My Story Building Method
Some writers can take a piece of paper and draw a plot line on it and fit in every detail of their prospective story on this line. If only I had this degree of organization! I have to get some idea of what I want to write about, of course- maybe cluster a few ideas together for me to launch into the thing. That is the extent of my story conception. I have to get into it and then see where it goes. In truth, if I knew every detail of the story I was about to write, I probably wouldn't bother writing it. This writing thing for me has to be fun, and fun is finding new things, uncovering hidden treasures of ideas, and being surprised by what comes “down the chute”. After all, I mentioned in one of my first blogs that I started doing this for a relief from boredom. Knowing everything that is happening or is going to happen might be good for feelings of security, but, let's face it; it would be boring as hell. I used to dig in old dumps for bottles when I was a kid. It was fun because I was grubbing around in the dirt for something of value, when there was no guarantee that I would find anything. It was a form of prospecting. The real fun starts when a scrape in the wall of the pit you dug reveals the base of a bottle you recognize as potentially valuable. Maybe it is a first glimpse of a cobalt blue bottle. Cobalt blue is often used for poison bottles and nearly all of them are worth big bucks. Maybe the base has that scar of glass in the center. This means that it is a hand made bottle at least as old as the Civil War era. Again, big bucks. Admittedly, most often the prize turns out to be something less hot, or you tug on the bottle to find out it is only half a bottle. It's the same with thoughts. A lot of them turn out to be emotionally flat, or something that seems good in the moment, but turn out to block a better idea formed later. Then you are faced with canning a few thousand previously inspired words in order to follow the new direction the story is heading. I don't lament this overmuch. I use cut to remove the stuff that's not working, but then I paste it into a catchall folder, just in case it turns out to be useful some place else. My neighbor used to save the plastic bags from inside the cereal boxes. I do the same thing with swatches of paragraphs and phrases. My patchwork method may not be efficient, but if I sew together enough swatches of the right material in the right shape in the right place, I end up with a full-size garment. I have five of them in my closet. Why not try one of them on? Read the full article
