Snowflakes in Spring

I've plotted out short stories before writing them, and I've written stories by-the-seat-of-my-pants. The end results were the same, in that I was pleased with the success of the final drafts. I can't say for certain which method took me longer, since I never paid attention to timing.

With my novel-in-progress, I've tried both pantsing and plotting. Draft #1 was nineteen chapters of NaNoWriMo word vomit -- pantsing to the tenth power. Realizing I needed some structure to move forward, I attempted to construct some sort of outline from what I'd already written, taking into account the major character change I made to the protagonist which dictated scrapping half of her chapters, anyway. I had major breakthrough #1 the other day when I sat down with index cards, sketched already-written and new scenes, and put them in tentative chronological order. Then, major breakthrough #2 happened last night.

I was blog-hopping when I found the articles, but when I navigated away from the blog I couldn't remember where I'd been. [If I find you again, awesome blogger with the link, I'll definitely give you a big shout-out chez moi !]

I'd first read about Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method after it came up in a regional meet-n-greet for NaNo participants. The funny thing about knowledge is the timing has to be right. At the time, all I had was a premise for a novel, and I was geared up to try the much-touted stream-of-consciousness writing embraced by NaNo. The Snowflake Method seemed complicated and tedious, and not for me.

Last night, I read through it again. Epiphany! Ingermanson's Snowflake Method is a ten step process in which you prepare your novel starting with a one sentence summary. Each step builds on that sentence, that summary, until by step ten you're ready to bang out your first draft.

Ingermanson's repeated disclaimer is that not all writers will be successful with the method. He says many "pantsers" will think the method too left-brained, that it dams up the creative flow. For a total right-brained writer like me, and where I am creatively right now, I think the method will provide exactly the kind of structure I crave. I've pantsed the plot for five months now, and I still don't know exactly what's going to happen by the end of the story.

I felt excited and inspired while reading through the article, and as of this morning, steps one and two are complete. I look forward to each step in the process, especially getting to writing the actual draft. Here's what Ingermanson says during his explanation of step ten:

"This stage is incredibly fun and exciting. I have heard many writers complain about how hard the first draft is. Invariably, they are seat-of-the-pants writers who have no clue what's coming next. Good grief! Life is too short to write like that! There is no reason to spend 500 hours writing a wandering first draft of your novel when you can write a solid one in 150. Counting the 100 hours it takes to do the design documents, you come out way ahead in time."

Amen!!


Have you tried the Snowflake Method before? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Or are you like me and describe yourself as somewhere in the middle?

My Big Fat Patchwork Novel

We've heard a quilt is a metaphor for life so many times that it's become cliché. And I try to avoid using clichés...so I'll put on it my own twist and use it anyways to explain why I'm struggling so much with my WIP.

This quilt was the first I'd ever attempted, my debut textile project. As you can see, I didn't start out sewing a small, crib-size quilt with a simple four-block pattern. Instead, I chose a complicated nine-patch block, of which five patches were constructed from tiny triangles. I never considered a crib quilt -- I skipped right to queen size. And, I added to the original pattern, creating two additional borders (the skinny yellow border and the border that's a single row of stars were my ideas). As I struggled with my WIP outline this week, I realized that my creative methods are the same, regardless of the medium I'm working with. It's surely a mild form of arrogance, or perhaps an inability to know my own boundaries, but I've never been able to accept myself as a novice.


Short stories are easier for me to write. I'm comfortable dealing with one significant moment in time. Transitioning to the format of a novel is brand new territory for me. But like my big fat first quilt project, I've thrown myself into the deep end of the creative pool.

Rather than construct a linear plot that fits into a basic three act formula, I'm working with two distinct storylines. Two strangers, dealing with the conflicts in their lives, are fated to cross paths after a computer-generated phone call puts them on a collision course. Their lives don't intersect until midway through the book. Until then, chapters go back and forth, sometimes narrated by one character in one part of the country, and other times narrated by the other in a different city, so that the reader understands and sympathizes with both by the time they arrive at their crossroad.

I've struggled with tying their two separate experiences together. I'm worried the book will come across fractual, with odd patchwork pieces that don't fit together. My answer to this quandary is theme. Both characters, as different as their circumstances and as polar opposite as they are on the morality scale, are connected by the theme(s) I'm exploring throughout the book.

A novice novelist? Me? (*chuckles condescendingly, as if to herself*) You must have me confused with someone who doesn't know what she's doing.


Do you ever feel like your creative ideas exceed your skills? Do you think big and then scale down? Or does your confidence grow as you write, so that your end result is more successful than you imagined it'd be?

Cool Contest @ Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe!

Shannon Messenger at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe has surpassed the 400 follower mark! To celebrate, she's running a cool contest that you are going to want in on!!

Listen to the prize...a SIGNED copy of Becca Fitzpatrick's New York Times bestseller Hush, Hush

The drawing will be on March 26th -- SIGN UP TODAY BY CLICKING HERE

And now, because I'm so happy to have made progress on my WIP, after weeks of agonizing writer's block, I want to share this goofy-ass pic with you! Anne at Piedmont Writer was my inspiration, after writing a post yesterday about the tremendous creative gush she enjoyed while working on her new WIP. Something about what she shared struck a chord with me, doors in my head swung open, the fear was dispelled, and IT FELT GREAT!!

[Update: Anne let me know that Sarah over at Falen Formulates Fiction inspired her with the idea to spread out scene cards across her table and plot out some of her novel. I've been reading Sarah's awesome blog for months, and I love her quick wit and creative voice. Especially fun are her Friday posts, when she makes up words and defines them for us. Hilarious! If you don't follow Sarah yet, shoot over there and say hello!]