As I
mentioned before, I’m not a plotter. The
thought of outlining causes an eerie sensation to crawl up my spine. To me outlining is like school work. Not the
fun - dissecting frogs and exploding volcanoes in science lab - but more like where
the teacher drones on and on in a monotone voice that puts me to sleep. My brain gets all fuzzy and a drowsy feeling
overcomes me, effectively shutting down the creative process. However, I’m trying to approach my writing in a different way in the hopes of strengthening
the writing muscles.
Since, I don’t
know the first thing about outlining a fiction novel, I’ve been scouring the
Internet for tips. There are various
ways to go about outlining. And at this
point I’ve read so many different ways to do it, that I’m cross-eyed. The lower than average gray matter that is my
brain has gone on strike, apparently from information overload. The end result being that I’ve absorbed
nothing but I’ve bookmarked a couple of sites for future reference.
After that I
was like - “This sucks! What do I do next?”
And then it hit me – “What if I searched on YouTube?” Which I did and I’m
sure other people would’ve thought of it sooner, but I’m slow. Anyway,
there’s a five part video series with Dan Wells, author of “I Am Not a
Serial Killer”. I liked the way he
explained story structure - a seven point system not created by him. In this video he uses examples from Batman Begins, Harry Potter and The Fellowship of the Ring.
As he explains, the seven point system goes as follows:
The Seven Point System
- Hook
- Plot Turn 1
- Pinch 1
- Midpoint
- Pinch 2
- Plot Turn 2
- Resolution
Here's part one of Dan Wells on Story Structure:
Now I can refer to these videos whenever I feel stuck. And his book has been added to my TBR list.