I look for things that will inspire me. Watch some Anime, read a book. Why not pick up a picture book and just look at it for fun? Take some photos..ect But the 'honey moon stage' will eventually pass for every writer. It's normal not be excited about your story after about 6-7 months me thinks. Especially after you finish the first draft..
I did not get into my story as much as my story got into me. I was a big man on Cell Block "H" before I started to hear the voices of my characters.My problem is reverse I am so into the story I rarely take rec out in the yard anymore
For me writing is about having fun, enjoying it, going on adventure. Characters are like friends - and for me they are what pull me back to the story. I feel like I am playing with my friends and its just fun. OOH I wonder when my honeymoon stage will end - think one advantage of being a fast writer is I don't get bored - I move on to the next stage a new story, new book, new idea. I also love nearly every stage of writing - The only bit I don't like oddly is starting a new project with new characters I have to get used to - it feels a bit like being a stranger at a party where everyone else has met before. That might be where you are at because you are getting back into it - give yourself time to get reacquainted like you would with someone you haven't seen in a long time. My blogs and websites really help keep up with old characters and add new stories.
I disagree completely. It's taken me about that long to write the novel I'm just finishing off right now, and though I've had some awful blocked patches, for the most part I've looked at every new part with a "wheeee! I get to write this now!"... (incidentally, to your "finish the first draft point - this is at least the 5th draft of the novel, hence knowing what comes next and being so excited to write it. The story still excites me, and I'm still thinking about it a lot of my time when I'm away from the screen) I wouldn't *want* to write a novel where I just looked at it with a blank expression when starting writing. If there's no will to write it then you shouldn't be, or else you're just hammering out words to fill a quota with no joy or care. And no one else will be excited about it either. With the blocked parts, it's best to remember where they were, and make sure they're edited with a lot more care. I find the best part of anyone's novel was the bit where they were super excited, and it shows. All you really need to do is fix up grammar boo-boos and typos. The parts where people struggled are riddled with errors since it took several sittings, the heart wasn't in it, and the effort was just forcing the way through, rather than weaving something good. If you are forcing out the end of all your novels after the halfway point, there's a real problem there. So in reply to the OP: I don't have that. If I don't like a story I drop it, and wait for a new idea for it to spur me to pick it up again, and write while I'm excited. But if I'm into an idea I will be psyched about it for as long as it takes to write it.
my oldest story makes me obsessed about it every time I start rewriting it. Something that almost never happens with the newer ones, to be honest. But maybe it's because I planted the seed to this particular story when I was about 14 so I have been living with it for quite some time, and the characters are almost like family to me, lol. When i'm working with it im constantly daydreaming about it and picturing scenes before me. I think it will never end actually because that would be such a sad day if I had to put a "the end" on it.
Hi All, I'm fairly new to this site, and have really enjoyed lurking around here so far. I've learned a lot. I am currently 70,000 words into the very rough first draft of a young adult novel. I've been writing all of my life, but novel writing is all new to me. I signed up for an online class, and our teacher is having us break down our writing into scenes and sequels (i.e. scene includes goal, conflict, and disaster and is the physical journey; and sequel consists of emotion, thought, decision, and action and is the emotional journey). I did a quick internet search and I know these are not new concepts, even though there are varying words used to describe them. I am really struggling. I think if I were trying to write from scratch using these guidelines, it would be easier. But I'm trying to rework some of my rough draft's scenes using these guidelines and it's frustrating. I don't particularly like having to write this way, but I'm not blind about my writing. It needs help! Out of my 70,000 words there are several areas that I really do like, so I assumed those must be the places where I naturally used scenes and sequels, but I don't think that is necessarily the case. I am going to go crazy if rewriting comes down to doing this for every little scene I've written. I don't have a specific question but would absolutely love any other writers' experiences and thoughts! Thank you! Georgia B
Writers workshops are all well and good, and can give some good tips and advice, but don't let them dictate how you should write if the particular approach they advocate doesn't work for you. I've never even heard of this 'scene and sequel' concept, and it hasn't harmed my writing. You might be at the stage where you'd benefit from some broader feedback on your novel - do you have any friends you trust to give you an honest and informed opinion? If not, make some contacts on forums like this one and get your work out there for critique. Getting real readers' opinions is the only way to improve your writing, not by overanalysing it according to someone's idea of a literary construction model.
Thanks for your response, Kallithrix! I definitely agree with you -- I have been going through this class with a bit of skepticism but I do think it will help me overall with my writing, whether or not I use what is taught. After all, it is making me, well, write. I am sure you are right about getting real readers, but I have to be honest, I am not ready for this yet. (I just now announced that I am writing a book; only about two people even knew about it until recently.) I can't imagine showing my work to anyone until I've done some rewriting. I know it needs so much improvement, and there are definitely problems I will find on my own. But thanks for the point about overanalyzing. That's what I've been doing all morning. And it sucks. I need to just move forward and create more pages. Really, right now that is what feels the best. Georgia B
Hi Georgia: I think the best way you can learn how to write a successful novel, is to read successful novels in your genre. Also, there are some great short-story novelist like Kurt Vonnegut! The more you read, the more your writing will improve. A book I'm going to recommend is called: "The Fault In Our Stars" by John Greene. It is a fiction teen novel that is really, really good. I hope this helps.
