Do authors use storyboards to plan their novels? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T00:02:20Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/do-authors-use-storyboards-to-plan-their-novels?x=1&id=537324%3ATopic%3A348140&feed=yes&xn_auth=noMatthew,
I'm wondering what…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-09-14:537324:Comment:3553072012-09-14T22:21:05.245ZRobert K. Fosterhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/RKFoster
<p>Matthew,</p>
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<p>I'm wondering what aspects of Scrivener are helping in your writing process. I have the software, and use it for general writing, but I've never written a novel with it.</p>
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<p>- Bob</p>
<p>Matthew,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm wondering what aspects of Scrivener are helping in your writing process. I have the software, and use it for general writing, but I've never written a novel with it.</p>
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<p>- Bob</p> Matthew, I've heard good thin…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-09-06:537324:Comment:3546892012-09-06T09:55:01.005ZDavid DeLeehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DavidDeLee
<p>Matthew, I've heard good things about Scrivener. Those who use it swear by it.</p>
<p>I am a planner. like you did, I typically create a scene by scene outline, usually about a page long, detailing scene setting, who's in the scene, what happens start, middle then end, and jot down important notes (things I need to know or need to convey to the reader concerning that scene) This give me a thirty-five to forty-five page outline for a typical full length novel.</p>
<p>This is time consuming,…</p>
<p>Matthew, I've heard good things about Scrivener. Those who use it swear by it.</p>
<p>I am a planner. like you did, I typically create a scene by scene outline, usually about a page long, detailing scene setting, who's in the scene, what happens start, middle then end, and jot down important notes (things I need to know or need to convey to the reader concerning that scene) This give me a thirty-five to forty-five page outline for a typical full length novel.</p>
<p>This is time consuming, but makes the actual writing of the scene go pretty quickly and prevents a lot of that re-writing "mess" others have talked about.</p>
<p>Now, with that said, understand, the outline morphs as I go along and about a third of the way through the writing, then again about two thirds of the way through I have to stop writing and adjust the outline to the new direction the story has taken as I write and come up with new ideas or discover the order of how things must go.</p>
<p>Working this way, I can usually get through a manuscript in only three or four drafts.</p> In my huge experience of one…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-08-24:537324:Comment:3538042012-08-24T18:44:08.289ZMatthew Bonamhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/MatthewBonam
<p>In my huge experience of one book, I got to around page 200 and then much like John I found that I had a mess, and a struggle to get out of it. I went back to the start and build up a chapter plan (somewhere between 2 paragraphs and a page per chapter), along with a character list. It helped me hugely until the last two or three chapters when I realised that the original plan for the climax of the story no longer made sense. On the plus side, the ending more or less wrote itself based on…</p>
<p>In my huge experience of one book, I got to around page 200 and then much like John I found that I had a mess, and a struggle to get out of it. I went back to the start and build up a chapter plan (somewhere between 2 paragraphs and a page per chapter), along with a character list. It helped me hugely until the last two or three chapters when I realised that the original plan for the climax of the story no longer made sense. On the plus side, the ending more or less wrote itself based on the way the storyline and the characters had developed.</p>
<p>I am now working on a second book, and have 2 or 3 other decent ideas, all of which have been roughly planned. A friend of mine suggested Scrivenor as a tool - It does cost ~$40, but you do get a 28 day free trial, so you can try before you buy. I have been using it for the last 6 weeks or so, and it really works for me. </p> I'm currently in the second d…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-08-17:537324:Comment:3525602012-08-17T12:30:21.184ZStewart Spaullhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/StewartSpaull
<p>I'm currently in the second draft of my first novel. Mine started with a plot that I'd sketched out on a piece of A4 paper in longhand. After that, I wrote a few key points on a Word document and then got started. </p>
<p>Last week, I completed my first draft. I knew there were some sketchy bits and that I had to insert a lot more to make the premise stand up. I started the second draft and rewrote quite a bit, then started scribbling questions on paper as I did so -- <em>how would the…</em></p>
<p>I'm currently in the second draft of my first novel. Mine started with a plot that I'd sketched out on a piece of A4 paper in longhand. After that, I wrote a few key points on a Word document and then got started. </p>
<p>Last week, I completed my first draft. I knew there were some sketchy bits and that I had to insert a lot more to make the premise stand up. I started the second draft and rewrote quite a bit, then started scribbling questions on paper as I did so -- <em>how would the killer have done that? I don't want this bit to be obvious but it needs to be referred to in passing so that later on, when it becomes mentioned, it's not just out of the blue - how? </em>etc. It seemed such a task and I feared that I would end up with a ream of scribbled-on, twisted notepaper with coffee stains all over them, clogging up the dining table. </p>
