An experiment of writing a story longhand from start to finish. Read the rules of the challenge here: Writing Sumarian – Episode 1 – Rules & Introduction.
This Week’s Lesson(s) on Writing a Story Longhand:
Outlining Chronologically Gets You to Finish
Last week I worried about giving secrets of the story away in case I ever wanted to publish it later. This was due to the fact that I tend to jump around in my thinking. This meant that in a multi-book series I have a risk of giving away what happens in say…book 8. That’s no good. And a problem that needs solving asap since I had to put out another progress report today.
At first I thought I would keep a separate notebook and just write out my real ideas there and only allude to them here. But then I realized, that might get convoluted really fast.
So I thought, why not limit the scope of this experiment and try another mini experiment within the experiment? So as an addendum to the original experiment, I will follow the 27 Chapter method and fill out what I think I know so far of the first book of this series. (Obviously anything I write here is subject to change when I actually start writing the story.) But by following the 27 chapter method, my hope is that it:
- keeps me on track to stay within the first story only (except for minor deviations)
- gives me practice on thinking of the story from start to finish. For someone who struggles to plot or draft chronologically, this will be a challenge baked into the original challenge.
- gives a clear idea of progress. It’s easy to see how far along you’ve come if you go from point A to Z instead of jumping from point A to E to T, then back to F. It’s also an easier and faster way to get to the end. When you can clearly see your progress, you’re more motivated to tack on more wins.
This is not to say the messy approach isn’t worthwhile. But since I have a vague idea of what I want the story to be for the most part and I have completed a lot of prior planning before, I figure it might be a good idea to start leading the story through this plot structure process & plug any holes that might exist, so that it’s drafting ready. And yes, I’ve stopped thinking of this as the actual draft, but more like an outline. (The one I had completed previously was more like playing around.)
Once this challenge is complete (i.e., I’ve reached chapter 27), I am considering drafting and sharing the story chapters here. Sure some of the fun stuff will be out, but I’ll make sure to keep the reveals contained to only the first book and even that, I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. Plus, I don’t think I’ll stick to everything I lay out and exactly how I lay it out here. This is just to help me get started and lay down possibilities. Everything is subject to change in the actual draft. Sounds good? Great.
Quick Summary of Page(s)
Chapter 1 – introductions. How the story starts.
Pages for the Week & Inspirations Encountered
Without further adieu, my pages for the week & any inspirations encountered:
- THE SIMPLEST WAY TO OUTLINE YOUR NOVEL (pantser-friendly!)
https://youtu.be/iB1MOvZYW1s?si=9DisiQwAqpPnAYx3 - How to Write a CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER OUTLINE for Your Novel
https://youtu.be/KqTnmNjkaec?si=9ocmnYPZCq66MPex
Posts in Series
- Writing Sumarian – Episode 1 – Rules & Introduction
- Writing Sumarian – Episode 2 – Arrows & Boxes
- Writing Sumarian – Episode 3 – Patience & Secrets
- Writing Sumarian – Episode 4 – Chronological Plotting
- Writing Sumarian – Episode 5 – Trust the Process (+ a Free Desktop Wallpaper)
- Writing Sumarian – Episode 6 – Cheat if You Must (+ a Free Desktop Wallpaper & New Beat Drop)
If You Like it, Put a Pin on It:
Mailing List: Writing a Novel Longhand Challenge
Click here to sign up only for notifications when new posts goes up for this series.
Mailing List: GWUWI.COM
Click here to get notified on all new posts on GWUWI.com
Green Where You Water It 
Leave a comment