by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Recently I was at an event where I spoke with aspiring authors after my talk.
They asked about the number of books I’d written, then they looked both amazed and discouraged at the same time. “How do you get through a book? There’s just so much to think about when you’re writing.”
I told them that I try not to think about the big picture (plowing through 275 pages, editing it, submitting it to my editor, and worried waiting for reviews) as much as possible. It just makes me feel overwhelmed. If I approach the book as simply advancing the story a day at a time (with an idea of where I’m heading and keeping in mind what readers might enjoy most), then it seems like a much smaller project.
Another trick is that I’m not trying to keep everything in mind as I’m writing a book (except reader enjoyment.) I love reading books about writing, magazine articles on writing, and blog posts on writing, but I can’t focus on character arc, story structure, engaging descriptions, and all the other elements that these resources recommend for a good story.
I use layering and lists as tools to make sure I round out my story later. I write my books straight through (without pausing for chapter breaks) and end up with about 55,000 words. This is the bare-bones story. Then I start layering in other elements. This is what I’m doing right now to put the finishing touches on a book I’m turning in at the end of this month.
Layers
Parts of the book that I add in layers for 2nd and 3rd drafts:
- Setting descriptions
- Character descriptions
- Character last names and place names (I’ll mark as *** on the draft so I can find my spots later.)
- Any scenes I was stuck on. I just make a couple of notes about what I wanted to accomplish with the scene and move on to the next scene.
- Subplots can be included perfectly as a separate layer. In fact, it’s almost easier that way because you can just gradually weave them in to the story that’s already on the page.
I do the same thing with revising. If you think to yourself that you’re editing a whole book, the thought of it can be just as overwhelming as writing the book was.
These are issues that I address in layers for the revision (and for a longer list of things I look for during revision, click this post)
- Typos/grammar
- Crutch words that I use too frequently
- Conflict—I make a pass through to make sure each scene either forwards the plot or adds to the conflict
- Continuity (is the character wearing the same outfit on page 20 that she’s wearing on page 21?)
- Subplots—did they resolve? Did they tie into the main plot?
- Loose ends—is everything resolved at the end of the book?
Lists
Somehow, it’s easier for me to come up with lots of different ideas if I make them into bullet points and put them in list form. These lists could include:
My protagonist’s catch-phrases.
My protagonist’s features. Different physical traits of my protagonist.
My protagonist’s facial expressions.
*5 possible endings for this book.
*5 twists.
*5 possible subplots.
*5 ways the subplots could tie into the main plot.
Or you could do it for character growth:
*5 ways the character could grow.
*5 surprising things that we could learn about a character.
*Top 10 list of things that bother the protagonist (then 10 things that would drive the character crazy that I could write into the book.)
*10 things this character loves more than anything.
You could find other uses for lists, too:
*5 ways to add some unexpected elements to the book (humor, suspense, sadness, fear.)
*5 ways to describe the setting.
The best results are woven into the story or used to inspire dialogue that develops my characters more.
These are the tools I use for every book to make sure that I keep things fresh and keep from feeling overwhelmed. How do you keep focused and keep moving ahead with your story?
The big picture really is overwhelming. I like the approach of working on fixing one thing at a time. I do find it much easier to trim than add layers though. The weaving in is still tough for me.
Elizabeth – These are such good ideas for breaking down a large task into smaller ones. I use lists, too, actually, and you’re right about thinking of the story as layered, too. That way one can add in subplots and so on.
Sometimes I have success using a web. The middle is of course the story, but each part of the web allows me to concentrate a bit at a time (e.g. characters, major occurrences, clues (I write murder mysteries) and so on). I think that however the author accomplishes it, some sort of schematic that shows how each piece of a story is tied to the whole story is helpful.
I love these lists! It gives a sense of control in what can be a chaotic and overwhelming situation.
It’s funny–we have some definite similarities and differences in how we approach. I ALSO prefer to write the bare bones fast–get the first draft out. Then layer the revisions. But I need to do that, I think MANY more times than you do before it approaches being done.
And I do lists for revisions–mostly things that come later that I need to trickle clues in about earlier, or characters introduced at the end that really shouldn’t be, so I need to add them to a few group scenes.
Elizabeth, I hope you don’t mind, but I copied and pasted this into a document I can refer to over and over as I write my first novel. So so helpful. thank you.
Karen
I love using lists and love the idea of layers. I’m going to 1+ this post to read it later in detail.
Have I said lately that I want to be you when I grow up?
I am printing this out to read–to me.
Teresa
I layer! I plow through the first draft and end up with a bare bones story. Cool, now I know what to call it.
Absolutely! It’s not that you can’t look at all at the big picture, but that you can’t look at it and the details all at once. It’s like when a painter steps back, far away from the canvas to look at the overall design. He has to move back in close to paint.
As for layers — I’ve talked about that before on my blog. I write in layers all the time. I often, will do separate passes for different characters. This is really helpful in a mystery in particular — when characters are hiding the truth.
Jemi–It might be one of those things that comes easier as we go along. With a subplot, I usually have them fairly self-contained…in other words, a little scene that’s its own episode. Then I scatter those episodes through the beginning, middle and end…and try to tie in the subplot episode with the main plot at the end of the story. So it doesn’t mess up my timeline or anything like that–it’s just an encapsuled mini-story interspersed throughout the book.
Hart–Those lists really come in handy!
Margot–Oh I like the idea of it all being a web and showing how the storylines connect there. Great idea.
Clarissa–Hope it helps!
Elspeth–Feeling like we’re in control is so important. Gives that extra confidence!
Karen–I’m so glad it was helpful for you…yay!
Alex–A fellow layerer!
Journaling Woman–Ha! Don’t be in a hurry to grow up then. :)
Elizabeth, Thank you for the great tips. I tend to try to keep it all in my head or mind-map the whole time I’m writing. This is much more liberating, knowing that I can come back and layer it all in with the 2nd and 3rd passes!
I absolutely loved reading how you layer your books! I picked up so many great things here…how you write through without chapter breaks, and how you make lists of alternate plot points and endings. Great stuff, thanks!
I just bought two more of your books! I like the idea of lists and having several plot twists, catch phrases, and growth possibilities for several of the characters.
Play off the Page
The Daring Novelist–The perfect analogy! It’s *exactly* like that. What a nice way of putting it!
Julie–I found that I was obsessing over chapter placement, which pulled me out of the creative process somehow. :) I’m probably just a nut, but somehow I’ve got to stay focused on drafting when I’m writing a first draft…all the details mess me up if I start thinking about them.
Brian–It makes the writer go *so much faster.* And I don’t really know why because the project ends up with the same word-count (75,000 words), but the fact is that I’m faster when I write the bare bones story and then add the extra layers in later. I’ve tried it both ways and the layering is at least twice as fast.
Mary–Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy them…and I hope your writing is going well. From what I see on your blog, it looks like it is!
The lists idea intrigues me. I need to try that next time.
I haven’t been specifically trying for chapter placement, but when I’m writing and I get an idea for a good place to put a break, I make a note of it. Trying to deliberately make those breaks right now would drive me batty, too.
The layering tip is one I have to keep reminding myself almost every time I sit down to write. I don’t have to get everything in during this pass. I tell myself to go ahead and fling around the authorial telling phrases and use adjectives and adverbs like crazy to remind myself what I imagined for when I do the revision pass so that I don’t get hung up with getting those details in the characters’ POVs right now. It can really bog me down if I do.
Diane–Hope it works for you!
Jaleh–I’ve done that before, too–just stuck a comment to myself in Track Changes. Or sometimes I don’t even jot it down, but there’s just *such* an obvious place for a break (my protagonist is about to be attacked or something huge like that) that I know I’ll be able to find it again.
Ha! I’m like you. My characters nod and sigh and smile all the way through my first draft and I just let them misbehave. :) In later drafts I get them to toe the line more….
I’m delighted to find someone who writes the way I do. My way isn’t formal; I generally charge through to a barebones first draft, and then add, add, add. But what and how I add tends to be haphazard. Reading your post, I realize I would benefit by moving to a more structured way of doing it. Thanks so much for laying out a method that actually suits me.
Catana/Sylvie Mac–I’m so glad I could help! And for you, your layering list may be different…maybe there are different elements that you usually don’t address in your first draft (my dislike of writing description means that I *know* that’s something I’ll have to layer in later, since I’d have procrastinated writing it during the first draft.) For you it could be transitions or action scenes, etc. I make lists of my usual problem areas and then I can make sure they’re covered later on.
Really interesting – and quite a different approach from what I generally hear from writers. I am still struggling with my first mystery novel and I think I am heading your way (in terms of methodology rather than number of books published, sadly!). But I almost was beginning to think that there was something wrong with me for doing it like that. So thank you so much for showing me that there is an alternative!
Elizabeth, thanks so much for this. I’ve been getting a bit overwhelmed lately with “big picture” things, even though I’ve had a plot outlined for a while. Maybe I’m having trouble trusting that I’ll actually be able to thread it in later. When a historical point of detail comes up, I do make a note of it and move on, but I haven’t applied this broadly to other areas. I think I’ll give your approach a try!
Thanks,
Kathy
How long does it take for you to write a book? The book, the corrections, etc, what is your normal time frame?
Great post – thanks for sharing your method. :)