My Writing Process: Step 2 #WritingTips | Renee Scattergood

Originally posted by Renee Scattergood:

If you haven’t already, you can read Step 1 here. If you’ve already read it, it’s time to move on to Step 2.

Step 2 is simple. All I do is take the answers to the questions I answered for each of the characters in Step 1 and write events that show how you will convey this information in the story.

The events don’t have to be in any specific order at this point, and they don’t even have to be too specific. I just write down whatever pops into my mind.

If you’re using BeemGee, you can do it right in the app. I use the Plot folder in Scrivener because it’s easier for me. I make a folder in the Plot folder called “Events”. Then I create an index card for each event that can easily be rearranged later.

I don’t worry about plot holes or the beginning and end of the story. That gets worked out later. All I worry about is writing down the event for each of the answers I gave for each of the characters.

For example:

If I said one of my characters is afraid of spiders, I’ll write at least one or more events that will show this fear.

I will generally put “show (character name)’s fear of spiders” as the event so that later when I put everything in order, I will put this event to the side and use it to fill in a few instances within the plot where I want to show the character’s fear.

• It makes it easier to write out the events without worrying exactly how they will apply in the story.
• It leaves room for improvising later when I have a better idea of how the story will play out. I’ll know if it’s something that is really important to the story and whether I should include it or not, or I’ll know whether it’s a fear that should get progressively worse as the story goes on, and so on.

If I already have an idea of how this fear is going to play out in the story, I will write as many events as I have in mind. Again, I don’t worry about the order. I just write out everything that comes to me.

This step takes about a half an hour to an hour for each character, depending on how much detail I put in the answers to the questions and how many events I write for each answer.

Next week I’ll be doing Step 3, so keep an eye out for that. If you don’t want to miss it, sign up at the right to get my blog posts in your email. If you have any questions or want to share your experiences, feel free to leave me a comment.