OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I'm currently about one third through my first draft of Prophecy, my second thriller novel (later re-released as Crypt of Bone). Given that we are all on a journey and I expect to be doing this in many years' time, I also use this blog as a kind of journal – so I can see where I have come from and how far I'm getting. We all write differently so I hope you find this useful. (Text below the video for those who like to read).
Right now, I write a scene like this:
- Decide on the basic idea for the scene – 1 liner. For example, my protagonist Morgan is kidnapped by the bad guys. I start to think about this and what will happen as well as the point of the scene. In this scene, stakes will go up a notch, the reader will want to know what happens next. I can also show the character traits of the antagonist as well as Morgan's ARKANE partner Jake in planning the rescue. In other scenes, I can demonstrate what a kick-ass heroine Morgan is and of course, move the story forward (why kidnap her in the first place?)
- Decide on a great setting which is hugely important for thrillers. I need big locations and I want cinematic style writing which requires a venue. I am also a travel addict so I like to incorporate places I've been. Last month I was in Paris and there is a room in the Louvre that is perfect and I also have the perfect location for where Morgan is taken afterward (which is another scene).
- Composting. I literally daydream about the scene and write down little ideas. I usually have 3-4 scenes percolating at any one time, mulching down into something interesting until I really need to get it out. My day job is crazy right now so I am not writing every day, just in bigger chunks.
- Decide on whose point of view it will be written from. In thrillers, it's most common to use multiple third-person POV so I tend to pick a different character and tell it from their angle. I have to switch the ideas around until I am happy with who is seeing the scene.
- Sit down to write 2000 words at least in one session. I seem to be writing in scene-length blocks right now and for me, that's around 2000 words. I have a general plan of about 30 scenes for Prophecy but these are added to as I write and come up with new ideas – so I am part plotter, part pantser/discovery writer at the moment. I will end up with 40-50 scenes in the finished book. I am using Scrivener on my Mac to write and although I am now in England, it's summer so I am listening to Rain on my iPod (yes, it's just the noise of rain!). 2000 words is currently taking me about 2-3 hours because of the next point.
- Adding in details as I write. While writing Pentecost, I spent so much time redrafting as I didn't add enough detail in the first pass through. I don't want to do 7 drafts this time. I would rather to 3-4, so I want to add more detail on the first pass. I also had feedback that some people found Pentecost too fast-paced. Now I love fast-paced, but I can see some scenes needed a little more description/padding or more dialogue. So I am trying to weave that in at first draft. I may go back to using Write Or Die for messy first draft writing if I get stuck but for now, this pace is suiting me. I find details through Google for detail e.g. the Louvre website for plans and detail of the statues in the room I am using for setting. I also use Flickr.com for imagery that help me with description e.g. you want an original word to describe the color green. Go to Flickr.com and put in ‘green' and describe what comes up.
- End with a page-turner. Forgive me, I'm a genre writer. I need to keep the reader up all night. I want you to miss your favorite TV program because you're reading my book. I want you to race through it! So I end the scene with some sense of urgency to turn the page, a new hook.
- Come up with idea for the next scene. Once I have written one scene, I know what the next one will be. It's a form of discovery writing I guess. So as long as I have 10-15 big scene ideas, they will, in turn, spawn more scenes each. So I always have scenes percolating.
- Save, back up. Scrivener backs everything up but it will also compile a version you can export as a .doc. I chronically back up everything 🙂 I have an external hard drive, but I also have cloud storage and I email my WIP to myself on gmail so I always have the latest copy. I still get emails from people who lose their work – seriously guys, please save and back up everything you do!
I'm not reading my work at the moment, just writing it. So I won't look at these scenes again until the first draft is finished. I'm aiming for 80,000 words for first draft… I'm getting there!
If the penny hasn't dropped about writing scenes yet, I recommend Larry Brooks Story Engineering.
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1 2 3 4 Next »Interesting, Joanna. Like you, I know my major plot points. The scenes just sort of come to me as I work. One thing I occasionally do is end a scene (or particularly a chapter) with one of my MCs in serious trouble, and then have the next scene/chapter be about someone else. I think it builds a sense of urgency in readers. Of course, you should be kind and get them back to your MC fairly soon.
Great job and great video, Joanna.
All the best.
Thanks Andy - I do the same thing too - leave one character in the lurch and then cut to the other - I'm writing a series of scenes in Paris with that exact aspect at the moment.
I always love to see how other people approach their scenes! For me, I see it play out like a mini movie in my head, and I write down what everyone says, describe the "set", etc. Then when I've captured it, I can go through and move people around, change their lines, etc. I re-read the scene and then decide if a "re-shoot" is in order.
ooh, that's fun - can you change the angle of shooting in your head too?
This kind of reminds me of Temple Grandin (and I am not implying you're autistic in any way) but she can design and troubleshoot equipment in her head - so that it performs in real life as it did in her head - extraordinary visualisation skills.
You can, yes! Sir Alfred Hitchcock used to shoot an entire film in his head, which is why there was so little "spare" film left on the cutting room floor - he only shot what he needed!
It's fascinating to discover how other writers come up with their scenes. Through practice, we each find what works for us. I'm definitely a plotter - not a discovery writer. For me, the magic lies in the post-it-plotting.
I seem to vary! I think the process must be the same with the post-its though - your mind adds new ideas after one angle is explored.
I do the same thing -- I underwrite scenes and need later to go back and add detail.
I let myself do this, though. If the scene is sparse, so be it. The main thing is to get the gist out.
