Hello, writers. It is ungodly hot in upstate New York. So I thought I'd talk about the Ingermanson Snowflake.
It's both a method of outlining and a way of facing the blank page, when you've been thinking about your novel for months (years, decades) but just can't seem to get started on it.
Randy Ingermanson is a novelist and physicist, his website says, and the author of Writing Fiction for Dummies. The article about his Snowflake is long, but if you're interested in how to get started and stay organized I hope you'll read it. Here's a brief digest of his ten steps, and a couple of caveats.
- Write a one-sentence summary of your novel.
- Expand the sentence into a paragraph.
- Write out each character's storyline. (Be sure to check out the bulleted list of things this summary should contain.
- Expand each sentence of your summary paragraph (step 2 above) into a paragraph. Each paragraph except the last should end with a disaster.
- Write a one-page description of each major character and a half-page description of each minor character.
- Expand each paragraph in step 4 into a page-- write a four-page synopsis of your story.
- Expand your character synopses into character charts.
Caveat: On his webpage, you'll note Mr. Ingermanson says that when you've done this, you're ready to write a proposal and sell your novel. Alas, no. If you are an unpublished novelist, or are seeking a new publisher or agent, you should not be selling anything except a finished, highly polished manuscript.
- Take the four page synopsis and list all the scenes that need to be written. (He suggests a spreadsheet. I use index cards.)
- (He says he no longer does this step.) Write a description of each scene on your spreadsheet.
- Write your first draft.
Other caveats: He suggests a time period for each step, but you really shouldn't worry if it takes you longer or not as long.
And, as you learn more about your own process, you'll want to adapt these steps to it-- leave some out, expand some. For example, some people don't like character charts, preferring to discover the character through his/her actions during the first draft.
Anyway, it's out there; try it; it may help.
Write On! will be a regular Thursday feature (8 pm ET) until it isn't. Be sure to check out other great lit'ry diaries like:
sarahnity's books by kossacks on Tuesdays
plf515's What Are You Reading? on Wednesday mornings.
cfk's bookflurries on Wednesday nights.
Not many happy writing links this week, as the publishing world has been off at BEA:
The Cheerios Spoonsful of Stories Contest (stories for ages 3 to 8, 500 word limit) is open for entry through July 15. Prize is $5000.
More on the perennial problem of free critique seekers. My favorite suggestion: saying my publisher won't let me for legal reasons.
Pimp My Novel on selling literary fiction.
Nathan Bransford on settings.
Nicola Morgan on pacing.
Never, ever sign anything with any agent or publisher whom you haven't checked out at Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors.