I was just wondering what people thought of the snowflake method of writing. It seems like a decent way to make an outline, but I can't see it being used to write any kind of story with real feeling. This may just be my perception, but I thought it was worth asking.
I tried it a few years ago but I couldn't get into it. The main problem was step one: I cannot summarise a story before I've planned it because I don't know yet what it's going to be about. I start with characters rather than a plot. I know a woman who swears by it - but she personally knows Ingermanson so I think she's a little biased.
I also tried it some time ago - but stopped after glancing through some of the steps. Way too complicated for me - I may as well just write the story as plod through all that. But I also have friends who swear by it. Give it a try, see what happens...
I think it could be useful for someone who has a lot of ideas but a problem of sorting them all out, or who tends to get stuck just a few chapters in because they don't know where the story is going. I tried this with a novel-idea I had but I found it a little too thourough, when I couldn't bring myself to finish all the steps (at least not towards the end) A general outline works fine for me.
I don't use it. I have a notepad saved full of story ideas I've collected for the past 5 years and occasionally I'll look through it from time to time and sometimes when I see a story idea I've written long ago, things click in my head and a story is comes out of it.
It looks way too complicated for me. I prefer to start with an idea, then work it out. For example: I would start with "A man is forced to play chess with Death to bargain for his soul." Immediately, lots of questions pop up. I stick to the five wives and one husband technique. Why? Because he said that he was smarter than Death, and Death wants him to prove it. When? A few hours after he dies. Where? In the Underworld. Who? Generic dead people, demons, Death, MC How? Death asks each dead person to make a plea for his or her soul. Then I meld it all together and you've got a story!
I think the snowflake method is fine if you're in the process of fleshing out an idea that you just recently conceived, but your snowflake outline before you start is going to look a hell of a lot different than the one after you're far into the book. Ideas evolve and change as you write them.
