Playing in Someone Else's Sandbox: Getting Started

[dragonbat2006]

Sometimes, the hardest part of writing is getting the first five sentences out of your head and onto your document. At other times, your biggest problem may be that you can’t jot your ideas down fast enough. While creative bursts are something to be cherished, creativity without discipline and direction often burns out, leaving a writer blocked in the middle of a story, with no clear idea how to proceed. For this reason, if you mean to write a multi-chaptered work, it’s helpful to begin with an outline.

Plotting the Story

Let’s presume that you have an idea for a story. Maybe your favorite television show’s season finale has ended on a cliffhanger, and you know how you’d like it to end. Maybe you want to cheer up a friend by writing a story in which he or she becomes a character in their favorite book. Maybe you don’t like the way the movie ended and you want to write your own version, or you want to tie up some loose ends that were left dangling. Ideas can spark from a memory, a song on the radio, or a picture that flashes into your mind. In this section, we will learn how to fan those sparks into flames.

Working with an Outline

An outline is like a road map that tells you how to get from point A to point B. It can be as general or as specific as you like. An outline

• Forces you to plot out the major steps that you need to take to get your story from Point A to Point B.


• Provides you with signposts that let you know whether you’re on the right route to your destination.


• Keeps you from getting sidetracked on tangents that carry you farther from your goal.


• Helps prevent writer’s block.


• Helps you stick to a word- or page-count.

Creating an Outline

Let’s say that you’re a fan of Gone with the Wind, and that you want to write a story about Scarlett O’Hara’s eleventh birthday party. That’s fine, but what happens on that birthday that makes it so significant? For example:

• Does she meet Ashley Wilkes for the first time?


• Does she fight with Melanie Hamilton?


• Is she upset because her mother is too busy tending to the sick on another plantation to be at her party?


• Is she...?

The possibilities are endless—and they aren’t mutually exclusive, either. There’s no reason why Scarlett can’t be upset that her mother won’t be at her party, and meet Ashley, and fight with Melanie. Or you can narrow your focus and concentrate on fewer elements. Once you have a good idea of the story you plan to tell, it’s time to start your outline.

1. Take a clean sheet of paper or open a new document in the word processing tool of your choice. Some people prefer to have their outline in hardcopy, so that they can glance at it while writing, without having to toggle between tabs or windows.


2. Think about what you wish to accomplish in your story. Where is Point A? Where is Point B?


3. Jot down the key points that you want to cover in your story. If you have a specific word-count in mind, also note the approximate number of words that you want to devote to each point. This will help you to stay focused. Feel free to write in shorthand or point form. Doodle in the margin. Do whatever helps you to plan and organize your ideas.

Your outline may look something like this:

Outline: Gone with the Wind Prequel (1200–1400 Words) Night before B-day. Mother tells Scarlett she will be away. Scarlett upset. (125–150 wds) Next day. Preparations for party. (200–225 wds) Guests arrive. Scarlett bored. (75–100 wds) Enter Ashley. (200–225 wds) Enter Melanie. Ashley interested. Scarlett jealous.(225–250 wds) Scarlett vs Melanie. Melanie crybaby. Scarlett scolded. (175–250 wds) Ashley reproaches Scarlett. Scarlett furious w him. (100–125 wds) That night. Scarlett cries to mother. Swears never to see Ashley or Melanie again. (100–125 wds)

You have now identified your start and end points. You have defined the scope of your story, both what you mean to have happen and how much space you intend to devote to each plot point.

Before you begin to write your story though, there is one component of the writing process which should not be overlooked.