Jonathan -- Good point! I KNOW I'm not reading enough, but I'd like to. (With three small kids, it's hard to do anything -- one is screaming right now, in fact.) But I do have to say my very latest read was "The Fault in our Stars." LOVED it. It was one of the best books I've ever read. I just bought Looking for Alaska. Thanks! Georgia B
I'm no fan of the scene and sequel model. I prefer the simple dynamic of a plot, which consists of an actor, a goal or objective, a motivation, and an opposition. It is equally applicable to internal or external conflict, so there is no need to constrain the physical and emotional journey to be paired one-on-one. Plots combine by having a common goal or actor, but a plot can also serve as the opposition to another plot. Plots drive the storyline, which is the chronology of events comprising the story, and the entire linked collection of plots is a plot network. As you are discovering, not every story dissembles well into the scene and sequel model. That model may be helpful to some writers for constructing a story from scratch, but I would never recommend reworking a story just to make it fit that mold.
I'd never heard of the 'Scene and Sequel' model before today. Thanks for discussing this. I just finished reading an extensive article on the concept and I'm going to try it out on my own work. It sounds like it might be useful, during a first draft of course, as Cogito points out. It sounds like it might be a recipe for hair-pulling during a rewrite.
I agree with Cogito. I've never heard of "scene and sequel" before now, and I've taken four online writing courses. Nobody mentioned it. Don't force your work into that format. But when you're revising, if you're honest, you might find yourself deleting scenes that don't really advance the plot or develop character in any way, and what's left just might turn out to look a little like this scene and sequel method. Have you ever seen the Coen Brothers' movie "Fargo"? It's a great movie. Thinking back on it now, it seems like quite a bit of it breaks down nicely into this scene and sequel idea. But as I said, don't force it. Write what you want the way you want to, and then, in revision, you can take out what doesn't work. Your novel will be stronger.
I have heard of the scene and sequel model and from the moment I read it, it sounded like the biggest pile of horse manure I've ever seen in writing advice. (Especially seeing as the writer of the article was so insistent that you HAVE to use this model to have a good story and that you cannot possibly be a good writer if you do not do it exactly like he says.) Frankly, the recipe he gave seemed to be one for a very predictable and boring story.
i'd say 'drop the class' and just work on editing your novel the 'normal' way... and i'd strongly advise taking jonathan's and cog's advice... it's what i'd also recommend...
Thanks so much for all your insight. I appreciate it. It's funny, because only three people in the class have posted their scene and sequel "assignment" to the class message board. Apparently, I'm not the only one who is having difficulty implementing the technique or who is finding it impractical. Still, I'm determined to learn from this class, primarily what works for me and what doesn't. I did really appreciate studying the three act model and how it applied to my novel. That was useful in structuring the whole thing. This scene and sequel thing, though, is the first thing to make me raise an eyebrow. Thanks again! Georgia
Well I've spent some time going over this 'scene and sequel' idea and I like it. I really appreciate you bringing it up GeorgiaB. I like to have every possible tool in my toolbox and this is one I'd missed. It's a bit of a mind-bender but I can see it being very useful for tightening up action passages and keeping things fast (when that's what you want).
Once I see that a story is using the scene/sequel model (and I have spotted it), it automatically becomes less interesting and ten times more predictable.
Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. Maybe using this technique only 'works' if you're good enough to really hide it? Are there any other 'models' I should know about? Anything that might help strengthen my stories?
^^^^The problem is that the model is so specific that you can't really "hide" it while using it religiously. You can maybe implement elements of it when needed, but writing an entire novel that way is just a perfect way to ensure that the book follows a very predictable pattern. As I said, I've seen it used, and once I spot it, it's pretty easy to see what's going to happen in any given scene. I think it's best to not use too specific of a model and just write the story.
Scene and sequel probably comes from a very good book called "Scene and Structure" by Jack Bickham. I don't know what your course is teaching you, but in the book, it is only a way of understanding the structure, but it also writes about all the ways you can break the rules. It is really there in case you find yourself with a story that doesn't read well, if you don't know how to fix it, when things don't make much sense, that looking at the scene and sequel helps. Because everyone writes in some form of scene and sequel mode, all stories go from external to internal back and forth and that's essentially what it is. Not a rigid set of rules, just a way of breaking down a narrative into components. If you haven't I'd recommend you read the book, it might become more clear what it's really about.
I just googled the scene/ sequel method...and I think I'd have to double fist Jack n coke and Guinness, in order to satisfy the split personality I just developed, from reading about it.
I had a look at it and although I get the theory, I can't for the life of me see how it would work in practice. It's far too prescriptive for my liking, because I don't think every scene can be broken down into goal > conflict > diaster > reaction > dilema > decision > goal... ad infinitum. That might be the way Dan Brown writes, but it's hack writing. Anyone trying to peddle the idea that you can apply a formula and voila! instant bestselling novel, is just out to take your money.
"...scene includes goal, conflict, and disaster and is the physical journey; and sequel consists of emotion, thought, decision, and action and is the emotional journey..." Without too much analysis, you can see that most novels consist of action scenes (not necessarily physical action) where the character(s) is/are up against a situation, mental block, or person; and after them, there is a reaction scene, where the character(s) is/are make a decision, crack up, etc. I don't find that bearing this in mind makes the writing formulaic or inhibits me, and the scenes can be any length, with several to a chapter... But use it if it helps you, don't bother if it doesn't.
Kali, the book precisely says that it is not a formula, that following it blindly won't get you anywhere, it is just a way of breaking down the story into components in order to fix something that doesn't work. It is a general discussion. That's the original, now I don't know if writing courses have bastardised the idea, but the book most definitely doesn't encourage formulaic writing in any way.
