My typical method of story-telling is evolving.
I used to get a concept and start writing, with no idea of where the story was going.
Those are fun to write, but they frequently fizzled out when I ran out of ideas.
Then I started working on a more complete story idea before I started writing. Instead of "man, branded as thief, must live on the run in the forest," I started with something more like "an innocent man, branded as a thief must live as a fugitive in the forest. His only goal is to clear his name until he finds the king, also on the run as his diabolical uncle tries to overthrow the government. Together, they team up to restore the king to his throne and the nation to stability. In the end, he saves the kingdom and proves his innocence as well."
Then I would start writing, beginning to end, letting all the other characters and plot points interject themselves as a "pantser" would write.
This time, I tried something new. I wrote an outline...it was still very barebones, but it was a complete skeleton. Then, because I generally knew what was going to happen. I jumped around, writing whicher scene struck my fancy. I have NEVER done that before.
Now I have a handful of disjointed scenes and it is time for me to re-evaluate my story. How should I tweak my outline? How should I tweak my scenes? Does this method even work?
Yes, it is time to regroup and go again. I think I can make this method work, and it is so much fun trying it.
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| Story-telling changes...kind of like a frog does... :) |
I used to get a concept and start writing, with no idea of where the story was going.
Those are fun to write, but they frequently fizzled out when I ran out of ideas.
 |
| So there was this explosion and then...um...I don't know. Where was I going with this? |
Then I started working on a more complete story idea before I started writing. Instead of "man, branded as thief, must live on the run in the forest," I started with something more like "an innocent man, branded as a thief must live as a fugitive in the forest. His only goal is to clear his name until he finds the king, also on the run as his diabolical uncle tries to overthrow the government. Together, they team up to restore the king to his throne and the nation to stability. In the end, he saves the kingdom and proves his innocence as well."
Then I would start writing, beginning to end, letting all the other characters and plot points interject themselves as a "pantser" would write.
 |
| The next scene will surprise me as much as it does you, but I have the advantage for I know where we are headed. |
This time, I tried something new. I wrote an outline...it was still very barebones, but it was a complete skeleton. Then, because I generally knew what was going to happen. I jumped around, writing whicher scene struck my fancy. I have NEVER done that before.
Now I have a handful of disjointed scenes and it is time for me to re-evaluate my story. How should I tweak my outline? How should I tweak my scenes? Does this method even work?
Yes, it is time to regroup and go again. I think I can make this method work, and it is so much fun trying it.
 |
| Re-group and carry on! |
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