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mbarkerWriting Excuses 12.19: Structure on the Fly
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/05/07/12-19-structure-on-the-fly/
Key Points: Outline writing starts by discovery writing an outline, then using that outline to write the story. Discovery writing, aka pantsing, goes straight to prose on the page. When you can go anywhere with the story, how do you decide where to go? Start with what's already there -- What's the smartest thing the character can do, how can it fail, and stay with the same plot threads. Open-and-close parens, aka setup and punch. Part is deciding how big the story is, what kind of story it is, and then following the limitations that sets. Don't be afraid to hold this new, nifty idea for another story! Yes-but, no-and, aka, every scene ends with failure, until the climax. What's most interesting for me to tell, and how can that make sense? Force the character to make a moral compromise. Micro-tropes! Little stories or pieces of stories that we have seen and told a zillion times before.
( What happens next? )
[Brandon] We're going to end with some homework from Mary.
[Mary] Yes. Okay. So this is… This is how I will write sometimes. And what I make my students do sometimes, too. I want you to grab a timer, and I want you to set it for an hour and a half. You're going to write a story in an hour and a half. Tada! What I want you to do is I want you to pick a character, an object, and a genre. I want there to be a problem that the character is having with the object. Start writing. Yes-but, no-and your way through. About 20 minutes before your time is up, I want you to work towards either a positive or a negative state, that your character is either going to succeed or they're going to fail. And… Write.
[Brandon] Well, that's our ending, isn't it?
[Chuckles]
[Brandon] Thank you guys for listening. This has been Writing Excuses. You are out of excuses. Now go write.
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/05/07/12-19-structure-on-the-fly/
Key Points: Outline writing starts by discovery writing an outline, then using that outline to write the story. Discovery writing, aka pantsing, goes straight to prose on the page. When you can go anywhere with the story, how do you decide where to go? Start with what's already there -- What's the smartest thing the character can do, how can it fail, and stay with the same plot threads. Open-and-close parens, aka setup and punch. Part is deciding how big the story is, what kind of story it is, and then following the limitations that sets. Don't be afraid to hold this new, nifty idea for another story! Yes-but, no-and, aka, every scene ends with failure, until the climax. What's most interesting for me to tell, and how can that make sense? Force the character to make a moral compromise. Micro-tropes! Little stories or pieces of stories that we have seen and told a zillion times before.
( What happens next? )
[Brandon] We're going to end with some homework from Mary.
[Mary] Yes. Okay. So this is… This is how I will write sometimes. And what I make my students do sometimes, too. I want you to grab a timer, and I want you to set it for an hour and a half. You're going to write a story in an hour and a half. Tada! What I want you to do is I want you to pick a character, an object, and a genre. I want there to be a problem that the character is having with the object. Start writing. Yes-but, no-and your way through. About 20 minutes before your time is up, I want you to work towards either a positive or a negative state, that your character is either going to succeed or they're going to fail. And… Write.
[Brandon] Well, that's our ending, isn't it?
[Chuckles]
[Brandon] Thank you guys for listening. This has been Writing Excuses. You are out of excuses. Now go write.
