Quantum Storytelling

Drafting vs. Plotting

Novelists usually work by a process of drafting. They start writing and push straight through until they have a 1st draft. Then they change the things they don’t like in the 2nd draft, and push straight through again into a 3rd, etc. Drafting is a linear process of iteration.

Plotting, also sometimes called ‘blocking’ is used by film script writers to establish the scenes in a script, and to make sure all the significant moments are there. Plotting is not necessarily a linear procss, although it can be. But where it thrives is in its non-linear flexibility. The writer doesn’t have to push straight through with a draft. The writer can work on any scene or plot point at any time.

When I’ve discussed writing with others in the past, they seem to lean towards drafting as The Way to write anything. It seems that’s the way most novelists work too. In Stephen King’s On Writing, he says more or less that drafting is the only way to go. Otherwise you putz around, lose energy, momentum, and never really get anything done. And the only way you’re ever going to get a finished form for a novel or story is if you just push on through.

I agree 100% if we’re talking about just cranking out a novel. But that’s a novel. I couldn’t disagree more if we’re talking about writing something for any other medium, including film or games.

Why?

Because being concise, efficient, and logical is far more important for a film script than it is for a novel. If you write a novel, you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want. The entire story can be a random train of thoughts inside the character’s head.

In a novel you tell, rather than show.

In a film or game, you show rather than tell.

Logical consistency becomes much more important in a film or game script. Ease of understanding also becomes much more important. What might take 5 chapters of a novel to explain has to be crammed into a scene or two for a movie or game. You can’t just ramble in into infinity.

Drafting is still better, right? Well, that depends. The most important question to ask yourself in determining a process is this:

What do you intend to do with the story?

What medium do you want to publish it in?

As a writer if you’re dead set on writing a novel with the goal of also turning it into a script, you should just start with the logical consistency and clarity of a script. Keep things simple. It’s easier to turn a script into a novel than it is to turn a novel into a script. That’s my firm belief anyway.

Adaptation from one medium to another is easier if you write with adaptation in mind from the beginning.

As opposed to say, hacking apart your novel after the fact and trying to bulldoze it into a script.

There’s also the issue of creative block. With drafting, if you run into a dead end there’s nowhere to go. You just stop writing. It’s hard to remaing productive when your wheels are spinning at a single point in the story and you can’t go forward or back.

Wouldn’t it be nice if getting a creative block meant you could just shift your focus to another part of the story? It’s very difficult, if not impossible to do that with drafting.

This is where medium-less writing comes into the process of intellectual property creation.

Story DNA

The process of writing a story that is flexible for all mediums is much easier if you work within a nonlinear framework–that is, keeping everything at the higher level of plot points, characters, and the universe.

You can still do a draft. Drafting is still valid. Don’t worry. :)

In fact, it’s easier to do a draft using this method, because once you’ve filled in all the chunks, all you have to do is formalize it. Just write.

I use mind-mapping software for my writing process, to arrange scenes for a tight script, and also to stash any useful notes, example images, or any other information.

There are several mind-mapping applications on the market, such as Mind Manager, Personal Brain, although there are some free ones such as FreeMind. With most mind-mapping software you can arrange linear sequence points, such as scenes of a script or story while retaining the full flexibility of editing or changing any point at any time.

This makes your story more like DNA, a blueprint for whatever medium you decide to publish it in. Being nonlinear as opposed to drafting, you can change any part of your story at any time. This makes editing and iteration an ongoing process while you write, instead of plowing straight through and then fixing everything afterwards.

If you care about intellectual property, there isn’t much room for just cranking stuff out and then hoping it’s ok or fixing it later. You need to get it right before you publish. Adaptability is just as much an important feature of your IP as your main character… if you care about adaptation.

If you don’t, then stick with drafting. If all you care about is publishing a novel, then maybe it doesn’t matter. I’d still argue it’s easier to arrange scenes and work on things nonlinear or out of order when you get stuck.

I’ve worked both ways, and there’s nothing more frustrating than getting stuck at a certain point in my story, and being unable to move on or do anything else. Using mind mapping software and focusing on scenes and plot points has alleviated that problem.

I’ve been working with this nonlinear ’story DNA’ process on Quantum since 2002. It’s worked out really well for a number of reasons. When I started in 2002 I really didn’t have a firm grasp on storytelling. I had just started to read some books on character development. It wasn’t until 2004 that I really began to delve into proper drama techniques and story structure. In other words, I was trying to write a story without really knowing how.

If I had just pushed straight through with the drafting process, would I have had a novel by now? Probably. I can pretty much guarantee you it would have sucked though. Anybody can tell a story. I want to tell a good story.

I also didn’t have 100% of my free time to devote to learning about storytelling or Quantum because I was also learning a lot about business and reading tons of biz books over the last 5 years. It’s been a very comprehensive learning process without a lot of room for intense specialization. The bulk of the knowledge I needed to do what I want to do has been acquired, and so now it’s mainly a process of research and development.

A large portion of Quantum exists as a mind map. Scenes linearly arranged, many even with dialogue. When I get stuck I jump forward or back and start hammering away on another part of the story. This flexibility has been my savior. If I was forced to do this in a linear process I would have either produced crap, or given up a long time ago. I love the fact that I can work within something that, at times, seems like a living and growing organism. DNA.

Sometimes drafting is easier. I’ve done my share of drafting. But inevitably I get stuck, even with short stories. Being stuck is terrible.

But what about the intricacies and specialties of each medium?

I’ve kept those in mind. I make notes regarding medium specifics right within the mind map. For example, if some portion of the story would someday work really well as an interactive thing, as gameplay, I’ll jot down a note how that might work. If something would play out better in a scene of a movie with some kind of specific visual detail or camera movement, etc. then I make a note of that as well. If there’s a thought process or internalized perception that I think could be elaborated upon in greater detail for a novel, I note that too.

So what I have is a medium-less story with specific notes on the execution for each particular medium.

But what about playing, and experimenting within the form of a medium? You can’t do that with this broad logical mapping process!

Sure I can. It’s all just ideas, right? Sometimes I’ll spend a day working out how one part of the story might work in one of the mediums. There’s plenty of play.

A lot of people won’t like this process, because they see themselves as artists within a specific medium, and are married to the idiosyncracies of the medium, or the creative process within that medium. They also believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy and other romantic notions about the creative process. They believe the act of creation is all ‘magic’ and there’s zero theory or principles behind it. And hey, if they want to believe that, more power to them. But if you believe there can be a principled and structured approach, then maybe this way is for you.

Bringing logic and order to the creative table just ruins everything, doesn’t it? Not for me. It brings beauty and cohesion, and coherency, and sanity.

For me, Story DNA is the only way to go.