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Newsletter Item [ back ]
Date: 2006-09-01 15:00:32
Writing - From Napkin Notes to Novel
After writing the story in your head for years, you decide to quit fooling around and get it down on paper. Writers write, correct? You’ve tuned up your computer and cleared your desk of every day clutter to make room for writing clutter: the pad you’ve kept on your night stand and filled with great ideas from your dreams, the three pages from your day planner you scratched location descriptions on during your son’s basketball game and the pile of random scraps of paper on which you’ve kept notes of dialogue, names and scenes. The spouse, kids and dog have all been banished from your writing space and you are ready. Well, you would be ready if that refrigerator wasn’t humming so loud or you could just get your desk chair in exactly the right position….
Another good reference tool for organized writing is: First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner. It can be purchased from Writer’s Digest Books.
I’m sure there really are writers out there that can just sit down at their PC and bang a best seller right out of their head. But if that’s not you and you’re struggling to get started, a little planning may be your ticket to true inspiration. Paraphrased from her book Writing for Children and Teenagers, prolific children’s author, Phyllis A. Whitney, recommends the following before you ever start Chapter One:
In a notebook or on your computer make a list of your characters complete with descriptions: name, height, weight, hair color, habits, back stories and relationship to other characters.
In another section, write full descriptions of your locations.
Make a draft chapter list with basic descriptions of what is going to happen in each chapter. This is a good place to sort through the conflicts you’ll present to your characters and to insure you have a solid flow of action.
Do whatever research you need to insure the authenticity of your story. Keep these notes in a separate section.
Once you’ve completed this background work, you should have a well rounded cast of characters hovering around your desk and a clearer view of where you’re going to take them. Remember that this preliminary work is not chipped into marble. When the writing begins your characters may take on a life of their own. Amend your draft as you go and you will always have a clear path in front of you.
Another good reference tool for organized writing is: First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner. It can be purchased from Writer’s Digest Books.
