Guys, just going to apologise now if
this post is a little short/rushed!
Welcome to the Insecure Writer's
Support Group (IWSG)! On the first Wednesday of every month, authors
from across the world/interweb post up their fears and insecurities
about their writing, and we all provide support/tea/cake/virtual hugs
to encourage all your lovely authors to keep writing.
IWSG was set up by Alex J. Cavanaugh
(you can check out his blog here) and there's now an official IWSG
website, which is full of helpful tips, tricks and encouraging posts
– you can check out that awesome site here.
So this month I'm focusing on my actual
plot line – I'm currently halfway through writing a proper detailed
synopsis for my NaNoWriMo novel (which I'm praying will turn into my
first actual real novel) and something struck me as I began to flesh
out each scene: do I have enough substance in my story?
I'm pretty sure I know who my
characters are, what their motives are, where it's going to be set
etc, but as I wrote out each scene, I began to wonder which of my
scenes were essential to the story (which I'm hoping will be all of
them) and which ones were 'filler'.
I hate the thought that 75% of my book
might be made up of those awful, stilted dialogue scenes, or scenes
that describe in minute detail of how my MC got up, stared out the
window, made breakfast, ate breakfast, put on her socks, had a
completely random argument with her parent(s), brushed her hair
exactly 100 times, put on her shoes, picked up her bag, stared
soulfully at her reflection in the mirror (enter convenient
description of MC's physical appearance here) before finally running
out of the house and catching the bus to school. Or something along
those lines. You get the picture.
Are there some scenes you should leave
in so the reader gets a bit of a background of your MC, or should
every scene have a specific purpose? I personally prefer the latter
option – but I'm just hoping that my opinion on what's essential to
the storyline doesn't differ too much to my reader's!
So that's it for now! Hopefully I'll
get a chance to blog more often this month – there's a couple of
book reviews I'd love to write up for you guys to read :).
Until next time - happy writing!
It's hard to tell without reading it. Some things are necessary and some aren't. That's where CPs and betas come in. ;) But, even working in details, every scene should have a purpose and ultimately move the story forward.
ReplyDeleteThis might help:
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/writing-the-perfect-scene/
As far as overall plot and structure go, Jami Gold has some wonderful worksheets on her blog just for writers. You can plug your story into the plotting sheets and see if everything matches up.
http://jamigold.com/for-writers/worksheets-for-writers/
Good luck! :)
IWSG #268 (until Alex culls the list again or I goof and get myself deleted. :P)
Thanks Melissa :)! Wow, those worksheets look amazing - I'm excited to start writing this weekend so I can use them! Haha, don't worry - don't tell anyone, but I got myself deleted last year ;)...whoops! So now I'm trying extra hard to remember to post!!
DeleteThere's probably more there than you think. I've always heard every scene needs a purpose. Maybe that will be challenge - giving some of those scenes more meaning.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alex! I think I'm just over thinking/freaking out a bit, but you're right, I'll definitely have to try and make it a challenge to see how I can rewrite those scenes!
Delete