A story has arisen in you and you don't know how to unfold it? Do you have your book in mind, still vague, but the outlines are gradually emerging? Are you postponing the crucial step, that of… writing? Before embarking on the great adventure of fiction, a first question to ask yourself can be very useful for the future: to which school does the author in you belong? The school of intuition or that of structure? To find out, here is a small (non-exhaustive) overview of the many possibilities available to you.
A story has arisen in you and you don't know how to unfold it? Do you have your book in mind, still vague, but the outlines are gradually emerging? Are you postponing the crucial step, that of… writing? Before embarking on the great adventure of fiction, a first question to ask yourself can be very useful for the future: to which school does the author in you belong? The school of intuition or that of structure? To find out, here is a small (non-exhaustive) overview of the many possibilities available to you.
CONSTRAINTS THE BEST ALLIES OF CREATIVITY
If you are a plotter, in other words a planner, who likes structure, moving forward blindly is not your cup of tea. You need discipline and a framework to reassure you. I have selected for you the references which are, in my opinion, the most interesting, among the amount of information on writing which is available to everyone today.
I am thinking, among all the sources that are useful to me today to support authors, of the novelist Elizabeth George. She describes her method in her book My Writer's Secrets , because for her, “writing (…) is a profession. To do a job well, you have to know how to use the tools and for that, you still have to know them (...). Not having a method puts you in terrible danger and writing ceases to be a joy and becomes a threat .”
Among the simple but valuable tools, I will of course remember the essential narrative diagram in three acts. It is a great help in drawing the outline of your future novel. It takes place in five stages: an initial situation, a disruptive element, adventures, elements of resolution and finally a final situation. The greatest playwrights, screenwriters and writers use these precepts, based on stages that keep any spectator or reader in suspense: it is a question of suffering, of struggle, then of triumph. This approach allows us to consider any story as a living organism with its own internal logic, putting aside mechanical functioning, devoid of soul. The hero or heroine must grow, learn, transform. The steps are detailed and very well explained in a reference work, The Anatomy of the Screenplay by John Truby. In summary, step 1 allows you to define the protagonist's weaknesses, step 2 reveals desire (= objective), step 3 presents the protagonist's adversary, step 4 is devoted to the protagonist's plan to achieve his goal, stage 5 allows the confrontation between the protagonist and the adversary, stage 6 brings the final revelation and finally in stage 7 the protagonist finally reaches a new state. The work is dense and I might as well tell you, it is not easy to read. But if you are motivated and aim for efficiency, you will find a gold mine in the many examples cited!
I also like to rely almost systematically on the actual diagram. It allows you to have an overview, not to overlook any important character and not to miss your quest. This is another, complementary way of approaching narrative structure (also called story structure). Here again, a character continues the quest for an object. The characters who help him in his quest are called “helpers”. Those who seek to prevent it are the “opponents”.
The quest is sponsored by a sender , for the benefit of a recipient . Generally speaking, all characters who benefit from the quest are the beneficiaries .
Finally, the snowflake method is a method of novel planning that works from the idea to the creation of a detailed plan, scene by scene. The creator, Randy Ingermanson, describes the process in How to write a novel using the snowflake method . Ten steps are segmented to allow you to follow through on your idea. Step 1 asks you to write your story in one sentence. Then you will flesh out the plot by developing the summary in five sentences (step 2), before quickly describing the characters and places (step 3), then the short synopsis (step 4). Then, you will have to go deeper by detailing your characters even more (step 5 and 7) then the synopsis to have a complete document (step 6). The development of the plan only happens at step 8. In 9 you make a narrative description and finally in 10 you begin writing the first draft of your fiction.
These tracks have the advantage of allowing the author to travel by planning the stages to avoid unpleasant surprises (notably the famous blank page). It's up to you to test, adapt and take what suits you best here or there.
That said, if you want to use your intuition instead, you will surely be surprised to know that many writers use it.
