Many of us jot down an idea for a story and file it away for a later date, intending to ‘get to it’ when an opportune time arrives; when we can find the time to transform that idea for a story into a narrative that keeps a reader’s attention across 160+ pages. In that sense, many of us aren’t ‘new’ to writing – we’ve wrote most of our lives, ever since someone put a pen in our hands to teach us a language – yet one of the things I found most difficult in writing How to Build a Champion, was ‘charting its course’ without any kind of ‘map’. So, here are some thoughts I thought I’d share; the things to consider when starting a writing project, of any length, to help get you started on, and guide you along your journey. Let’s begin!
Ask yourself:
• What is the purpose of this piece of writing? (Is it to entertain, or to educate the reader?)
• Who am I writing this piece for? (Think of your audience: What language do they use? What tone-of-voice are they most receptive to in the space where this piece will be published?)
• What does the reader need to get from this piece of writing? (Are you wanting to change their point-of-view about a deeply-held belief, or are you writing a column where you’re sharing informational tidbits on a more light-hearted topic?)
• What is the action you want them to take after reading? (This is specific to you, and your project, and aligns with the measurements you’ll put in place to measure “success”.)
At this point, you’ll want to look again at the purpose you’ve specified. (It’s in the first bullet-point.) This purpose is going to act as your overarching aim which propels your project forwards, as every scene you plot out is a ‘stepping stone’ in service of exemplifying the writing’s purpose. (It can help to think of these ‘stepping stones’ as the objectives which help you reach your aim.)
The four bullet-points, listed above, apply if you’re writing non-fiction and fiction. In my novel, How to Build a Champion, once I answered the questions, above, I thought about the locations of where the story takes place; of the impact place has on people; of the personalities who would populate such a place, and the courage, optimism, resilience, and hope that they’d require to face the challenges placed on their intersecting paths. These dynamics informed the novel’s central plot, its conflict, and resolution.
Character Biographies: Personality Traits, Relationships, and Subplots
When you consider characters’ personalities, how their traits – such as their physicality and emotional intelligence – can shape your storyline, you can write detailed character biographies, and these biographies influence the development of subplots: how characters interact with one another – their interpersonal relationships – and any conflicts or tensions which may arise from conflicting belief systems about a given issue. (Subplots are there to add flavour, ‘colour’, and texture; all the components of an enjoyable meal.) If you try this technique, you’ll discover you can take a character in different directions to what you’d originally considered, via their subplots. Thinking, “What if X did Z instead of Y?” can lead to an entertaining, engaging story. (This is also where you’ll decide on the language a character uses, and their tone-of-voice, both of which are impacted by ‘place’. Chances are, you’ll use this language and tone-of-voice in your marketing communications materials to reach your target audience, too.)
The Flimsiest of Storyboards
When you have your central plot, and your subplots, allow your mind to wander around these topics. Then, plot out the key points of each ‘scene’ onto post-it’s, and smooth them onto a few sheets of coloured card. This is your ‘flimsy’ storyboard outline. (‘Flimsies’ are “the plot, without actual scenes,” to quote author Eve Babitz. It’s “basically followed from this flimsy line of the story.”*) This is so you can see what’s going to happen, when, and can easily move each ‘scene’ around and see if this framework, this ‘flimsy’ storyboard outline, works. (When you’re satisfied that it does: you’re going to want to number each scene. You’ll know it does if you’ve included summaries of exposition, inciting incidents, rising action/dilemma – where you ‘raise the stakes’ for your characters, your story’s climactic moments, and its resolution.)
Expanding Your Vision: In Summary
If it’s not readily apparent that I’m a writer who micro-manages their projects – I couldn’t fly by the seat of my pants if I tried! – here is where I found a deck of blank flash-cards, and I detailed each flash-card with a numbered ‘scene’ including INT./EXT. location; the time of day; which day it was; a cast list of the characters who are in the ‘scene’ (so I could refer to my character summaries while writing); and a brief, expanded summary of what happened in the ‘scene’ from the ‘flimsy’ storyboard outline. Then, I created a playlist of music that felt right, to cement each scene’s ‘vibe’ in my mind; listening to these songs for scenes before I began writing.
Then I wrote the first draft of How to Build a Champion.
(*This quote is from Babitz’s essay collection, Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A.: Tales. Its subtitle may have been “borrowed” from a book, that may or may not have been found in Babitz’s archive, written by American humorist, H. Allen Smith. One of Smith’s lesser-known books, The World, the Flesh, and H. Allen Smith, was published in 1954.)
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