NaNo2010 > Snowflake Spine
Posted under: I’ve had a breakthrough with Stained!
What helped me? The Snowflake Method, Mr. Moore, and confronting the fears that have been holding me back.
The Snowflake Method
Specifically, a blog post on the Advanced Fiction Writing Blog emphasizing using a five-sentence paragraph to focus on the book’s major plot arc.
Although I recommend checking out the blog and reading more on the Snowflake Method if you’ve never heard of it, I’ll give a bit of a teaser for you here. The five-sentence paragraph is structured as follows (quoted from the website) :
- Write a sentence to tell who your lead character is and their initial situation in the story.
- Write a sentence that summarizes the first quarter of the story, ending in a disaster which forces the lead character to make a decision on how she wants the story to end. This defines the Story Question: “Will she get it or won’t she?”
- Write a sentence that summarizes the second quarter of the book, ending in a disaster which makes it look like the lead character won’t get what she wants.
- Write a sentence that summarizes the third quarter of the book, ending in an even worse disaster which makes it appear that all is lost.
- Write a final sentence that summarizes the ending and tells whether the lead character gets what she wants or not.
Trying to write a snowflake method five-sentence paragraph immediately highlighted the weak portion of my outline structure. The framework on either side of the weakness suggested methods I could use to strengthen the saggy middle of my story.
Mr. Moore
Armed with all the planning we’ve already done combined with this new way of looking at the plot, Mr. Moore and I brainstormed during the long car drive up to visit my mom this weekend. Like kids sitting on a mound of legos, we alternately built and tore down several options for fixing the plot hole before finally ripping the whole thing apart and starting from scratch.
I knew the premise that I wanted to start with. The original spark that made me want to write the book. (I wrote that down way back when all this started. Did you?)
From that spark, we began to build.
If THIS is true, what then must be true about this other thing?
We tried fitting various half-constructed plot points into the new structure and if they were weak or did not fit, we discarded them or altered them.
In the end, we emerged with a plot and five-sentence paragraph for a book that feels much more alive than the one we entered the conversation with. We’d re-used some previously discarded characterization options and the modified ending is much more powerful.
Most important of all, the middle no longer sags and sways in the slightest breeze.
Stained now has a spine.
(And no, Mr. Moore is not available for public plot fixing. He’s mine. I saw him first. <3)
Not Gonna Share
I’m not going to share Stained’s five-sentence paragraph.
First off, it’s ridiculously spoilery. Secondly, it’s not been polished enough for public consumption. Thirdly, I am very aware of the fact that it may yet change before Stained becomes publicly available and the last thing I want to do is bombard you with eleven different versions of the thing before it’s complete. Bad enough that I bombard myself with them.
You’ll find some examples (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, among others) on the Advanced Fiction Writing blog.
Never Give Up
I imagine every book will be different and every book will have its own difficulties.
This is NOT the first time I’ve hit a saggy plot middle – but it IS the very first time that I’ve doggedly pursued a fix for the problem. It is the first time I have refused to give in to self doubt, despair, boredom, or the lure of a new idea. It is the first time I have been determined to fully plan out a book before writing it.
I did not abandon Stained, and I believe it will reward my faith long before the journey of this book is complete.
Fear
I am not going to gloss over these past months with Stained. Sure, I’ve been busy with other things in my life, but those were just very convenient excuses.
The main reason Stained hadn’t progressed is because I was afraid. What if I fail? What if I can’t solve this plot problem? What if you guys find out just how much I’ve agonized, how many ideas I’ve tried and tossed out? If I can’t fix this, what makes me think I can be a writer? What makes me think I have a CHANCE at being published?
Failure loomed large in my mind, mocking and hateful.
I did not turn away from it. I didn’t bother trying to deny it or hide from it. Maybe I’ll never be published. Maybe I will fail. Maybe I won’t even get this ready for NaNoWriMo. Maybe I’ll fail at that too. These are very real possibilities. Acknowledging the seed of truth at the center of my fears defused its weaponry against me, because after agreeing with it, I was able to modify my agreement.
I’ll never know for sure if I don’t try. And even if I don’t get published, I will always want to write. I will write. There will be more ideas, more books. Even if Stained becomes a total wash, I am determined to learn from it and my mistakes.
I want to know how to build a book with a solid plot spine, and if YOU, looming fears of failure, are not going to help me, then you can get out of my way.
And they did.
Protection
My fears aren’t my way of trying to sabotage myself. They are my way of trying to PROTECT myself.
Like a parent, obsessively calling a teenage daughter during a weekend party. Don’t drink anything that has an open top and has been out of your sight because you might get slipped a roofie. Don’t get in a car with someone who is drunk behind the wheel. Be careful how you dance with boys, so they don’t think you’ll put out. Watch out for your friends to make sure they’re safe and having fun. Wear a seatbelt. Don’t put on too much lipstick. Those heels are too high and that skirt is too short. Do you have enough money for cab fare in case you need it? You have your cell phone on and fully charged. You’ve got my number, right? Don’t forget to eat. Take an extra change of clothes in case you drip bbq sauce on your shirt. Wear clean underwear. Do you have sunscreen? ….
I will take reasonable precautions, but the only way to be safe is never to live at all. Failure isn’t the worst thing in the world – it’s just a learning experience.
Anything worth having is worth the risk.
Motivation
If you find yourselves in a similar situation – please, don’t give up. If your story seems unfixable or your plot has gotten out of hand or you’ve forgotten why you ever thought this story was worth writing – don’t give up.
