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Synopsis How To (from The Story Bodyguard Blog by Zara Altair)
I struggle with plot development and as a result, find myself floundering a bit during the writing and revision processes. Now, much of this first novel has happened organically. I had a basic premise in my mind and since then, the characters have taken the plot in places I never could have imagined when I began. For some writers, this organic process is the only thing that works for them. It's hard to imagine planning so specifically before beginning.
This blog post is technically written for screenwriters, but the advice applies to any type of story telling. It suggests plotting the story first by writing every scene you have in mind on notecards, shuffling them up, and then placing them in the correct order on a storyboard or within the plot sequence. From there, you expand upon the scenes and by the end, have written your synopsis before you've even written your first draft.
Essentially, that first draft should be much easier now to write.
Will this method work for everyone? Probably not.
Will it work for me? I'd like to try it and find out.
In my revision process, I'm finding that much of the second half of my book needs reworking. I'm going to take the writer's advice and use notecards. I already know what scenes I like and don't like. I'm ambivalent towards some of the characters, but this method will force me to pay attention to what's important and to follow a natural sequence to help build suspense.
Wish me luck!
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