No, that's not entirely true.
I've been grazing on amazing insight from Award Winning Author, Susan May Warren. I LOVE her books! Not a book this time, but pages of chats and invaluable notes from her My Book Therapy sessions. I investigated suspense, sifted through characterizations and settings, and even dallied with a little romance.
With sparkling eyes and dimpled cheeks, I told my
precious redhead, "Everything is so specific, so analytical; I'm LOVING IT!"
I've been pouring over writing textbooks for months, trying to cram the years I wished I'd spent honing my craft into six months, and then stumbled upon this amazing jewel! I can't say that the pages I visited made everything suddenly easy, but the explanations were so simple to understand that I applied them to my WIP (well, the first chapter) in no time.
So all that is to say that I don't have a completed book to review today, although I've started reading Always the Baker, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker. (Her books are so funny.) I was so excited to win a copy of her newest release, Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride, but I have a habit, even with stand-alone fiction, of reading the titles of a series in order. According to Goodreads, I'm almost a quarter of the way through it.
Anyway, the lessons I'm learning from Susan May Warren's My Book Therapy website are amazing. The picture shows the story board for my WIP (work in progress). I just set it up Saturday (during a volleyball tournament!) and already yesterday found gaps in the plot, thanks to my studying.
The purple note cards are the story elements. Each one represents a change of scene. Each vertical line of cards represents a change of day. I won't set up the chapter breaks until the end although I've got them in mind.The orange/red sticky notes are essential plot changes or additions that need to be made. The pink ones, mostly across the top of the board, are basic notes that I need to remember as I start setting up the scenes. The green sheets are the general character questions I need to answer with every scene. The blue stickies are specific questions that I need to address for my primary characters.
I'm roughly into chapter three and I'm so pumped with the intensity. Definitely, the extra planning time has paid off big!
If you're a writer, what type of classes/books/training have you used or would suggest?
Wow! That's quite a story board.
ReplyDeleteI've not used one like that. I still use a note book. I the think the board is an awesome way to see the gaps. I might give it a try.
I actually used a notebook first - to cement my characters and answer all of the questions about them. I also set up my primary setting and found pictures that worked for it as well as the characters. (I LOVE that step!)
ReplyDeleteThe storyboard is more of a visual of what's in the book, only fuller because I could see the gaps.
Redundant, but I really know my story now!
I recently learned about Susan's Book Therapy program. I'm planning on ordering the workbook. Even though I'm a seat-of-your-pants kind of writer, this will help me when I go back to edit.
ReplyDeleteI saw that Susan May Warren has 3 writing program books available on the My Book Therapy site. I'm thinking about grabbing all of them.
ReplyDeleteWow, that storyboard is amazing. I'm basically a pantser who's working on bringing more plotting to my future writing. I'm getting into using Scrivener to help me with my story structure. Best wishes with your writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie! I've heard good things about Scrivener. I'm always in awe of pantsers!
ReplyDeleteMy best writing is with a pen in my hand, either as a start or with revisions, but it's not very practical most of the time. With the board, I have a snapshot up at all times so I can easily change my plans.