Lights! Camera! Action!

Build your novel as though you are the directing the movie version of your story.

Treat each chapter as a movie scene. Focusing your mind on physical scenes and dramatic actions pushes your writing to a different level. Things become real; the author is forced to see each character as a stand-alone entity, scenes are brought into stronger perspective, and the story arc becomes obvious, or not, depending on the completeness of your write.

Storyboarding

Putting a chapter into images brings out story telling elements that are often lost in a continuous stream of black and white words

How do I start my storyboard?

Storyboarding naturally develops from a robust collection of images. This is where scrapbooking comes in.

Scrapbooking

Collect images pertinent to the story as soon as you decide on a topic. You've already got a reason to write a story in your head, so follow that thread and use pictures to expand on it.

Describe what the pictures mean and how they fit into your topic. This is where I use my blog. It becomes my scrapbook bank; it puts any new idea into a place on the computer.

Explain why you selected the picture, ie. how it defines or relates to the topic.

How do I meld these images into my story?

Scripting brings to light possible ambiguities in your narration by clarifying what your images are trying to say.

Scripting

Too Many Actors on Set (Payroll Skyrockets!)

Merge peripheral characters into main ones to enhance story cohesiveness.

Disjointed writing happens in my long stories when multiple characters and different threads are dropped inside. If the character cannot forward the story in this book then he/she needs to be fired. Oft-times another character can assume the place of the cameo star.

One check to ensure these actions and characters enhance the story is to list the characters in each chapter throughout the book. Go through the character list in each chapter and ask yourself if each character really needs to be in this book. Here is where you'll find a character that is taking up space and confusing the story. Either remove the actor and his/her actions, or try replacing that out-of-place person with an established character. If that doesn't work dump the entire portion.

Place a list of the characters underneath each chapter title