Thread: Outlining a complex scene?

Is there a simple way to outline a complex part of a story so that afterwards the writer merely expands the outline to provide a flowing piece of writing?

I’m writing this scene that has many twists and turns. In the original draft it was full of holes. Now, every time I get one twist set out in a believable way, it fouls up some other part of the story and I then have to rewrite the fouled-up part. Then, when I’ve done that, another part falls prey to the last change. And so it goes on. I’ve been working on this scene on and off for three days now, it’s only about 1.3K words, and I’m beginning to go stir-crazy.

Maybe I’m going at it all wrong. Maybe there’s a trick to writing complexity. You tell me.

oops, bad math

Porcupines are also incredibly difficult to kill

Plot it out on the wall with magazine clippings, thumb tacks and bits of string in a shed behind your house -- and see what happens.

I'm sure you can apply the Snowflake Method to a scene.

Originally Posted by Ilasir Maroa

I'm sure you can apply the Snowflake Method to a scene.

Thanks but no thanks. That was one of the first things I discarded, years ago, for being the greatest load of codswallop it had ever been my misfortune to stumble across.

Originally Posted by JosephB

Plot it out on the wall with magazine clippings, thumb tacks and bits of string in a shed behind your house -- and see what happens.

Tried that. The mice ate the string.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Thanks but no thanks. That was one of the first things I discarded, years ago, for being the greatest load of codswallop it had ever been my misfortune to stumble across.

Personally I think it's pretty stupid, but it seemed to have the expandability for what you were trying to do.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Tried that. The mice ate the string.

Here's my WIP:



Close-up:

The only thing I can think of would be to simplify it in some way. Maybe start off with bullet points to cover each segment of what's happening. Then, make sure you get them in the right order and walk through it. I mean physically walk through it to make sure it is possible.

I used to use Lego actually. Build the scene that my characters were in and then I could move through it like some sort of strategy game. I think that the main point is that anything complex that you're having a problem with needs to be broken down somehow in order to tackle it efficiently. Having said that, I'm not a fan of the snowflake method either but I know if helps some people.

Perhaps it just needs a second eye? If you want, please feel free to send me the section you're having difficulty with, including some notes, and I'd be happy to go through it.

I'm not qualified myself to offer advice on fiction. But when I try to write fiction, I use the method Faulkner claimed he used. He said he created his characters, then followed them around and wrote down what they did.

It's possible you have to be drinking whatever he was drinking to make that work, because it's never worked for me. When I create a character he takes one look over his shoulder, sees me, hops on a bus and disappears. Female characters tend to use taxis, but the result is the same, a 25 word description of someone getting in a vehicle and going away.

The system might work well for others.

Originally Posted by garza

I'm not qualified myself to offer advice on fiction. But when I try to write fiction, I use the method Faulkner claimed he used. He said he created his characters, then followed them around and wrote down what they did.

It's possible you have to be drinking whatever he was drinking to make that work, because it's never worked for me. When I create a character he takes one look over his shoulder, sees me, hops on a bus and disappears. Female characters tend to use taxis, but the result is the same, a 25 word description of someone getting in a vehicle and going away.

The system might work well for others.

I've heard many people say the same thing, about their characters - following them around and writing down what they do.

Like you, that has never worked for me either. I simply don't understand it. Perhaps it means that people whose minds work the way yours and mine do are deigned not to write fiction. Maybe fiction writing is after all the domain only of those who are always high on something.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Maybe fiction writing is after all the domain only of those who are always high on something.

That's a fiction in and of itself. Congratulations! You've succeeded. A story is simply a protracted lie. That's it.

?

Needs explaining? A) It's fiction that the people who create fiction are high on something. It's also very insulting, but we're traveling the high road here. By saying what you did, you've created a fiction.
B) Any fiction is essentially a lie. It's a made-up something. You can get as high-falutin' as you like, but that's the bedrock. The rest is attitude.
C) I deigned to ignore the gotcha. Feel free to edit.
Both you and garza have what it takes.