Finish Your Book III

I was trained in the early days of computer programming and the first thing we learned to do was define the purpose of a program. It won't hurt if you do this for your story. However, this article is about the next thing we always did. We would create a flow chart to make sure our program did what we wanted it too and did so smoothly.

I recommend you use index cards or Post-It notes to create your flow chart for your story.

You've got your last scene. Girl refuses boy (unhappy ending? Maybe.) Sleuth gets criminal (happy ending? Again, maybe.) Hero survives adventure. Lots of choices here, but you've homed in on one for your story.

You also have the scene that started all this writing a book business in the first place. Note that I do not say you have your first scene. The scene that inspired you in the first place may not be the first one at all. This is why writing a bit about each scene on a note card or Post-It is brilliant. You have the ability to move these bits around until you have your scenes arranged in the manner that tells your story in the best possible way.

What is a scene?

If the term scene is giving you a problem then think of it this way; scene is a very short story with a beginning, middle and end that is critical to the whole story. From beginning to end of a scene you stay within the view point of one character, trying to accomplish one thing. Any break in time, space or view point is a change of scene. Ending the scene with a cliffhanger is good.

If you are still having a problem with what a scene is get a movie (recent one is best) and pop it in your DVD. Find the section that is labeled chapters and look here for scenes. There will be a picture that tells you something about that scene. Now view the scene and note how it begins and ends. The middle connects the two. Jot down a word or sentence detailing the scene so you can easily call it to mind when you need too. Repeat this exercise until you are sure you've got the hang of capturing a scene with the minimum amount of effort. If you are good at drawing or sketching you can sketch a picture that captures the scene.

Don't get carried away at this point and try to put too much information on that note or card. All you want is the critical point of the scene as it relates to the entire story. All the description etc. gets added later. You want something such as: A Fugitive Apprehension Agent turns down a job because she thinks it is beyond her abilities. This phrase can be a description of your entire story as well as the description of the critical decision making scene that starts her on her journey.

That one sentence can easily grow into several pages of manuscript which ultimately ends the first act of your book. The end of the first act of a book, play or movie comes when the main character makes a decision. In the case of the FAA a decision has been made to not take the case.

How many scenes do you need for a complete story? This varies according to the length of story, number of characters, and sub plots. A rough guesstiment for your main plot can be twelve scenes, but you can have ten or fifteen if you like. Just remember, at this point you are only dealing with your main point-of-view character, your hero. Sub-plots come later. If you have something crop up that fits in the sub-plot category jot it down and put the note aside in a special to-be-considered pile to look at after you've gotten all of your main story written.

Once you've got your basic scenes noted you can move them around to determine your story's journey. Your first scene determines whether your hero goes to New York or Los Angeles. Your last scene is about, not necessarily whether or not they arrived, but how your protagonist and his world changed because of the trip. The rest of your scenes are points of interest along the way.

When you begin a trip there are lots of places you want to see. Most of the time you will have to choose a few and let the rest go. This is also true in the case of telling a story. You've got a lot of possibilities. Just make sure you don't get bogged down in them. If a wonderful idea for a scene doesn't fit don't try to force it in or throw it away; jot it down and put it over on the to-be-considered pile of notes.

Take your cards or Post-It notes and lay them out where you can see all of them easily. Put the one you think is your ending somewhere that allows you to see it, but not deal with it right now. Put your other cards in an order that you think tells your story. Have some small Post-it flags handy, and a pen.

Now, look at your first card and from there move on to each card in order. If you stumble over one, make a note of why you stumbled on the sticky note and put it on that card. When you've read all the cards go back and look at the ones you've got flags on. Why did they cause a problem? Doesn't fit the story at all? Then make a note why and shift that card to your TBC pile. Doesn't seem as if that is the right place for the scene? See where it fits better and move it.

Once you've done this go back over the cards again; this time starting with your last scene. Does the next to last scene fit? Next one? Here is where you make sure your story flows easily from end to beginning and back again. When your story flows the way you want it to; assign a number to each card. I recommend you use a pencil so you can easily change it if you find you need to. Once you have things to the point you are happy with the flow of your scenes you can begin to write the book.

Choose a scene card that really sparks your interest and write that scene. You do not have to write your scenes in any particular order. Remember cut and paste is very easy when you are writing on a computer so just label it scene # according to which card it's on and when you are finished with it you can pick another scene to write. And don't go back over the scene right now. Write it. Save it. And move on to the next one.

My next article will be about How To Really Write That Scene.