Three Simple Tools
Before my fingers touch a keyboard, I work with three simple tools to break story, develop characters, and craft an outline.
I’m a pantser. There, I said it and I stand by it.
Some writers can jump right to pages and just follow their muse. The story comes out magically as if from Zeus’ mouth and voila…a story.
Unfortunately, my muse is a bit of a lost soul, so I have to work especially hard to get it focused and inspired.
I spend a LOT of time breaking the story, trying to understand what I want to say, and why I want to say it.
I spend a LOT of time developing my characters and learning who they are, what they want, why they want it, and what’s holding them back or standing in their way.
I spend a LOT of time outlining the story, laying out the sequence of events and key plot points that my characters will experience on their way towards achieving (or not) their goals.
I use three tools before I open up my laptop:
Notebook - A simple composition book is fine. I use Target brand because of the different colors. Each project gets its own color. My notebook is my brain. It’s where I explore and expand on my ideas.
Post Its - Nothing fancy. The basic yellow ones will do. I use these when I’m brainstorming and I need to get a lot of ideas and fragments out of my head. Sure, I could use notecards, but Post Its are smaller which makes me focus on ideas and not worry about exploring or expanding anything in depth.
Notecards - I like the big suckers. 5” by 8”. This for outlining. I need something that is big so that when I lay them all out I can see the flow of the story. I only put a few items on a notecard:
Slugline
The Setup - who wants what
The Complication - what happens to stop the person from getting what they want.
The Reveal - what new choice does the character have to make to continue forward.
Simplicity is the key. Use the tools you have purposefully and in collaboration.
