My First Novel: Stepping Stones in the Mire

I recently applied for a fellowship that had me rummaging through my files for a screenplay I wrote during graduate school. I began the screenplay during an Introduction to Screenwriting course and expanded it during an Advanced Screenwriting independent study. When I opened the file with the name of the screenplay I had worked on during grad school, it was as I remembered it - a bit of a mess but with some great visual scenes.

I set into work revising it for a few minutes and then something ticked in my brain. Wait - what was that other file in my screenplay folder?

I went back and there was a title I didn't recognize. I opened the document and I remembered - I'd spent weeks rewriting the screenplay during the stint when I'd wanted to switch my graduate thesis focus.

This version - the revision of my graduate screenplay - was really good. The scenes were specific, the characters three-dimensional, the push of the story more likely to grab a reader or viewer and pull them in. It was surprising how big the distance was between the two versions. There was a leap from idea to execution, from mucking about and finding the story to telling the story with confidence.

Photograph by clrcmck
Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

I'm working on my first novel, aided by goals with my writing buddy, NaNoWriMo word counts, and nudges from writing friends. What I've found interesting so far is that I can already tell the difference between my original story concept and where the novel is headed. I spent quite a while brainstorming about this story, but nothing clicked until I sat down and started writing.

My worst enemy in this writing process is the voice inside my head saying that this is all crap. And of course this book will need to be revised. Of course. That's when the book is really going to start to sing. I can't catapult myself from one shore to the other via the clean air. I'm going to have to wade through the water.

Looking at an early and late draft of my own writing at this point, when I'm feeling adrift in a big project, has given me the drive to keep going. I'm confident that I can revise this novel and make it cohesive, deeper and brighter than this first draft. The strange trick is freeing myself to write without beginning that revision process too early, starting off an endless cycle of editing myself out of the story before it is even written.

How's your novel going?

Structure and Story Shapes

During my high school and undergraduate writing classes, I largely ignored Freytag's pyramid. It was just a grammar rule for writing, like when to use apostrophes - important to know, but not something I would want to print out and hang on my wall.

Freytag's Pyramid

This is the image of story structure I grew up with. It's angular and uninspiring. The sections of story feel separated, and the climax is too neatly placed in the middle.

Writing shapes really begin to come alive for me when they focus on character instead of story elements. Kurt Vonnegut draws the shapes of a few timeless stories in this video:



But what really speaks to me is the story structure outlined in screenwriting. When I took a screenwriting class as a graduate student, I felt like all of the secrets of fiction writing hidden for years had been revealed.

Screenwriters aren't shy about discussing story structure and plotting in a straightforward way.

What this story shape conveys to me, more than anything else, is the concept of forward momentum. The turning points push the character farther and farther into story. You can't write unimportant scenes, because every action needs to walk the character closer to the point of no return. Your character is going to change, or this isn't going to be a story.

I also like that the climax is right at the end of this story shape. It is something your story should build to for a long time. Freytag's pyramid throws my sense of story-balance off-kilter with its centrally-placed climax.

Stories are less like a mountain, more like a train. You have to keep stoking the engine, fueling it as you push your character through each new barrier that falls on the tracks.

If you're writing a screenplay this month for Script Frenzy, then make sure you visit their Writer's Resources page (you don't have to sign up in order to view these documents, so go ahead and peruse the guides if you're interested!)

One of the best resources on this page is the "Hollywood Formula" Worksheet. This worksheet walks you through plot structure, explaining each plot point. Whether you're writing a screenplay, comic book script, or a short story, I think this guide can be extremely useful. Frenzy on, my fellow writers!

Five Screenplays I Recommend

During my MFA degree, I signed up for a beginning screenwriting class because I thought it would help me learn to write comic books. 

To my surprise, I completely fell in love with screenwriting. Screenplays have their own language, their own method of communicating images that is different from short stories and novels, but registers on the same deep, emotional level.

If you've never read a screenplay before, I challenge you to try reading one. The one caveat is, that just like a movie, screenplays are better when you set aside a few hours to read them straight through. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how satisfying a screenplay can be. 

Here are my top five suggestions, in no particular order:

1. The Station Agent by Tom McCarthy
2. Tender Mercies by Horton Foote
3. Changeling: A True Story by J. Michael Straczynski
4. Rachel Getting Married by Jenny Lumet
5. The Verdict by David Mamet

Where do you get screenplays? Lots of places. You can download them from Drew's Script-o-Rama, buy them from the Writer's Store, or even visit the film section at your local bookstore. However, keep in mind that the selection at a brick and mortar store will most likely be very small, with only recent movie scripts for sale. 

If you've already seen the movie, then don't read that screenplay. At least, not as your initiation into the world of screenplay writing. Choose a movie you have not seen before, preferably one that you don't know much about. You'll get to experience the Movie of the Mind that screenplays do so well. 

It's like NaNoWriMo,
but for screenwriters. 

Why am I talking about screenplays all of a sudden? April is Script Frenzy. It's a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) type project, sponsored by the same people. All during April, screenwriters try to write a 100 page screenplay. The Script Frenzy website has all of the same tools as NaNoWriMo - community boards, web badges, manuscript counters, and ways to connect with your local screenwriters. 

If you're feeling stumped or sluggish while writing your short stories or novels, or if you've always wanted to try writing a screenplay, then Script Frenzy is a great chance to give it a go. You'll have a built-in community of people who are working on their screenplays, just like you.

Even if you aren't interested in writing screenplays, there are a lot of great tricks of the writing trade you can steal from this format (like structure and dialogue). I'll be posting all through April about screenwriting resources, tips, and tidbits. Let the script frenzy begin!