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Into the Woods

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Say that you’ve created a main character or two that you love and then start to follow their story.  That story leads you to new characters you love every bit as much, and you delight in watching them start to interact with the main characters. Then the story takes an unexpected turn that you can’t resist, leading into new settings and new drama that absolutely excite you.

And then you realize you haven’t written anything about your main character for sixty pages, and your story is now focused on a character your readers didn’t meet until 100 pages in.  So you try to pull it all together into a single storyline, and the only way to do that is through some serious deus ex machina manipulation.  Then you realize that following your story has led you right off into the middle of the woods.

If you look around and find yourself lost, how do you find the breadcrumbs to lead you back out?

The first step is understanding how you got there.  Every writer approaches their novel differently, and there’s no such thing as a wrong approach.  But if you are the kind of writer who prefers to launch into a story with no idea how it will end, then getting lost in the woods is an occupational hazard.  I know because I’ve had several clients come to me to help them find their way home. [Read more…]

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The Collage Method

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At the Uncon, I guided a session on right brain plotting, which was partly about music, but mostly about collage.  A few people have asked about the method since then, and as this is my last post for a bit, I thought this would be a good thing to leave you with.  I collage everything, […]

First Look: WU UnConference Session Descriptions

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If you’ve been eager to learn more about the sessions and workshops we’ll have at this year’s Writer Unboxed UnConference (in Salem, MA, 11/4-11/8), this is the post for you. Read on for a more detailed look at our program, and visit our page at Eventbrite for more specifics and to sign up. Hope to […]

When Your Characters Have Minds of Their Own

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Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. — Ray Bradbury You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are. — Joss Whedon I have a confession to make. I’ve […]

Outlining for Pantsers

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That title doesn’t appear to make much sense, does it? You might be thinking, do you even know what those words mean? One is either a plotter or a pantser. If you’re a plotter, you outline. You like to know where you’re going before you set out on your novel’s journey. You may choose to […]

Storyboarding with Scrivener (or, A Love Affair with Virtual Index Cards)

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Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser—or neither—at some point in your writing process, you can probably benefit from a visual overview of your story. Scrivener’s Corkboard feature is here to help. Pack up your paper index cards and colored sticky notes, and let’s go virtual. Understanding Index Cards in Scrivener Every file in Scrivener […]

Sub-Plots and Story

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As I’ve been working through revision on my manuscript, I’ve been thinking a lot about sub-plots. Do I have enough? Too many? Do they work? Do they serve the story? In working through the sub-plots in my own manuscript, and comparing them to sub-plots in some of my favourite books, I’ve come to the conclusion […]

What Video Games Can Teach You About Storytelling

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Please welcome Fred Johnson as our guest today. Fred is an editor for Standout Books, where he helps authors take their manuscripts from good to perfect. He also writes fiction and poetry. You can follow Standout Books on Twitter. I’ve long been interested in how video games are maturing as a medium—as a form, games are still very […]

*Pinch* Are You Awake?

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Photo by alq666 We all have an inherent sense of story. There is an expected rhythm to it, like breathing, and we notice when that rhythm gets interrupted. This is why we give up on a novel we’re reading because it’s moving too slowly, or why we are dissatisfied with an ending because it felt […]

A Ten-Step Guide to Plotting a Practice Novel

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Please welcome Janice Hardy as our guest today. Janice is the award-winning author of The Healing Wars trilogy and the Foundations of Fiction series, including Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a self-guided workshop for planning or revising a novel, the companion Planning Your Novel Workbook, Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft and […]