Please enjoy this repost today, due to my gimpy arm. :-) Drawing winner announced Friday.
Alrighty folks, here it is. The simple (yeah, right) steps to writing a captivating spirit-filled story.
How to write a Christ-centered novel:
1) Pray. Ask the Lord to give you a story to tell. Ask Him what message He would have you convey through your writing. Always keep your time with Him a priority. Remember: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." When we try to skirt around spending time communing with God, often with the excuse of spending that time instead writing something to convey His message, we shoot ourselves in the foot. For the Christian novelists, it's HIS story we want to tell. So how can we know what that is if we don't meet with Him and spend time where we just shut up and listen? When it's time to write a new story, first spend time being a Mary. Sit at His feet and listen to His words of Life. When He speaks to you through your quiet times and Bible reading, or jolts you through a sermon, song, or online devotion- hold onto that message! If some spiritual lightbulb goes off and gives you goosebumps, that just may be the thread that He wants you to weave into your story.
2) How can that message which He impressed on your heart be illustrated in real life? Your pastor does this in his sermons when he shares a brief personal story to underscore a bit of truth he is presenting. Jesus did this in His parables. You get the privilege of doing the same thing and taking it deeper, farther. But just start by considering what situation- from your real life experiences or from hypothetical ones- would demonstrate the message God has been whispering to you? Heartache or addiction or betrayal perhaps? Got the basic idea? Now it's time for fun. We get to go 'Further Up and Further In'...
3) Time to play the 'what-if' game! Take your basic concept and really wade through it. I mean, what if it really happened? See those purple ribbons on all those trees in the summer? What if you really lost your child by leaving them in the car? Depressing idea right? We're not done yet. Really immerse yourself in it... you walk up to your car and see your daughter through the window- what happens first? How do you feel?
You're going to do that with your own 'what-if' scenario:
What if.... you lost everything, like Job did? What if... your spouse was diagnosed with cancer, your husband cheated on you, your father was caught embezzeling, your daughter was abducted, your son rejected Christ, or your best friend died? (There are lots of what-ifs!) This is where your novel will find its conception. One or more of these ideas will take root and capture your imagination. It may sound morbid, but allow yourself to really think about the nitty gritty of what it would be like. Some questions to get you started:
How would you feel in that moment of discovery? What would you say to God? [By the way, this is where your story begins- not with the years, months, or weeks leading up to the 'event']. What might God and/or your pastor say to you? How would you receive it at first? What might be a catalyst to finally get through to you?[This is your Middle] How would those closest to you feel? [secondary characters/subplots] How would you get through that? If you allowed God to have His way with you, what beautiful truth would shine forth at the end of such a dark time? [And this of course is your Ending] Hey- is it the same message God has been putting on your heart through devotions lately? BINGO! You've found His novel!
Congratulations. Now what? Why, Snowflake of course!
Showing posts with label snowflake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snowflake. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Snowflake Guy
It's a busy day in the Massaro household so I am treating you to a repost of one of my favorite topics:
Today I want to talk about Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method.
The what?
The Snowflake Method. Some of you may have heard of it before, but for those who haven’t, let me give you a crash course. (Then go check out the full explanation)!
Okay- what IS it and why should I care?
The Snowflake Method is an organized process for writing a novel. Perfect for split-brains like me. By that I mean that it marries my creative side with my structured, list-loving side. So if you love algebra and poetry (like I do) this will appeal to you.
In fact, I give the Snowflake a big chunk of credit in getting Beauty for Ashes from my mind to the page in the first place. Maybe you can relate to this. See, I had the basic idea for my novel for YEARS before writing it. I sometimes scribbled down thoughts about setting and characters, but always stopped short of BEGINNING THE MANUSCRIPT. It was too daunting. I didn’t have the time. I would drown if I began swimming across the vast ocean of the novel-writing process. Anyone been there? That all changed for me with two things: Stephanie Myers’ inspiring story of “getting it done”, and Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method.
So… how does it work?
Basically, the Snowflake starts with the bare bones of your story and gradually fleshes it out layer by layer, step by step. For example, Step 1 is to spend an hour writing a one sentence summary of your story. Here are my early attempts:
• A man loses everything, including his faith, in a deadly fire and struggles to put the pieces of his life back together again.
• One man’s journey to find peace after losing his family and his faith in a deadly fire.
• When a deadly fire destroys his family and his faith, one man questions whether God has forgotten him, or if He exists at all.
Later, I settled on a much shorter version:
• A young man struggles to regain his faith after losing everything in a deadly fire.
Now, none of these is what I would choose to use now that the book is finished, but it was a good start- and wonderful practice on boiling down the plot. (You’ll wrestle with that job for weeks or even months after the book is written when you want to start querying agents.)
Step 2 has you writing a 3-Act paragraph (just a single paragraph!). This is what I ended up with for mine:
Jonathon Douglas’ future looked bright- he had a beautiful young wife, a job he loved, and a faith in God that couldn’t be shaken- what more could he want? But his life goes into a tailspin when a deadly fire rips through his town and burns his future to the ground. Stripped of everything he ever held dear, he turns his back on God to embrace a life of lonely days and wild nights in Las Vegas. There, Jonathon hits bottom and discovers that God had been with him all along. As he begins to rebuild his life and discover a new future in California, his days of hard living catch up with him and threaten everything once again. But this time he chooses to cling to his faith and trust in God to carry him through.
Keep in mind that I wrote this paragraph long before I wrote the actual story. It’s pretty good! I used much of this same verbiage in my later summary and query letter attempts. The fact that this paragraph is still so accurate speaks volumes to me about the value and efficiency of the Snowflake. Granted, it is way too vague and full of clichés. I know a lot more now than I did back then about writing. But how exciting it was to see my story coming to life before it was even written! There’s no greater motivation than that.
