by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’ve been working on a novel — in one form or another — seriously for about three years now. And things have finally come to a head. It’s put up or shut up time. But here’s my method of development that I’ve finally settled upon. It’s a three layered approach.
Outline
With this, the highest level, I move scenes around all the time. Like — All. The. Time. I have all these rules of thumb that I demand I follow for strictly arbitrary reasons. But I still do it. And, honestly, no one would notice but me since I’m completely consumed by developing and writing this novel.
Scene Summary
This is where I lay the groundwork for actually writing the scene. I try to be as detailed as possible so my character do what I demand of them when I need them to do something. This really helps me get things going. The only problem is, of course, that sometimes I get to this point and I realize the scene is boring, or makes no sense or there’s no there there. Then I throw everything in the air and try again. This is a real sticking point for the last year or so.
The Scene
This is when I sit down and actually write the scene. I’m usually a bit tipsy when I write scenes — or drunk. I like to keep things loose. I’ve written tens of thousands of words that end up in the junk file for no other reason than, well, it just doesn’t work on a macro level.
It’s the dynamic between these three levels that has caused me to spin my wheels for years now. But I’ve decided to kind of force the issue. I’m going to write this goddamn fucking first draft one way or another NOW.
