New Year Writing Workout #4: Progression and Focus

Okay, I’m going to get evil today. We’re going to make your writing bones ache, but it is going to feel soooo good afterwards.

One of the biggest issues I’ve had with my writing has been progression and focus. Part of this is a result of me grabbing an idea and just going for it without much forethought or planning. Here’s an idea. Off I go. Then I find myself in edit hell for ages and ages while I try to pull it all together into one tight little package.

Then I took a class from Susan Meier last fall. It saved me! She taught me a golden little nugget that I’ll share with you here. As you write, edit or even plan your story, think of this: every scene must have at least an ‘action’, ‘reaction/consequence’ or ‘decision’. And they must flow. In other words, an action sets off a reaction which creates a decision. That decision causes a new action and onward. You may have a scene that involves one aspect, or all three, depending on the ‘size’ of what’s happening.

Here’s an example: John hits his brother in the mouth (action). His brother hits him back (reaction) and breaks his jaw, sending John to the hospital. John decides (decision) to get even with his brother. John lies to his brother about a girl the brother is dating (action). The brother has a fight with his girlfriend and they break up (reaction) and decides to leave girls aside and travel to Africa (decision).

When I wrote my latest story (during NaNoWriMo), I used Susan’s tips again. This time, as I wrote my story, I kept my handy story notebook beside me and wrote down a few words describing the scene I was writing or about to write. Naturally, I included whether it was an action, reaction or a decision. This was huge in helping me keep the story focused as well as helping me move forward when I felt stuck. And at the same time, I got to keep writing and dreaming up the story as I went, which is pretty much my favourite way to write. (I usually know the ending and some of the major plot points before I start writing though. It isn’t all totally moving forward in the dark.)

I can’t say enough for this method. For me, it was a golden nugget of wisdom. It opened that door, allowing the light of writing knowledge to shine down on me after months of struggle. So, now it is your turn to go forth and work that writing muscle. You can’t lose.