Later in the process, you will take each sentence of that single-paragraph-summary and expand it into its OWN paragraph so that you get a full page summary. Do you see the snowflake appearing?
Interesting! Is there more?
Oh yes! Randy’s method takes you all the way through the entire writing process including scene charting and extensive character development. But what’s great about the Snowflake is that you don’t have to remain glued to it the whole way through. If all you need is a kick-start to get you going, these initial steps are perfect for the job. I started out using the scene spreadsheets he recommends but later let them go, not that I would pooh-pooh them. Once I began getting my first couple of chapters on paper, I just plunged ahead full-steam and no longer felt the need to check in with Randy on what I should be doing next. But if I’d needed to, he would have been there.
So will you use it again next time?
I cannot imagine writing a novel without at least using the basics of the Snowflake. I highly recommend using it if you are stuck on your half-finished novel, or have never started writing because you didn’t know where to start. If you don’t like starting a journey without knowing exactly where you’re going (see me raising my hand?), this is a must-have tool. The basic Snowflake Method article is absolutely FREE on Randy’s website. FREE! So no excuses! If that’s all you have, it’s enough. But he does offer a lot more, and with his track record it’s worth a looksie.
So check out his website, follow his blog, sign up for his FREE e-zine, and please let him know that I sent you!
**
Today I want to talk about Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method.
The what?
The Snowflake Method. Some of you may have heard of it before, but for those who haven’t, let me give you a crash course. (Then go check out the full explanation)!
Okay- what IS it and why should I care?
The Snowflake Method is an organized process for writing a novel. Perfect for split-brains like me. By that I mean that it marries my creative side with my structured, list-loving side. So if you love algebra and poetry (like I do) this will appeal to you.
In fact, I give the Snowflake a big chunk of credit in getting Beauty for Ashes from my mind to the page in the first place. Maybe you can relate to this. See, I had the basic idea for my novel for YEARS before writing it. I sometimes scribbled down thoughts about setting and characters, but always stopped short of BEGINNING THE MANUSCRIPT. It was too daunting. I didn’t have the time. I would drown if I began swimming across the vast ocean of the novel-writing process. Anyone been there? That all changed for me with two things: Stephanie Myers’ inspiring story of “getting it done”, and Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method.
So… how does it work?
Basically, the Snowflake starts with the bare bones of your story and gradually fleshes it out layer by layer, step by step. For example, Step 1 is to spend an hour writing a one sentence summary of your story. Here are my early attempts:
• A man loses everything, including his faith, in a deadly fire and struggles to put the pieces of his life back together again.
• One man’s journey to find peace after losing his family and his faith in a deadly fire.
• When a deadly fire destroys his family and his faith, one man questions whether God has forgotten him, or if He exists at all.
Later, I settled on a much shorter version:
• A young man struggles to regain his faith after losing everything in a deadly fire.
Now, none of these is what I would choose to use now that the book is finished, but it was a good start- and wonderful practice on boiling down the plot. (You’ll wrestle with that job for weeks or even months after the book is written when you want to start querying agents.)
Step 2 has you writing a 3-Act paragraph (just a single paragraph!). This is what I ended up with for mine:
Jonathon Douglas’ future looked bright- he had a beautiful young wife, a job he loved, and a faith in God that couldn’t be shaken- what more could he want? But his life goes into a tailspin when a deadly fire rips through his town and burns his future to the ground. Stripped of everything he ever held dear, he turns his back on God to embrace a life of lonely days and wild nights in Las Vegas. There, Jonathon hits bottom and discovers that God had been with him all along. As he begins to rebuild his life and discover a new future in California, his days of hard living catch up with him and threaten everything once again. But this time he chooses to cling to his faith and trust in God to carry him through.
Keep in mind that I wrote this paragraph long before I wrote the actual story. It’s pretty good! I used much of this same verbiage in my later summary and query letter attempts. The fact that this paragraph is still so accurate speaks volumes to me about the value and efficiency of the Snowflake. Granted, it is way too vague and full of clichés. I know a lot more now than I did back then about writing. But how exciting it was to see my story coming to life before it was even written! There’s no greater motivation than that.
Later in the process, you will take each sentence of that single-paragraph-summary and expand it into its OWN paragraph so that you get a full page summary. Do you see the snowflake appearing?
Interesting! Is there more?
Oh yes! Randy’s method takes you all the way through the entire writing process including scene charting and extensive character development. But what’s great about the Snowflake is that you don’t have to remain glued to it the whole way through. If all you need is a kick-start to get you going, these initial steps are perfect for the job. I started out using the scene spreadsheets he recommends but later let them go, not that I would pooh-pooh them. Once I began getting my first couple of chapters on paper, I just plunged ahead full-steam and no longer felt the need to check in with Randy on what I should be doing next. But if I’d needed to, he would have been there.
So will you use it again next time?
I cannot imagine writing a novel without at least using the basics of the Snowflake. I highly recommend using it if you are stuck on your half-finished novel, or have never started writing because you didn’t know where to start. If you don’t like starting a journey without knowing exactly where you’re going (see me raising my hand?), this is a must-have tool. The basic Snowflake Method article is absolutely FREE on Randy’s website. FREE! So no excuses! If that’s all you have, it’s enough. But he does offer a lot more, and with his track record it’s worth a looksie.
So check out his website, follow his blog, sign up for his FREE e-zine, and please let him know that I sent you!
**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)