ANOTHER INTELLIGENCE AT WORK
Many well-known and recognized writers do not budge: for them, writing is an automatic process. No need to think about the plot for months, anticipate each scene, or even consider a sequel. It will impose itself! It's their secret to avoiding boredom and weariness since it's their characters who decide almost everything. The Japanese writer Haruki Murakami is from this school, just like Joël Dicker and Stephen King. They are pantsers in English. The young novelist Mélissa Da Costa also lets herself be guided by inspiration. Nothing better to fuel the fire, obey the ideas that come to you (and not the other way around), welcome an obsession (if an idea comes to visit you night and day, consider that it is no longer an idea but an intuition) . This can happen following an event, while listening to music, while seeing an image or film, or while reading. In short, at any moment you can be struck by a kind of flash that you will want to transform and put on paper. In this case, it is about being attentive to everything that is happening around you and within yourself. It is an exploration that lets the subconscious work, allowing the creation of branches and associations of ideas. There is nothing paranormal about this but it is a way of stimulating creativity by placing yourself in a receptive state. The author lets the ideas run wild, rather than searching for them, and his only job is to arrange them in the right way to draw the reader into his story.
This school of intuition then requires writing without stopping, without rereading, while maintaining a sustained rhythm. And the first draft should not be written in more than three months, according to Stephen King, who talks about his craft as a writer in the excellent book Writing, Memoir of a Profession .
How do most of them put themselves in a good position to welcome their intuition with the aim of creating a world, a universe of their own? They get up at dawn, when the city is still sleeping... But if you're not a fan of the miracle morning , don't panic! Fortunately, intuition is available at any time of the day. Only she is fearful, discreet, and arrives without fanfare. Subtle, it lets itself be desired and requires patience, endurance and a lot of perseverance. If she allows herself to be tamed, with tact and gentleness, she will know how to shower you with gifts. Go for a walk in nature, as Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt recommends, or allow yourself to dream, to do nothing (because in fact the mind does not know how to do nothing, it works differently by recycling thoughts, memories) . The void created thus becomes a delicious creative void for all artists since it is the promise that something will happen, that doors will open, as nature abhors a vacuum! Disconnected from screens but connected with your sensations, your mind thus connects to another intelligence which gets to work, very different from reasoning. Haruki Murakami testifies in his book Profession novelist that he runs an hour a day on the one hand to keep a firm body and a clear mind but also to leave space within himself to write better afterwards and to have all the senses in awakening.
Meditate, reread your diary, read the press, look at your photo albums, observe the lives of others and their dilemmas. Curiosity is key. These activities, as diverse as they are, are an opportunity to bring back sensations and images from the unconscious. Never underestimate the music of chance.
A SUBTLE IN-BETWEEN A THIRD WAY
But ultimately, why put yourself in a box and belong to a single category? Human beings are complex, and artists perhaps even more so. Not trying to conform and format oneself seems to me the most interesting path for any first-time author who seeks to bring his work to the world. Michel Bussi is known for his stories which are real page-turners based on complicated plots to write. They require significant investigative work. This imposes real discipline. But is Michel Bussi right to make a plan and Stephen King wrong not to ask himself a thousand questions before writing? Of course not. They are both right!
Michelle Richmond, best-selling author and creator of the paperclip method, belongs to the intuitive category. What she is proposing is precisely at the crossroads of the two schools. Simply take the beginnings of ideas, the themes you want to cover in your book, print them out and use paper clips to create associations. And then, like a puzzle, the magic happens.
George RR Martin, the father of Game of Thrones, says: "I think all writers are both architects and gardeners, but they tend to lean towards one side or the other, and I'm definitely more of a gardener. » You can choose to draw very precise plans of your house and end up with a sturdy and imposing building, but if no flowers or gardens beautify your house, will you be happy? And conversely, if you have a magnificent green garden but a house that is collapsing, what state will you be in? Test, see how you feel, listen to your body (the answers are found in feelings and not in the mind). And in all cases, aim for the pleasure of the experience, and once the manuscript is written, listen to your beta readers . They will give you valuable feedback and this is the only way to know, in the end, if your own way of doing things worked! To conclude, I want to tell you to remember one main thing: there is no miracle method for successful writing, only personal investment and a lot of empathy for the characters. Because it is they who, in the end, lead the dance and provide emotion to readers.