YWriter

Darcy Pattison — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:55:53 +0000

While my WIP novel is out with readers, I thought I’d look at my process for this novel and how it differed from others.

Writing Process for Novels Vary Widely

Writing process varies. First, my process was different for this novel. I find this to be always true, that what worked for one novel, won’t work for the next. In general the steps are the same, but I spend more time on one step, or do them in different orders.

Compensate for weakness. I did some evaluation of my novel ideas, works-in-progress novels, failed novels, and successful novels. I am a very private person; I’ll post information all day long, but rarely will I post anything personal. Frankly, it’s none of your business. Unfortunately, I carry that attitude over to my novels and the most common response is that “I failed to be engaged by the characters.” Of course. It’s none of your business!

So, I went looking for ways to improve the emotional life of my characters and found several helpful books and ideas on a character’s emotional arc.

Find software to support needed improvement. One suggestion on emotional arc was to use index cards to plot, writing ideas for one scene per card. Then, turn the card OVER and on the back, write the character’s emotional state during the scene. In other words, plan the character’s emotional arc.

I’ve used many different ways of plotting and I’ll tell you, never has index cards worked for me. I’ve used spreadsheet plotting and I like it very much. So, I simply added a column for the emotional state of the characters. It did work, but somehow, it didn’t seem to get me moving through the story well.

Enter YWriter, a free program that helps you plan and organize a novel. This time, since I wanted to do a better job of planning, especially the characters’ inner lives, YWriter was fabulous. It has logical and helpful screens that lay out the scenes, plots, who is present in the scene, setting, and I even found a place on the character tabs to add in the emotional reactions.

(Click to enlarge screen shot.)

After planning, YWriter has screens where you can actually write the novel, in a pared down word processor (import/export is easy in rtf file formats, compatible with any word processor).

I found that part of my process stayed the same. I plan and plan, then write, only to find that about halfway through, I have to stop and replan, because the writing has changed so much. Halfway through this novel, I stopped and had to replan. But this time, it seemed too tedious to go back and update every screen in YWriter; I abandoned the program and went back to my word processor alone, with occasional reference back to the YWriter plot.

YWriter was a good experience for me and I’ll probably use it again, because it allowed me to organize so much in one centrally located file. Will I use it next time? I don’t know. I may go back to spreadsheet plotting. But I know I was glad to expand my novel writing tool box with this great program.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Shakespeare Helps You Write a Better Picture Book

Darcy Pattison — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:49:33 +0000

When you’re thinking about writing a picture book, the structure if important. With about fourteen double-page spreads, it’s time to turn to Shakespeare for some help.

Sonnets and Picture Books

I think you can compare picture book structure to the structure of poetry. For example, sonnets have 14 lines, picture books can have 14 double-page spreads. So, taking a sonnet as an example of structure, you can imitate one of these sonnet structures

The Italian Sonnet consists of an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines)
- Octave
  - Spreads 1-4 Set up character
  - Spreads 5-8 Problem stated
- Sestet
  - Spreads 9-11 Character tries to solve the problem.
  - Spreads 12-14 The payoff
Or, think of it as the beginning, middle, end, payoff. Or problem, attempts to solve, failure and re-commitment to try, payoff.
Notice that in this structure, there is a pivot point–things change drastically–between spreads 8 and 9. There are two minor pivots, too, between 4-5 and 11-12. These are good places for a twist to turn the plot in a different direction.
The Shakespearean Sonnet Three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a couplet.
- Spreads 1-4 Problem stated
- Spreads 5-8 Attempts to solve problem
- Spreads 9-12 Problem solved
- Spreads 13-14 The payoff
The main pivot point is between 12 and 13; minor pivot points occur between 4-5, 8-9. Check the structure of your story and its pivot points to see if it is the strongest it can be.

ACTION POINTS

Consider if this structure would work for your picture book. If it’s close, see if you can adjust the text and page breaks for this structure. If it doesn’t work with this structure, then go to the next lesson.

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Fiction Notes » organize

YWriter

Writing Process for Novels Vary Widely

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Shakespeare Helps You Write a Better Picture Book

Sonnets and Picture Books

ACTION POINTS

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book

A Fiction Notes Ebook

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison