Up to now, I generally think and write in chapters, and mark the start of new chapters as I go.
This time around I started along the same lines but eventually found it far easier to forget about chapters during the drafting stage. In part, this is because I am tracking three main points of view, and I found it more productive to focus on each one’s story without worrying too much about what was going on elsewhere.
That, of course, meant that I had no idea where chapter breaks would eventually fall.
What I did do, though, was mark where natural scene breaks might fall. Sometimes this was just a natural pause in the action, or a jump in time. Better still I’m always on the lookout for natural pauses that are also cliffhangers - the shock of an unexpected revelation or a sudden twist in events.
Yes, I’m looking for points in the story where, as a reader, I would desperately want to read on. Then *bang* new chapter, or even switch to another point of view and leave things hanging.
Mwahahahaha
*Ahem*
I did weave the separate strands together as I went whenever I had enough of each one to make it worthwhile. Mostly that was done to keep things ticking along roughly the same timeline. So now I’ve got a novel draft that kinda hangs together as a story, but which is a long list of scenes in need of overall structure. And I’ve got lots of notes about things I need to change, make consistent, or incorporate.
To help with this stage of the process I’m trying something I’ve not tried before. I’ve gone through and made a scene list.
My hope is that this outline view will help to refine the overall flow (maybe things need swapping around a bit), work out where best to add in new scenes, and eventually work out how best to chunk things out into chapters.
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8 comments:
Hi Ian - it'll be interesting to hear how it all went and whether you felt you'd eased that overall flow of work. Looks to be a great summary way of doing things .. cheers Hilary
Wow, you are so detailed.
I never break my stories into chapters when I write them. I leave a blank line for natural pauses and eventually select the ones that make for the best break. (And believe it or not, I send the manuscripts without the chapter divisions to my publisher. I didn't know any different the first time and they've never protested.)
It's fascinating learning how other writers work.
Hilary, I'll be just as interested to see :)
Alex, that's odd, because it never occurred to me not to use chapters. I guess I had it fixed in my mind that that's how it should look.
Stephen, I like hearing how others go about it too.
I tried the scene writing, sans chapters, once, Ian, and managed to get myself in a confused pickle. Now I stick to chapters but admit I have to keep rearranging them.
Denise, it hasn't left me confused at all, in fact I found it quite liberating. I guess it depends on the kind of story and our preferences in ways of thinking.
Mwahahaha *laughs along with you* I love it when chapters are so well executed that you HAVE to keep reading. Make it happen, Ian. Do it!
Doin' me best, Crystal :)
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