Dan’s answer to “Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?” > Likes and Comments
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I actually used Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method (http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com...). I had a good idea of how I wanted the story to progress, but using that process allowed me to develop the characters, so it was them rather than the situations that drove it forward!
It probably helps that I come from a process oriented background in IT, using the Snowflake method seemed like a very natural way to order my disparate ideas into a cogent series of events.
My next book, however - the Vampire one - is slightly more of a seat of my pants affair at the moment. Having said that, nearly 4,000 words in and I'm thinking I might need to do a bit more planning before I go too much further.
At heart, I think I need the structure to help me get words on the page. Although with my short stories I'm a bit more slapdash and tend to just start writing and keep going until they are finished.
Yes, I agree. Short-stories - and to a degree creative non-fiction - allow us to be a bit more sort of 'impromptu' and spontaneous, with major reformulation if necessary achievable during the redrafting/editing processes. I don't think I'd try it in the face of say, 60K or 80K words...
I found out at my own expense that for writing longer fictional pieces my preference for no-corset methods often became a bit of a hindrance. It's happened that, just like with your Vampire book, I have needed to take a step back well into the writing and come up with a story map, for the sake of my own sanity.
I think one of these days I might try the snowflake method, as I have a story brewing in the back of my mind that I might decide to write down, and if I do it'll need some rigorous planning to pull it all off just the way I have been thinking it up...
It certainly payed dividends for me ;-) Let me know what you think if you get round to trying it out, or seeing the end product if you read Jump?
I'm certainly reading 'Jump', and you will hear all about it! ;-D
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I actually used Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method (http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com...). I had a good idea of how I wanted the story to progress, but using that process allowed me to develop the characters, so it was them rather than the situations that drove it forward!It probably helps that I come from a process oriented background in IT, using the Snowflake method seemed like a very natural way to order my disparate ideas into a cogent series of events.
My next book, however - the Vampire one - is slightly more of a seat of my pants affair at the moment. Having said that, nearly 4,000 words in and I'm thinking I might need to do a bit more planning before I go too much further.At heart, I think I need the structure to help me get words on the page. Although with my short stories I'm a bit more slapdash and tend to just start writing and keep going until they are finished.
Yes, I agree. Short-stories - and to a degree creative non-fiction - allow us to be a bit more sort of 'impromptu' and spontaneous, with major reformulation if necessary achievable during the redrafting/editing processes. I don't think I'd try it in the face of say, 60K or 80K words...I found out at my own expense that for writing longer fictional pieces my preference for no-corset methods often became a bit of a hindrance. It's happened that, just like with your Vampire book, I have needed to take a step back well into the writing and come up with a story map, for the sake of my own sanity.
I think one of these days I might try the snowflake method, as I have a story brewing in the back of my mind that I might decide to write down, and if I do it'll need some rigorous planning to pull it all off just the way I have been thinking it up...
It certainly payed dividends for me ;-) Let me know what you think if you get round to trying it out, or seeing the end product if you read Jump?
I'm certainly reading 'Jump', and you will hear all about it! ;-D
Been looking for ways to reply to your message earlier - I'm really technologically challenged, sometimes...
Yes, your review was intriguing, mostly because, no matter how fascinating the concepts of forensic computing and 'social engineering' might be to me (as in, I wish I had a career path like that!!!), I have no idea really as to how accurate the 'fact' in the fiction might have been.
Took a look at your 'Jump' on Amazon, and... quite happily adding it to my reading list. I might even, like you, come to consider fan fic... Who knows? :-D
So: re, your last paragraph above: what king of a planner/plotter are you? Do you painstakingly map it all out pen-on-(electronic)paper before you start writing your books, or are you one of those I've-got-it-all-sorted-out-in-my-mind and/or let-those-characters-write-their-own-story kind of writer...?