My New Invention: The Script Method for Novel Writing (Part II)

I confess. The problem with writing a II or III part blog is that by the time I get back to the next part, I realize my "big idea" is not so big afterall. But I'm committed (or should be!) so here are my thoughts on what I compare to a script method for a rough draft.

It's filled with placeholders - - someone described it as "placeholders on steroids" - - and it by no means quality writing. It is both telling and showing. It is not thinking about dialog tags or pausing for any search for the right word. Ignore your thesaurus. Quick and dirty. Rough. (Oh, that's right I do not write erotica. I forgot. LOL) Nevermind! The idea is simply to get the thoughts down without stalling out on the details.

Using placeholders is not new to me. At the end of my first manuscript I had already started using placeholders to a limited extent. Especially for research or a description, or both. [Add historically correct description of the wedding dress.] But it's this deliberate combination of showing and telling in a rough draft that I find liberating.

Here is an example of what I mean by a rough draft of a scene using the script method.

The telling: [When Beth is asleep, Ben sees the taxi outside his window and goes to talk to Alex (fyi: Alex: the grim reaper taxi driver, Carrie: Ben's sister).]

Bits of showing with dialogue, not worrying about dialog tags:“She can hear me.”

“It appears so.”[pause] “Perhaps she can help.”

“No. I don’t want her involved in this.” [some emotion, frustration, anger] “Did you do this? Make Carrie hear me instead.”

[Ben hears Beth call out his name.] Ben!

[He looks to the house. Dark house, add atmosphere.]

“She’s calling for you.”

[conflit in Ben but he goes to Beth, bypassing the stairs in a ghost like instant and appearing at her bedside. Panic from Beth.]

“I’m here.”

[Relief from Beth] “I thought you were gone.”

[Resignation]“No, I’m a f***ing ghost remember? I can’t go.”

The flaw in my logic of the "script method" is that it, um, takes too much time. *looking sheepish* All those brackets and all. Yes, I confess. There is no method. I am a fraud. LOL

Okay, take away the brackets then. :)

I'm still convinced there is a value in the rough draft, by whatever name you call it. Something to be said for NOT STOPPING until the bare bones of the scene is there. Then flesh it out in revision. Do I need a placeholder for emotion? Do you? Maybe not. But it doesn't hurt. I'd rather have it there then a blank page.

Disclaimer: I reserve the right NOT to have a Part III to this topic. [reader expresses relief] LOL

My New Invention: The Script Method for Novel Writing (Part I)

Okay, okay, someone is going to call me on this. I discovered long ago that there are NO original ideas. I'm always getting the wind knocked out of my sails by discovering I really didn't think of a grand idea first. But, for me anyway, this qualifies as a grand idea.

As usual, the crew from the blog Romance Writer's Revenge, inspired me. Today's topic on revision covered the writing phase before revision and how we may have adjusted our writing process as we've grown. A question raised: How do we write differently with manuscript #2 compared to manuscript #1? And I discovered I was rather opposite than most. Again, I'm sure I'm not alone, just as I'm sure I have no original ideas. (Do you get the idea that I'm very humbled by the writing process? LOL) Anyway, whereas some writers determine with the 2nd to to be a revise-as-they-go type of writer - - to minimize revisions, of course - - I went the other direction. With manuscript #1 under my belt and on to the next I realize I've drastically changed my approach.

I realize just now that I need to split this into two, possibly three, parts. I'm getting to my title, my invention (LOL), in Part II, but first, I need to lead up to it. So, to backtrack...

During the first manuscript, I wrote in a linear fashion and I definitely revised as I went along. No moving forward until I'd revised it to death. No skipping around. I went from idea to a fairly clean first draft. And there was still plenty of revision to be done. Finally, somehow, I finished. This statement may ruin my credibility for some, but the fact is, it took me YEARS to finish my first manuscript.

I began my second manuscript, my current WIP, the same way. Granted, it went faster simply because I was making fewer mistakes. I would hope so, because the years crafting the first were also filled with learning. (And with life, so that is another valid excuse!) So, back on subject, I made good progress up to about chapter four. Then I was stuck. I was stuck for months. I needed to do something different and I think I did find a better process.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm still humble. LOL I do know that for every writer they have to find what works best for them. I'm also aware, and feel I have to state as a sort of disclaimer, that I have NOT, as yet, finished my second manuscript. Another blow to my credibility, yes, I know. As yet another disclaimer, there might not be any skipping ahead to a right method. By this, I mean I had to learn what I know. Even though my favorite question to a published writer regarding the writing process is "what do you know now that you wish you knew then?," it is probably a very silly question. I've never really received a good answer. It's likely an impossible question to answer and make applicable from one author to another.

However, I'm just so much happier to be a writer now. The love/hate relationship with writing is much more consistantly a love. And part of it has to be the changing of my process, the freedom of non-linear writing and the adding of two distinct steps. 1) A ROUGH draft and 2) A First Revision from the rough draft. Ultimately, the goal is still the same; a clean First Draft.

Thats it? More work, you ask? Yep, that's it. For Part II, if you haven't thrown your hands up in disgust, it's about how more work leads to consistent writing and finishing sooner. Enjoying the process even. And part of that is non-linear writing and having a rough draft that is written like a script. My way, anyway. :) It's just about trying a different method. Either it works or it doesn't. More coming in Part II and the details of The Script Method for Novel Writing.