I mentioned in a previous blog about trying storyboarding with notecards. Well, I’ve plotted out all of newest WIP with it. Though I’ve kept the middle and last of it kind of loose because I didn’t want to push myself into a corner. (Some of the articles I read before I started warned against getting overly detailed with it.) I didn’t want to get to a point where I could feel that there was no mystery left and nothing for me to learn about my characters, because if I got to that point, I don’t know if I’d want to actually write the book. There was a point during the task when I wondered what happened if I put scenes on the cards, got everything in an order that I wanted and wrote the first scene only to discover that it was totally useless I still didn’t know where the book went from one scene to the other. After some thought I shrugged. That’s the way it sometimes go anyway, so I’m not any worse off by trying a new technique. Finding something I can actually use to help me through any problems is definitely worth the time.
What I like about it so far is that I can move things around if I need to do it or toss a card out completely if it doesn’t fit as the book grows and develops. I also enjoyed working out from the few scenes I knew, discovering what happened and why. I’m trying to avoid that dreaded point in the middle when I sit in front of the computer and wonder what next because my ideas all desert me and my muse is unexpectedly stuck in the next zip code.
I’ll try to keep posting about how I’m doing with the process and what’s working and what isn’t, what I’ll keep and work with next time, and what I’ll toss away and forget. It’s all about finding what works with how I write and what helps me get the job done easier.
As for what I’m doing now, I’m writing on a short that’s grown longer than I expected it to. I’m at 16k now and I expected it to only be that long in the first place, but the characters are pushing the story along and as long they’re doing that, I’m happy. Still working intermittently on my Santir ancients story. The other night I had an epiphany on a story that I’ve been wanting to write for a while now, but I needed a plot to go with the characters. I can’t get to it right now, but those details that I needed are now written down and waiting for me to have time to get to the story. I love it when things like that happen.