This means more re-writes, but I don't mind that so much, as long as I'm writing the scene rather than changing up sentence structure. Nothing is more boring that editing a text without adding to it.
- Eric
I definite add more in future drafts, but I am challenging myself to be a little more specific in the 1st this time.
Joanna,
Great info, as always. Seems the best point is the hardest: Just get the scene on paper (or screen), then go back & fill in details. My dilemma is always the same. How much is too much?
I tend to write a little more sparse. My wife has a friend who's on her 6th novel. Very talented. She is known for descriptive writing. People talk about how they "could taste the food" & "feel the breeze." It works famously for her, but I wonder if it's more her voice than anything else. Does that make sense?
You obviously want to ground your reader in the scene, but how do you strike that balance between what's necessary & what's obtrusive?
Anyone have thoughts?
Thanks,
Brian
That's funny Brian - I had feedback on Pentecost that there wasn't enough description - and then other people felt there was too much! You can't please everyone, so I think just write what you like and see what happens. There are no rules!
Thanks, that was very helpful. Especially since I am a bit 'stuck' right now! :)
Hi Joanna - I use Elizabeth George's technique for crafting scenes (or what I deciphered from her book called Write Away). When I describe a scene, I have several headings: setting, narrator, timeline, basic outline, dramatic dominoes and open questions. I particularly like the concepts of dramatic dominoes - which scenes are causally connected to the one you are describing - and open questions - what questions do you leave the reader wondering about and, of course, turning the page to find the answers. I recently added one other heading for character development - specific bits of character development you want to emerge in that particular scene. I wrote about it on my blog if anyone wants more details :)
I like dramatic dominoes Mary - great analogy. I must try to be more disciplined with those aspects of a scene. The timeline is easy with the thriller genre as it has to be a tight time frame and chapters are often posted with dates and times so we feel a sense of urgency.
I just popped by your blog as well and added Cloister Walk to my Amazon list. It's not on kindle though.... You might enjoy Karen Armstrong's A Spiral Staircase as well.
Tried Karen Armstrong's book but got stuck in the depths of her depression. Perhaps I should have persevered!
Maybe Kathleen Norris is waiting for someone to offer her a good deal on ebook rights.
This is fun! I enjoy seeing you update us on your writing process. I wish you'd do it a bit more...
Good luck!
Hi Cathy,
I'm not really writing enough to visit this topic much at the moment! I am also in the midst of constructing another blog aimed at my readers as opposed to writers - watch this space!
If you were writing a book on gardening, then you might be, as you say, “Composting.” I’m not sure that that term works here. However, this is a very minor gripe about one small part of one of the most interesting and useful blogs on the web. I don’t know how you do it all while also holding down a regular job, but keep up the good work.
I love the composting analogy - my Mum is a gardener but not me. But I love the richness it evokes. The mixed ingredients that mulch down into something that grows new life :)
Thanks so much - I'm glad you enjoy the blog. I really do enjoy sharing the journey and connecting with like-minded people. I was a lonely writer before I met you all online!
I'm glad to find someone else who backs up by emailing themselves on gmail. I do that too, as well as the external hard drive. And copy it to the USB drive attached to my house keys. (paranoid, paranoid)
I wish Scrivener had an automatic Cloud backup like Evernote has. I was using Evernote + Word, but switched into Scrivener when moving all the scenes around became a nightmare. My timeline is very compressed and takes place in two locations, so it needs a lot of tweaking to get it just right, and Scrivener is EXCELLENT for that!
I'm encouraged to hear that you've decided that this time you'd rather write in more detail as you go, as it's what I tend to do naturally but is the opposite of what John Locke recommends, so I'd been wondering about that very issue for my second novel... We all work in different ways I guess. My first draft was finished yesterday at 107,000 words (goal 85,000), and now I'm going to let it rest a few weeks before I start to edit and tighten.
I think Scrivener may do that at some point - they were Mac first and when Apple Cloud storage comes in the next few months, maybe they will sort out an auto-synch.
Re John Locke - I have also been reading Laurence Block Afterthoughts - another man who seems to write a book in a week. Amazing. But we are all different people...
Congrats on finishing first draft - that is a great length as well - now to editing?!
Ooh, I didn't know you could get Scrivener for Windows. I'm on Mac but have a cheap little netbook I use when I travel, and the cross-platform thingy was another reason I was previously using Evernote+Word. I just googled Scrivener for Windows, and I might check out that beta.
I might also check out Dropbox too as mentioned by Graham Strong below. I'll obviously have to check on those reservations you have about it, too. I'd like to find something that's always synching whenever I'm connected. My current offsite backup via gmail only happens once a day. If I'm on a roll, that can be as much as 4,000 words!! (or only 200 ;-) )
Thanks again for sharing your process Jo, especially the things you've learned between Book 1 and Book 2. It's really helpful for me. As for editing, that's a problem for another day... :-)
Hi Belinda,
I am just about finished a post on using Scrivener (for windows) and Drop box with Scrivener.
Check it out. If you get a referral from someone with Dropbox (like myself) we BOTH get extra space for free. I have tweeted the link to that this morning on Twitter.
Dropbox is great it updates every few seconds. I even save PDF saves of Scrivener to that. Very handy for me.
anyway have a look at the post this morning (when i post it) I hope to get up a few pictures into it as well.
Happy writing!
Sarah
Thanks Sarah! I think I recall seeing an earlier post from you on Scrivener too, but didn't register that you were on Windows.