Finally On the Right Track?

I've been trying everything to get my story lined out, but it's always been missing something.

I've tried character journaling, but as much as I love creating a journal specifically for my main character to "lend his voice to," it has only helped me come up with his backstory.

I've done a lot of research, and it gave me some ideas, but I still struggled. I learned a bit of history, refreshed my memory on what's happened in previous stories related to mine, but when it came down to it, it didn't much help me come up with an original plot...at least not much.

I tried freewriting, and though it helped me get some things straight in my head, it still didn't give me "the whole picture."

Then I tried something yesterday that changed everything. I took some index cards, laid out my summary and character chart, and got to work. I began jotting down one scene for each card, and I went through the whole summary.

I think this one technique has helped a ton! I began to see holes where I couldn't see them before. Places where I needed some conflict, some kind of explanation, or a little focus on another character. Places where there should have been...something...but instead, there was a black hole, a section of story that was empty and needed something to move the story along, or to join the previous scene with the following one.

I've tried using index cards before, but they never seemed to help. Not like they did yesterday. I found myself inserting new scenes where events or conflicts naturally seemed to fit. And the nice thing about this is that I can move things around. If I want an abduction to happen three chapters later than it has, I only need to move a few cards to make it work. If I want to effect a rescue earlier, or add details, it's all in the cards (or can be added using new cards).

I began to get more excited about this story than I've been, so far...and that's saying a lot! I always get excited about my stories when I'm working on them. Sometimes, my enthusiasm fizzles, but more often than not, it stays with me through the first draft. Still, I've never been as truly stirred up over the process of planning a story as I am with this one. Will it pass? Eventually, yes, but now that I've found this technique to be incredibly useful, I'm bound to turn to it again and again to help me along in the planning / brainstorming / outlining process of future stories.

I learned something new yesterday. I guess that's all part of being human. We learn by doing, and by trying new things. :)

Write on!

Lois