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<p>A few more chapters along, remembering an interview in <a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5948/the-art-of-fiction-no-201-james-ellroy" target="_blank">The Paris Review with James Ellroy</a> I realized that the point had arrived at which I needed some kind of outline, so I decided to look at each subsequent chapter and write one. So I set to work, writing the chapter number, summarizing key points that happen in one colour, what I want to happen in another colour, and how to do it (e.g. "insert another chapter here from the perspective of Character X") in a third colour. </p>
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<p>This is working for me -- for now. But I arrived at this organically. I had to get out all my ideas and follow the plot, just to get it all out. It was only then that I could structure it more.</p>
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<p>When I write a second novel with the same detective characters, which I plan to do (one great thing about writing is the sheer number of ideas that crop up for other stories while you're writing this one!), I might well follow Ellroy's example. </p>
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<p>I don't follow the structure slavishly, though -- my imagination works overtime while I tap away at the laptop and I can work in other elements as they arise. It's a bit like the chord changes in a jazz piece -- they are there as a guide but the soloist can improvise over them with any combination of notes he or she sees fit, provided it's within the scale/mode from which each chord is formed.</p> Excellent, Jack! You'll enjo…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-07-05:537324:Comment:3482232012-07-05T13:16:26.597ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Excellent, Jack! You'll enjoy this! And that will mean a better book.</p>
<p>Excellent, Jack! You'll enjoy this! And that will mean a better book.</p> Hi Jack - that's exactly what…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-07-05:537324:Comment:3484312012-07-05T12:21:10.252ZJoe McCoubreyhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JoeMcCoubrey
<p>Hi Jack - that's exactly what grabbed me with one of my characters. It worked for me and I hope it works for you!</p>
<p>Hi Jack - that's exactly what grabbed me with one of my characters. It worked for me and I hope it works for you!</p> Darn it, IJ, I'm going to try…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-07-05:537324:Comment:3484222012-07-05T10:36:33.957ZJack Getzehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JGetze
<p>Darn it, IJ, I'm going to try this your way. I've started a new novel, and one character has taken over, ruining my mental roadmap for a plot. But this time I'm going to let the character tell me what the story should be. It's a powerful voice. I'm going to listen.</p>
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<p>Darn it, IJ, I'm going to try this your way. I've started a new novel, and one character has taken over, ruining my mental roadmap for a plot. But this time I'm going to let the character tell me what the story should be. It's a powerful voice. I'm going to listen.</p>
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<p></p> Yikes!tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-07-05:537324:Comment:3484202012-07-05T10:31:21.768ZJack Getzehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JGetze
<p>Yikes!</p>
<p>Yikes!</p> I'm envious of people who out…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-07-04:537324:Comment:3484032012-07-04T14:21:02.542ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>I'm envious of people who outline. The writing must go really quickly then. I used to outline research papers. Can't do one of those without a really well-thought-out outline including the examples that will be used to support the argument. And, of course, I've taught organization. But I cannot work that way with fiction. And like Jon, I don't care much about plot. Plot is there to carry a story about people. Character is what matters.</p>
<p>I'm envious of people who outline. The writing must go really quickly then. I used to outline research papers. Can't do one of those without a really well-thought-out outline including the examples that will be used to support the argument. And, of course, I've taught organization. But I cannot work that way with fiction. And like Jon, I don't care much about plot. Plot is there to carry a story about people. Character is what matters.</p> Usually when I get to about p…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-07-04:537324:Comment:3482022012-07-04T13:28:19.050ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
<p>Usually when I get to about page two hundred I stop and look at the mess I've created and try and figure a way out.</p>
<p>When I worked in TV I saw where storyboards and tight outlining is really needed - when you have to have a story fit into 48 minutes, when you have to film in studio four days and on location three and when you have to use certain actors specific amounts of time and so on.</p>
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<p>Usually when I get to about page two hundred I stop and look at the mess I've created and try and figure a way out.</p>
<p>When I worked in TV I saw where storyboards and tight outlining is really needed - when you have to have a story fit into 48 minutes, when you have to film in studio four days and on location three and when you have to use certain actors specific amounts of time and so on.</p>
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