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Writing a romance is like supervising a treasure hunt. After you pick a setting, story theme, hero and heroine, you select a starting place for the plot and go.
Along the way you discover their friends, mentors and antagonists. They can ramble until they find a sure-footed path or two, or run pell-mell into obstacles and disasters. You can channel them into plot canyons with only one way out, or drop them into a vast wilderness and accompany them on their quest.
A simple tool to frame the rest-stops on your treasure hunt is the following set of sentences. Answer them and you'll be well on your way to a winning story.
Once upon a time there was ___.
Every day, ___.
One day ___.
Because of that, ___.
Because of that, ___.
Until finally ___.
Every day, ___.
One day ___.
Because of that, ___.
Because of that, ___.
Until finally ___.
Ah, if only I was as organized as that, I'd have a lot easier time writing! :) Usually my stories start off somewhere in the middle.
ReplyDeleteGood analogy! My characters have been wandering in the wilderness but I think their treasure hunt is almost over now!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great comparison. I like your short list of questions, too. That really kind of sums up a book, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI do tend to write all over the place, but the questions make a nice map to look back at once the book is complete to make sure I'm not missing any pieces.