StoryCAD for Pantsers
‘Not all who wander are lost.’ - J.R.R. Tolkien
The section Writing With StoryCAD begins by asking the question ‘How much should I outline’, and discusses the difference in ‘plotters’ and ‘pantsers.’ It ends as follows:
The gap between these two perspectives, and the answer to the original questions, is to outline as little as possible to get to an effective first draft. The trick is to develop an effective workflow, one that gets you to the writing as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Before, during, and after
If you find yourself solidly in the pantsers’ camp, here are some techniques and tricks to ‘outline as little as possible’.
You can use StoryCAD before, during, and after you’ve started writing.
If you’re ready to start writing, take a moment and brainstorm a list of scenes. You almost certainly have some in mind. At the start the list doesn’t have to be exhaustive; it’s unlikely it will be. You can add a scene with nothing more a title and perhaps a line or two of Scene Sketch. If you’ve jumped in and started writing, add the scenes you’ve written. You can always add detail on scenes, most of it on the Scene tab: the setting, who’s in the scene, and a sketch of what happens. You can also use the Stock Scenes tool to find possible scenes to add to your collection.
But- and this is important- figure out which problem(s) the scenes belong to, and outline the problems. Do this as early as possible. Using any story structuring approach with these problems will suggest what scenes you’re missing and what you might want to write next. If a scene doesn’t fit into one of your story’s problems, it probably doesn’t belong in your story.
If you’re character oriented, outline the characters you’re visualizing. Details can help bring your characters into focus. Pay attention to their flaws, relationships, and traits- the attributes that lead to conflict. A story is a character with a problem; just as if you had started with scenes, you want to get to (and outline) that problem.
Your character’s problem will often be a character arc- an internal problem involving learning, growing or changing. Unfortunately, that’s usually not the story problem, except for Ascent/Descent plots such as Citizen Kane and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The story problem’s goal should be tangible, easy to understand and grasp- usually an external problem. Think of the internal problem as an obstacle that needs to be overcome in order to solve the external problem, by seeing the flaw that’s at the heart of it and changing a behavior or problem-solving approach which affects the story problem. If you start with a character flaw, find a problem that correcting it can solve.
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