I know all the details of the story well, but I am having trouble laying out the timeline to find the best fit for the new material. It can be added in more than one place, so I am asking for advice on laying out the timeline to see it at a glance. Have any of you found a good application to do this?
No. Think about what is being added, how it changes the MC, where/when that change should take place, etc. Substitute a different word for 'change' if it fits better. In a story, most everything should be driving both the main story, and the MC, forward. Thinking in those terms may help (if you haven't already). If you analyze what you want to add, it will probably become apparent that there is only one logical place for it, but there may be more places it could go. Stay away from the 'coulds', and stick to the 'shoulds' is my advice.
And to expand on this - since the OP says he/she feels that it can go in more than one place - even if the new material doesn't directly affect change in the MC, does it affect how the reader engages the MC? Does it provide information that may cause us to look differently upon the MC or other characters and alter later engagement thereof? The exact same glass of orange juice tastes quite different before vs. right after you brush your teeth.
Very true, about the orange juice. I get what you are saying. I am thinking that all the ways the new material could affect the MC is part of my problem. (Probably nothing new to an experienced writer though)
If you're trying to make a story bigger without padding it out, you're adding a subplot. Is that what you're planning? (I'm guessing, yes.) The perfect subplot starts early and finishes late, but it's going to send ripples through the pond, so you'll have to revise everything to accompany it. I suppose I would break the subplot up into intro, rising conflict, disaster, climax, denouement, and fit those five scenes in. Then I would add details in the in-between scenes to make sure it meshes.
Thanks Seven Crowns. I see the "ripples through the pond" you speak of. I guess ultimately I have to decide on how much I want to allow the sub plot to change the whole work. Thanks again!
I've grown fond of Scrivener. It has some tools that help keep the story straight and to see at a glance how it flows. Do you keep an outline, or do you work straight from your head?
A little bit of both. I started like most amateurs... Just get it on paper and go from there. I keep files on the characters and I have all of the edits, but until Seven Crowns confirmed there was no way around the work, I didn't create an outline until yesterday. (Fairly easy, but a little too late for the clarity I need at this point)
