Quantum Storytelling

Are you stuck? Try these:

I’m almost to the point where I’m happy with what I’m doing on my novel. It’s been a long struggle, and hasn’t gotten much easier but I’m a lot more confident and satisfied with the results now since I started studying scene arrangements and growing my story. The new version of the novel won’t look very much like that first draft I did back in November, and trust me–that’s a good thing.

If I didn’t like the drafting process before, I especially don’t like it now. But now I’ve got the best reason I could possibly have; I’m succeeding by my own different method. I think I also mentioned how I’ve been going one scene at a time, and whipping each scene in shape.

When it comes time for the next novel, I should have the process well-ironed out. Starting fresh, I think I will take everything that I have–all the elements I’m sure of, my starting points, and do a nice template scene arrangement with the elements I know. Why is this helpful? Because then you just connect the dots and fill in the gaps. And if you understand that the scene arrangement follows a certain structure, then you already know the type of content you need to provide. The rest is just creativity and a little work. A single-sentence synopsis for each scene would be enough–enough to give you an idea of where you’re headed.

It feels much more rewarding to start with small pieces and build from there. Now the only question is if I can finish this up by November. I’ve got two deadlines in November. One is I’m going to start NaNoWriMo again. But I’m not sure I’ll finish it, because my second deadline for November is the 28th–my wife’s due date for our first child.

I’ve got a lot to do, and not much time to do it!

UPDATE: Therese over at Writer Unboxed has a neat post on Swaddling Your Manuscript. I don’t know if I’m swaddling it, but I’ll sure be swaddling something else soon enough!

My smArtist friend made his post already, so I suppose mine is due. I’ve blogged in the past about the importance of taking breaks. If you have a decent camera and the will to explore, go get yourself some writing inspiration.

We went to a really cool abandoned grainery, and snapped some artsy shots. What becomes inspiring towards the writing aspect is what goes through your head as you wander some abandoned places like these. You often think “What was this for?” or “Why is this here?” when encountering mysterious mechanical devices and equipment. The environment begs many questions, which kickstarts the questioning mind.

Imagination is so often a visual exercise, as a writer you cannot afford to be without visual cues during the creative process. Get them wherever you can.