Have faith in yourself and have faith in your story.
I could tell you that you don’t suck and that you are a great writer, but we both know I can’t guarantee that. I’ve never even read most of your writing. Furthermore, I still suck from time to time (though thankfully less often than I used to). What makes me qualified to comment on the quality of your writing?
Instead, I will tell you that you WILL improve as a writer BY WRITING.
You will not improve by giving up, abandoning story lines, telling yourself you’ll never make it, or by never facing your weaknesses as a writer.
You will improve by DOING. By writing. By practicing, by sucking, by learning, and by confronting your weaknesses head on.
“Never give up. Never surrender.” ~ Galaxy Quest
“Keep moving forward.” ~ Meet the Robinsons
Opening the Floor
What problems, doubts, or fears have been keeping you from advancing in your goals? It doesn’t even have to be a writing goal – the same cycle of self doubt plagues every facet of our lives.
Do you know what you need to do in order to move forward?
That is a fantastic idea!
Also: 750words.com is my new crack. I just -have- to sit down and write something every night. Thanks so much for staring! <3
@Wilder
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear you’ve been keeping up with it. I think both you AND Travis are fantastic writers.
A few years back, I took Nick to see Rick Riordan give a presentation at the junior high. Nick was in fourth grade, loved Rick Riordan’s book “The Lighting Thief” and was thinking about being a writer.
Riordan started his presentation with a rejection letter that he got when he was thirteen. He had turned a story in to some magazine (I think) and they politely told him “No thanks, but keep up the good work.” He has the letter framed.
He showed his first manuscript, and then only a SMALL number of the re-writes he had to do. He gave the numbers, which I forget, of how many times he had to edit manuscripts before books went into publication.
The point of his presentation was that each time he got a rejection letter, each time he was asked to revise, he learned things that made him a better writer.
He also spoke about the fact that his son has learning disablilities, hates to read, and struggles with education. In fact, the Percy Jackson series started as bedtime stories for his son.
I am glad to hear that you have found a way to make your story what you want it to be.
@Anne
Wow, that’s a great story. I know a friend of mine uses the story of Urban Fantasy writer Ilona Andrews for a similar bout of motivation.
In fact, most published writers that I know who speak to young writers focus on not giving up and being able to keep going and learn from failure.
It’s a great lesson for writers and non-writers alike, I think. <3
Yarr. My biggest limitation seems to be devoting myself to one pursuit. There are so many time sinks that suck at my time and I’m fiercely loyal to all of them. I examine each at least once a day and think: Is this really the best use of my time? If I instead cut all these things out and just did writing/programming/painting/martial arts/etc would I really achieve something with the focus and expertise I could apply to that topic?
Le sigh.
.-= Wulf´s last blog ..We are not as endlessly manipulable as you might think =-.
@Wulf
You’re preaching to the choir, my friend. I know I will not devote myself utterly to a single pursuit, so I don’t bother trying. Instead, I lay out my absolute priorities – job, family – and then note down where I spend my time after those are done. If I am unhappy with the progress I am making on various pursuits, I will try to re-organize my time so that my actions are in line with my priorities.
In some cases, I have had to examine WHY I do a particular thing and decide how important it is for me right now.
Knitting, for example. I want to know how to knit, but that’s a skill I can pick up later, if I want to.
Drawing is a low priority activity for me, but an important one. I enjoy the time I spend with my art. Working with clay is something I have a tiny bit of skill with, but I don’t enjoy it as much as other things, and I don’t seem to want to really get behind it to get the skills I want to make it better. This year, I tried working with digital art and found the same – it’s not that I’m terrible at it or hate it, it’s just that I prefer to spend my time doing other things.
Not that this stops me from picking up new hobbies. I picked up a guitar and am noodling around on it and enjoying myself thoroughly.
It’s hard to make the cut sometimes, but if I tried to devote myself to too many things, I’d go mad.
I want to be known as a writer who also draws, plays music, and plays video games than a gamer who sometimes writes or an artist who knows how to play the guitar.
I shuffle my free time and my energy accordingly. =]
I think my biggest problem is that I’m my worst critic. Nothing is ever very good to my own eyes. The voice I have to fight the hardest is the one in my head that tells me what I’m writing stinks. Now it’s entirely possible that I’m not a good writer, but it’s also possible I’m being way too hard on myself. Still that voice seems to be rather persistent.
@Honorshammer
You’re not alone in that, not at all. If you’re interested, I think writing NaNoWriMo would do you some good – one of the best lessons it teaches is to shove that inner critic in a corner with a solid dose of duct tape over his mouth.
Whether you’re good or not shouldn’t matter if it’s something you ENJOY. And if you enjoy it, you can practice it enough to BECOME a better writer. It’s a win/win – as long as you can keep from beating yourself up every inch of the way!
.-= Tami´s last blog ..NaNo2010 -gt Snowflake Spine =-.
I think that it’s a better problem when it’s drawing and music and things you can pick up and put down any time you please (easy to do sporadically). Although, for the life of me, I can’t put artwork down and pick it up later. It’s all day till it’s done or not at all.
Things like programming and martial arts require constant attention or they decay. Then I find myself pulled sideways and threadbare as I continue to pile new time consuming projects on the list.
I’m great at time management, but suck horribly at creativity management.
.-= Wulf´s last blog ..Where does my worth lie =-.
@Wulf
I think you need that on a coffee mug. ^_^