Wednesday 13 May 2015

Writing Plan

Click to embiggen.

Another week has flown by here, and I again find myself pondering the imponderable question of where does all my time go?  I can tell you what I've been doing, but everything seems to take longer than it should to get it done.

In this case I've been researching stuff about far away places for a new opening chapter to my novel Strike Dog.

This came about because I decided that the prologue of Strike Dog would work better as the epilogue for Bad Dog, which is titled Omake.  One thing leads to another and the result is I now have plans to go back and tweak Bad Dog again by adding some details to one chapter to punch it up a little more.

On top of all that I was reading Chuck Wendig's blog where he posted a plan for a novel.  This drove me to distraction, and I just had to go away and work through his list here.

This what I came up with.

ACT 1 
Hook
1. Hey look there’s a problem.
 
ACT 2 
Plot Turn 1
2. I’m going to go and fix the problem. Try Fail Cycle
3. OMG I’ve made it worse.
4. Somebody else is making the problem worse.
Pinch 1

ACT 3 
Mid-Point
5. Wait, I think I’ve got this.Try Fail Cycle 
6. Bugger, bugger, bugger. Try Fail Cycle 
7. It’s not just worse, it’s now a different problem. Try Fail Cycle 
8. Even more buggeration ensues.Try Fail Cycle 
9. Everything is so complicated.
 
ACT 4
Pinch 2 
10. All is lost. Try Fail Cycle 
11. Wait, is that a light at the end of the tunnel? Try Fail Cycle 
12. It is, but it’s not what you think it is. 
Plot Turn 2 
13. Wait I have an idea.
 
ACT 5
Resolution
14. Problem solved, but not in the way you thought it would be. 

So looking back at my diary I find I've only managed to write 2,130 words this week, but boy-oh-boy it has felt like an intense weeks worth of writing.

2 comments:

  1. There's a sign at Bethnal Green tube station that says "Beware of the time vortex at the top of the stairs". I seem to me clear that time is being sucked away from people who live along the Central Line and given to others who already have too much time on their hands.

    ReplyDelete

GDPR

I currently do not run an email list and have no plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

For those who subscribe to email updates for this blog, your personal data may be collected by the third party service. I have no control over the tool.

Blog posts or comments may include personal data such as the names of people who've made comments or similar. These posts are often shared on social media including my Twitter and FaceBook pages. The privacy policies of Twitter and Facebook will apply to information posted on their websites.

If you would like any personal data which is included in my blogposts or comments to be removed or have any questions, please email me through my contact widget.