The Steps are Simple
Print a draft of a story with completed action
Separate each scene using scissors—chop chop chop!
Cut descriptive paragraphs, reflections of characters, etc, separate from action, especially those that could be divorced from the action they happen during. For instance, “as he cleaned the wound, he thought about all the times his grandmother told him…”
Label each scene with big letters
Lay each in its own pile
Tape all of them up on the wall
use painter’s tape so they remain mobile
Ask Yourself
Does the length of a scene directly relate to its importance to the story?
In a story about a fishing accident, the scene haggling over the price of worms shouldn’t be longer than the scene where grandpa falls overboard
Generally, more important, longer pieces of action with happen at the end, these scenes likely should be longer than those that set them up
How much space are you spending setting up the action?
Are characters doing in the first paragraph? If not, could they be?
Do you interrupt important action with description that could belong elsewhere?
If your narrator shifts, when? Why? Is the narration balanced among characters? Why or why not?
Play Around
Choose a scene near the end, maybe the climax, or maybe the last paragraph. Move it to the front.
What gets better?
What gets worse?
Could you create or refine any patterns in your story?
In a space exploration tale, could each day begin with their arrival on a new planet, each night be a consolidation of what they learned there, or an escalation of the tension?
Tear a scene off the wall. Consider how your story works without it.
What gets better?
What gets worse?
Grab a piece of it at random. Can you tell where to place it back? If you cannot, what needs to be done more clearly? Does it fit in somewhere else, or should it perhaps disappear?
What I’m Reading this Week:
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Next Odd Sunday, the 19th, I’ll share what I’ve learned and done with my own Stor-enstein.
Have you tried a process like this before? Would you try it now? How could you do this exercise better?
Interesting.
I picture someone (you) like a mad scientist pulling papers off the wall and frantically moving them to and fro!! Can’t wait to read your story!