber.
Great post Kathleen! I write out very BASIC plot points – basically beginning middle end – then start writing. For me just having a simple idea of where it starts and ends seems to work best, but I may try your method…because I’ve gotten stuck a couple of times with mine!
Great advice, Kathleen. When an editor recommended Vogler’s book, I thought, “Yeah, right.” But it helps to see the story arc broken down that way. Now this post has reinforced the concept. Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for the great post.
I definitely do an outline before or as I write. For my current novel, when I started it, I only had the idea of how it began and the main premise. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a short story or novel. But as I’ve been writing, the story has been unfolding in front of me. Whenever I see the next block of plot points in my head, I’ve been putting them into a layout file so I can follow along with my writing.
That’s differen than my first book, which I first laid out similarly to you, then did a 30-page treatment (I was writing screenplays at the time, but then realized that I really loved prose better), and then started the novel from the treatment, which was basically a really long synopsis.
I actually just tried something this past weekend that I found very helpful…
I bought a monthly planner and plotted out my story as if I were the main character and the plot was my agenda. This worked because I had a start date and an end date for my story, and some loose things in between, but putting them in a calendar really showed me where things were too dense and where things were too spread out. (Like March? WAS TOTALLY EMPTY. That’s so not going to work, in terms of pacing.)
So it’s kind of strange, but for me, it’s been helpful. (Although as a disclaimer, I AM writing this 5 days after trying it…)
Great post, Kath!
I’m using index cards for my wip, too. I’ve never done that before, but I like the system so far for its flexibility. I haven’t used them to write a synopsis, but you’ve made it sound so effortless that I just may do that this week.
I am also a big fan of the index card. I basically make an outline of my story putting each point on its own card. However, I skip the synopsis. I begin by simply expanding on each point. By the time I get through my stack of cards I have a well thought out rough draft. I enjoyed finding and reading through your blog today. Thanx!
Welcome, Adrian.
I dunno why I didn’t do this earlier. I guess index cards just seems too . . . simple. But what the index card does is force you to write only a couple essential lines, and it kept me focused.
Hmm. Although a confirmed pantser, I’m interested. You said you didn’t worry about character–did you have characters in mind when you started?
I used the Snowflake Method, which is basically adding layers from a very basic concept.
I actually often start with a central image, concept, or sometimes a theme. Then I build an one sentence story, then expand that to a paragraph, and then to several pages. At the same time I am developing my characters. It is a very organized system, and it works well for me.
Great post, Kathleen. I’ve spent more than a decade trying to find some software program that provides the flexibility and ease of index cards. Never found one. For really complex plotters, Post-It makes index cards that have the post-it glue on the back and you can arrange and rearrange them on a big board to work out sequence. Then you can pull them down and stack them in order, but unlike flimsy paper post-its, they don’t stick to everything unrelated and they are sturdy for packing with you.
I’ve never been one for trusting postit notes as they sometimes fall behind furniture, get blown away when the door is opened, curl up and die or the glue gives up its grip on whatever. So for the project I’m working on I found some software that I feel has the flexibility to plot and rearrange, develop characters and other handy extras such as add notes and reference images. It’s called WritersCafe and it’s suitable for PC and Mac. It also unclutters my desk as it’s all on the desktop of my computer. If anyone knows of other programs that are better I’d like to know.
What a fantastic post and so timely for me as well. I’m currently editing a book I wrote six months ago and I’m seeing major plot problems. I knew I would face these moving in, though, because I am a completely nonplotter. I can’t write a syn then write the book. I tried. That book was never written. BUT, knowing that I’ve already gone through a first draft and having this tool, I’m going to try and lay out my main plot points as I redo this draft of story.
Thanks for a great post!
A post-it/index card combo, Jeanne? I’m intrigued. Though Dennis is right, they do curl up and die at some point.
Ray said, “Hmm. Although a confirmed pantser, I’m interested. You said you didn’t worry about character–did you have characters in mind when you started?”
I have a character type, but nothing is fully formed. They never behave anyway, even if I think I know all about them.