Storyline? Storyline? Hmm...you may wish to examine that word and how it could be holding you back in your creative efforts. How so? Well, to me the word 'line' suggests a continuous and unbroken link between a beginning and an end. For those of us who are relatively inexperienced in the art and craft of writing, that belief could lead us unquestioningly into attempting to write our tale in linear form, that is to start at the beginning and keep going until we reach the end.
Of course that approach is fraught with difficulties; who says you have to start at the beginning? If you've got a great middle where the action really starts to hot up or where your ideas are already quite well defined, why not start there? And what about for instance when you've got a great idea for that scene in chapter five when he finally realises that she wasn't playing hard to get after all, but in fact that she was labouring under the misapprehension that he preferred her sister (or whatever - you can see that romantic fiction isn't my forte. Or even my thirte.) Anyway, you can see this great scene just around the corner but you're stuck, wrestling with chapter three. And there's no way you'll get to five before you've done three AND then sweated through chapter four...after all you're following that line aren't you? Well, there might be a better way.
Last night in our writers' group, Ali brought her assorted notes and thoughts that together form the skeleton of her novel 'At Last.' With the help of a few flipcharts and contributions from her fellow writers, Ali was able to sketch out key stages of her story on paper. Very soon, the gaps in the story became apparent, opportunities for plot twists or embellishments presented themselves and - importantly - Ali could start to form a more objective, almost bird's eye view of her novel. From that vantage point, having identified key 'milestiones' in the telling of her tale, Ali could spot where she next needed to focus her attention.
So if you're toiling away trying to follow your storyline you might want to rethink your definition of the word. You may want to draft your story first as a dotted line. Then go back and join the dots.
See you soon
Ian Please follow this link to take a look at my new novel 'Slybacon'
Too true. If you're not 'feeling' a particular scene then don't write it just then - leave it until later and maybe something you've written in the future will aid in writing that scene.
ReplyDeleteGood advice.