Good morning. Each year I choose a story idea that I want to spend fifteen minutes working on each day. For me it is not only a good way to get a story idea out of my head, but it also makes sure I write every day. While building a writing discipline, it has also taught me a lot about the way I write.
Last year I started with a story about Bob and his fight against the Alien Slug monsters that invaded his home. While he, armed with several novelty salt shakers saved his town from the invasion His story line ran out well before the year did and I had to scramble to grab a new story line. I have no problem letting the project flow into another story but I was not as prepared for Penelope and it showed. With Bob, I had the key elements of the story lined out.
To be honest I never do a full outline for these I jut list the high points. Usually my ‘outline’ for the fifteen minutes includes five sentences. I basically answer five simple questions.
1- Who is my main character?
2- What is the main character’s life like before the story?
3- What problem throws them out of their current pattern of existence?
4- What do they do to solve the problem?
5- Where does the story end and what are the differences from the initial world?
With Bob I had these. With Penelope I didn’t. I had the idea from one of the morning prompts and a vague notion of where I wanted to go, but nothing like the answers to the above questions. As a result Penelope meandered through several story ideas. Looking back at the writing I did for Penelope I would separate several of those ideas and make this a short series by expanding each of those ideas. Without any form of guidance I had several ideas of what I wanted to put Penelope through and I touched on each of them. With a little work I think each of those plot points could be focused on and expanded. As it stands they are mashed together.
I am actually looking forward to splitting them up.
But it is a good reminder that while I don’t need to have the full outline for these stories a year is a long time and at least a little bit of a roadmap will keep me from adding extra bits as they occur to me without focusing on the main plot. For Penelope the final result is a manuscript that ran for 236 days. Writing fifteen minutes each of those days I ended up with a 136,978 word manuscript. The manuscript itself will later be broken down into several different books for a limited run series, but I feel good about it. I started with a writing prompt and the idea that I wanted her to transition out of this world controlled by the family that was using her into a new world where she was in charge of herself. It was too vague a notion without some guidance.
Tomorrow morning I will start a new fifteen minute writing project and like Bob I have the five questions answered. With luck it will take me through the rest of the year. If not, I will remember to break out the five questions for whatever follows.
Ten til Midnight 