The title of today’s blog entry refers to an update on my writing progress. I’ve been stuck for several weeks. I’ve been having trouble finishing even one scene.
I decided to take action.
In my science fiction novel, my characters spend about twenty scenes on a planet called Zonvillon. I had already written a couple of scenes for this part of my story, but I was stuck on the rest. I decided to use the snowflake method to prime the pump.
It helped. I already had each scene broken down into one sentence each. I then went down the list and expanded each scene into paragraphs of five or six sentences. That’s where I’m at now.
I now have an outline for the rest of the time my characters spend on the planet Zonvillon. Before I go on, I’m making sure each scene has a definitely goal, conflict, inciting incident, and resolution. I’m figuring out the purpose of each scene: provide new information to the reader? Advance the plot? Then I will expand each scene paragraph into five paragraphs. The writing will still be more exposition with notes for sensory details, subtext, figurative language and so one.
The final step will be to expand the five paragraphs into a more narrative scene.
As a result, I’ve planned out 18 scenes this week. I feel excited about finishing these scenes now. One thing I’ve learned: When it comes to writing a novel, it’s okay to use a variety of story structures and methods.
As a writer, I have to do whatever it takes.
Writing Blog Highlights:
- Capturing That Little Idea – Almost An Author
- A Little Less Conversation; a Little More Action: Too Much Dialogue (annerallen.com)
- 3 Things Writers Need to Know About Voice – Gabriela Pereira (diymfa.com)
- 5 Reasons Marketing Is Hard for Writers – Helping Writers Become Authors
- Insecure Writer’s Support Group: The Most Common Reasons a Book Gets Negative Reviews (insecurewriterssupportgroup.com)
Andrew M. Friday 
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