Write a Snowflake in 30 Days March 9, 2008
Posted by fredcharles in Uncategorized.Tags: Book in 30 Days, Snowflake Method, Writing
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The stars aligned today and I was able to go to the bookstore-by myself.
Usually, I have my daughter with me when I go to the bookstore. This is usually a different experience than when I go by myself. Consider these metrics:
With Daughter:
99% Time spent in the kids section
1% Time spent trying to browse the Science Fiction and Fantasy section while my daughter dives in and out of every chair in the area
So you can understand my excitement at getting to go myself.
I drove past the Best Buy and laughed at the line of people standing outside in the blustery wind, waiting to get their hands on a Nintendo Wii. Honestly, does anyone need anything that bad?
I got to the bookstore and went straight to the Writing section (after browsing through the latest copy of Terrorizer, which I placed in front of the copies of AP Press that were labeled as the “Staff Pick of the Month.)
While checking out the writing section, I found a new book called “Write a Book in 30 Days“. The book is a work plan for writing your novel. You write inside the book and perform certain tasks each day for a month. At the end of 30 days, you are supposed to have your book written. Since I am always up for new methods, I considered buying it, but at the hefty price tag of $22.99, I wanted to browse through it before buying. After checking through it, I came to the conclusion that I already knew about most of the methods in the book. The book did seem useful, but I still stand by my belief that you should not rush a novel. Most of my best ideas developed over time.
After leaving the bookstore, I remembered reading about something called the Snowflake Method online. The snowflake method is another plan for writing a novel. I know some writers who have used this method in the past, but I never got confirmation as to whether it worked for them.
Have any of you used the Snowflake method?
Do you have your own method of novel writing that works?
fredcharles
Yeah, I’ve used the Snowflake method, albeit not the whole thing. I find the first couple of steps extremely useful in working out what the fuck my story is about.
Its nice getting to go out by yourself, trust me I know!
I’ve tried to use the Snowflake method, but it didn’t work out for me. Congrats on getting a day out by yourself!
As a parent, I can totally relate. My boys are teenagers now, which means that I get to browse for about 20 minutes before they start nagging at me, lol.
i just write it… then i hate it… then i bury it.
that’s my method.
although, surprisingly i did get a book out in the mail this week, to 4 publishers. so we’ll see where that goes.
I guess I’ve been using the snowflake method for years without know it. Using it with both how I write my drafts, as well as how I understand story theory.
First I use a snowflake type method in my developing drafts. Instead of working from start to finish, I work from broad to specific. It breaks down like this: my first draft (of a novel) is about a sentence or two long. My second draft is a couple of pages long. My third draft is about twenty pages long … and eventually, my final draft is the finished product.
Secondly, I use the snowflake method with the idea of the Event. An Event being a unit of narration defined by a Problem (objective plus obstacle). All the story theory I know centers around the idea of Event. Suspense, character dimension, theme, etc. is all understood from an Event’s frame of ref. And the snowflake method works with this as well because the entire story is an Event. And each chapter or act is an Event, and each scene is also based on Event theory.
I’ve just never thought of the process as a snowflake … interesting.
well done, guy
I’ve poked around with the Snowflake Method and found it to be… well… I’ll cut to the chase and say I didn’t like it. It felt like homework (in a bad way) to me. I sort of feel the same way about making art but I can’t quite explain myself…
Xeen,
I hear ya. You can’t let the snowflake method (or any method) become a chore you must follow, a needless limitation. Instead, it can be a way to keep from getting overwhelmed, a way to stay in control of your story. It’s a means of breaking down a long novel into smaller, manageable units, and then applying your own story development method to each smaller part. That kind of focus can be empowering.