Tags
beginning a novel, novel structure, novel writing, of figs and bougainvillea, pantser, randy ingermanson, snowflake method
Okay. So I have had the idea of a novel in my head for some years now. I have done the research and started the story so many times I can’t remember. But it is wasn’t working. Something wasn’t right. On numerous occasions I have decided against writing the damn thing but the story has always been there loitering in my head. Something had to be done. And that something was The Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson.
I had looked at this a few times and decided it was too basic. I didn’t need structure or organisation, I was a pantser: the novel would write itself because that’s how I wrote my first novel. But then my first novel is unpublished, and for good reason too – it is plot driven and the characters are flat. So, on the verge of giving up my novel altogether, I decided to give The Snowflake method a go.
I won’t explain how the method works, click on this link and read it from the creator, Randy Ingermanson. Writing my ideas down around a structural theme has worked. I have written my draft story synopsis, examined my characters, begun setting out my scenes, and suddenly everything I have had swirling around my brain the last few years is concrete. I know where to start and where I am going. Writing my first novel, I loved the thrill of discovery, when characters did things I wasn’t expecting, but I don’t think this method will destroy that. In fact, if anything, it may add more depth to the story as any discoveries about my characters will be at a deeper level. So why have I failed so far? Perhaps it’s because I spent too long thinking about the story that I couldn’t move forward. Perhaps it’s because I would edit every scene once I had finished it. My new philosophy is to write and not edit until the novel is finished and when I get stuck, to work on another scene rather than sit for days wondering how to change things. How about you? Are you a pantser or do you need structure?
I couldn’t get the rough draft of my novel finished until I made the decision to write it straight through without going back to edit. Though I’ve got a lot of rewriting and revisions to do on it now, I understand the story so much better having gotten to the end of it.
Hi Jessie, Thanks for your comment. I pleased you have got to the end of your novel by just going for it without editing along the way. I am going to find it difficult not to go back and correct but I will stand by my word and keep writing until it’s finished. Good luck with the re-write – revisions. Sophie
The demands of the story tend to dictate ‘pantser’ or ‘structurer’ because every new story is different. Sometimes I let it grow by itself and make notes, and other times I need a plan.
But for novels, I do agree that its best not to break the flow.
Hi E6N1
Yes, I think the story itself will dictate. I have one pantser novel and am now structuring. It’s funny – my short stories are by far the best when I sit and write them with no plan in mind.