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mbarkerWriting Excuses 12.20: Retrofitting Structure into a First Draft
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/05/14/12-20-retrofitting-structure-into-a-first-draft/
Key Points: Discovery writing, and even outline writing, often means pieces veer off, some zigs and zags. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes... you need some revision. Look at the promises you've made. Step back and take a bird's eye view, then check what each scene does, what you need, what you can rearrange. Lean on the MACE! Check proportion, not too long, not too short, just Goldilock's right. Be wary of sidequests. Genre expected endings should not be the drivers of your book. Make sure the characters earn the ending in the middle -- try-FAIL, not try-success cycles. Look at your structure with corkboards and colorcoding (virtual or actual). For each scene, list character/point of view, type of scene. Try a thumbnail sketch -- where the story starts and ends. Some types of stories have well-known scenes, or use a plot structure (Dan has a handy seven point one!). Sit down and talk over the plot with someone!
( Hacking a path through the jungle... )
[Brandon] Well, we are out of time on this episode. I'm actually going to give you some homework. It's going to relate to things that Mary was talking about. Which is, I want you to take the first 10% of your story, and I want you to look at the promises you make, both in tone or in plotting, what is this story going to be about? I want you to colorcode them. Then, I want you to colorcode the different chapters. Saying, "This deals with this plot, this deals with this plot, or this promise." All the way through your story. The different chapters, or scenes if you've got a short story. Then, at the end, I want you to make sure that you have put a closure to each of those different things.. See if you drop any. That's the real thing. In that middle, did you forget one of these promises? Was your tone early on that you promised this is going to be funny, but it's not funny through all of these chapters and then funny at the end? Things like this. Just look for what you're doing and be very aware of your promises and how you're fulfilling them. This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/05/14/12-20-retrofitting-structure-into-a-first-draft/
Key Points: Discovery writing, and even outline writing, often means pieces veer off, some zigs and zags. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes... you need some revision. Look at the promises you've made. Step back and take a bird's eye view, then check what each scene does, what you need, what you can rearrange. Lean on the MACE! Check proportion, not too long, not too short, just Goldilock's right. Be wary of sidequests. Genre expected endings should not be the drivers of your book. Make sure the characters earn the ending in the middle -- try-FAIL, not try-success cycles. Look at your structure with corkboards and colorcoding (virtual or actual). For each scene, list character/point of view, type of scene. Try a thumbnail sketch -- where the story starts and ends. Some types of stories have well-known scenes, or use a plot structure (Dan has a handy seven point one!). Sit down and talk over the plot with someone!
( Hacking a path through the jungle... )
[Brandon] Well, we are out of time on this episode. I'm actually going to give you some homework. It's going to relate to things that Mary was talking about. Which is, I want you to take the first 10% of your story, and I want you to look at the promises you make, both in tone or in plotting, what is this story going to be about? I want you to colorcode them. Then, I want you to colorcode the different chapters. Saying, "This deals with this plot, this deals with this plot, or this promise." All the way through your story. The different chapters, or scenes if you've got a short story. Then, at the end, I want you to make sure that you have put a closure to each of those different things.. See if you drop any. That's the real thing. In that middle, did you forget one of these promises? Was your tone early on that you promised this is going to be funny, but it's not funny through all of these chapters and then funny at the end? Things like this. Just look for what you're doing and be very aware of your promises and how you're fulfilling them. This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
