WRITING A NOVEL BY SCENE

So many times I have heard, “I’ve had an idea for a book for so long, but I don’t know how to start.”

Start anywhere! Just write it. The truth is you don’t have to write a novel in perfect sequence from beginning to end. Listen friends, the honest truth is that first draft will be total crap.

If you’re like most writers I know, you wake up with character dialogue or pieces of scenes playing out in your head. Start writing the scene or bits of dialogue as soon as you can. You’ll put it in order later. Scrivener makes it easy to do that.

For my current WIP, I knew the ending would be a snow storm, so I wrote that scene first. This climactic scene has to be intense and self-revealing for the main character, so it’s good that I had the bones first and am now able to intensify the internal dialogue and sharpen the imagery. I keep working and reworking that scene as I develop earlier chapters which will lead me to that final scene. In between times, I finally decided where to start the story so I am labeling the text folders in chronological order:

Saturday noon

Saturday pm

Sunday

Monday am

Monday afternoon

Monday dinner

Tuesday am

Tuesday mid-morning

Wednesday noon

and so forth, up until

Friday snow storm

Scrivener makes it possible to insert scenes easy, or move them around with no problem.

In the creative process, you are your own worst enemy. Don’t over think this. Write the scenes that are in your head and fill the imagery with the emotions from your heart.

Once you have the bones in a rough draft form, that’s when the fun really begins allowing you to edit and polish to perfection.

Keep writing and stay sane!