Good morning everyone I hope you had a fantastic weekend. We are entering the phase of novel writing that I find the hardest. We have out draft. We have gone over it making sure it flows well and we have gone over all the plot gaps. Now we have to set it aside and let it sit.
I know, I really hae a hard time with this part. We need to let it sit so that when we come back to the manuscript for a full edit we can look at it with fresh eyes. After so many runs through the manuscript and so long thinking about the story and the plot we have a lot in our heads and a lot on the page. Sometimes those things match, sometimes they don’t. The truth is that when you first finish the manuscript it it really hard to see it any more. It is the story you told Only a short stretch of time away will let you start to see it again. It will never be as someone else might see it, but you will see it with clearer eyes.
So before we begin out next round of editing, we have to set it to the side. What I like to do is occupy myself by thinking about something else, but not too deeply. I know my brain is still focused on the story I just finished so I am not yet ready to start researching something else. So I like to do a mini outline.
I always have story ideas rolling around in my head and even if I don’t I have all of those fifteen minute prompts. Some of which could become stories on their own. So while I am letting my completed manuscript sit I break other story ideas into this mini outline. It isn’t deeply researched. There are many generalities, but it does create some basic outlines that I can dip into when I am next ready to start a new manuscript.
The outline is composed of only a few parts and you can use it to break down pretty much any story. I’ve found this in many places, but in The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood (a really good little volume for writing exercises if you are interested) She uses it to break down Goldilocks and the three bears.
SETUP: Three bears go for a walk while their porridge cools.
COMPLICATION: Blonde perpetrator breaks in.
RISING ACTION: Perp chows down, breaks a chair, and gets some shuteye.
MEANWHILE: Bears get home and survey the wreckage.
CLIMAX: Discovered in Baby Bear’s bed, perp screams and flees.
DENOUEMENT: Bears live happily ever after.
Six parts and you have a simple mini outline. And that is the task for today. (It is the same task each day for all three weeks we are letting our manuscript rest – last day of rest is July 3rd if you are keeping track). So take an idea and break it down into the above six parts. If you don’t know all the details that is fine, this isn’t a detailed outline. I will be working through old fifteen minute prompts I would like to eventually work on as stories. Personally I like this exercise not only because it sets up ideas for easy use later but it is a great way to practice simply expanding an idea. The more you practice, the fewer plot gaps your later manuscripts have, so it is a will all around.
Plus it keeps me from obsessing about the story I am letting rest. So…
Task 113: Take an idea and break it out into a mini outline.
SETUP:
COMPLICATION:
RISING ACTION:
MEANWHILE:
CLIMAX:
DENOUEMENT:
As always, Happy writing.
Ten til Midnight 