So many of us are not linear thinkers, you know, following step 1, step 2, step 3, etc. We tend to get an abstract picture in our minds that, somehow, makes sense only to us. When it comes to producing the product (i.e., song, book, story), we still have to put it into some kind of pattern for it to communicate to the masses.
To illustrate a completely different way to approach a novel-writing project, here's an article, (found at del.icio.us), by award-winning novelist, fiction teacher and physicist, Randy Ingermanson, The Snowflake Method for Writing a Novel.
The visual concept of building a snowflake shows me how each section of a novel can be 'built' to handle plots twists and yet hang on to an overall pattern.
Several people have divulged their writing processes to me … and one of them that was not at all like a snowflake, was from a woman who writes Harlequin-style love novelettes. Very formula. So much so, that she showed me huge drawn grids on the 4 walls that surround her desk, reading in a circle around the room. The giant square grids denote time-lines or plot shifts, to be filled in, just like a puzzle. In other words, if a certain sub-climax had not been entered into square 3, then the “timing” in her story would be “off.” Hey, whatever works …
More about novel-writing next time…
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