In my last article for Fiction Fix titled, “Just Show and Not Tell - Easier Said than Done,” I wrote about creating a balance between showing and telling in your fiction, and how working on this balance can help you return to a stalled story and complete it. After writing the article, I realized I hadn’t shared the complete process with you. I hadn’t mentioned some of the earlier steps that helped me progress from a handful of seemingly unrelated and incomplete scenes to a list of events that became my story’s plot. Once I had that list of scenes, or story outline, the whole thing just took off.

Caveat: What I have to offer you in terms of process is surely not novel or unique to most writers, but since it worked for me, I wanted to share it with you.

Questions

Why was my story stalled?

This was the first question I asked myself and to answer it, I had to look at what I’d written and what was missing.

What did I have?

When I began the story, I started with a scene of great conflict, one that could easily have been the story’s climax. Yikes! No wonder I felt there was nowhere to go but down.

What else did I have?

I had a complete opening scene that introduced the time, place and the two main characters, as well as a few shorter scenes providing additional detail about setting, characters and possibly story. That was it. Not much, right?

Did I have anything worth saving?

In my first article, I mentioned Hemingway and his penchant for the third person limited point of view (POV). When I wrote that beginning scene, I must have been working through the “show and not tell” principle, because that scene was basically dialogue and action with no character thoughts or musings. The other scenes, especially those with dialogue, were either written in one character’s POV or the other’s. (Though beginning writers should probably stick to one POV for a story, I think it’s fun to bend the rules sometimes and try different approaches to telling a story, as long as it’s clear to the reader.) The mix in POVs didn’t bother me nearly as much as the lack of plot or the feeling that the story was almost nonexistent, but I thought I could use most of what I had.

What Could I Do About It?

1. First, I made a list of the scenes I had, wrote a one sentence description for each scene in my notebook and then transferred the scene descriptions to individual 3 x 5 cards so I could lay them out on the table in front of me and move them around.

2. To flesh out the plot, I went back to my notebook and played “What If?” For example, what if the scene I’d written with such great conflict was a turning point that led to even greater conflict or to the story’s climax? By thinking and writing—shouldn’t do one without the other—I developed a bridge of scenes that spanned the distance from this turning point to the actual story climax. These scenes were summarized and written down on cards. Now I had an opening scene, a turning point scene and several others leading to the climax.

3. Another game of “What if” led me to a short resolution scene that was again summarized and transferred to a 3 X 5 card. At this point, I think motivation must have kicked in. As I created the cards and arranged them in order on the table, I could see my story come alive, and I knew I was well on the way.

4. By using the same process, I developed another bridge of scenes leading from the opening scene to the first turning point. (In other words, I expanded the other side of the scene outline.) How? By thinking of events that would gradually increase conflict and ratchet up tension.

5. I also found I could use some of those bits and pieces I mentioned earlier by summarizing, shortening and folding them into complete scenes to enhance setting, dialogue and action. While some of the scenes with minor characters were never used as such, I found they made great fodder for dialogue as the characters talked about their experiences.

At present, I’ve completed that all-important first draft, and I’m now well at work on the second. Who knew? If I can do it, you can do it. Let me know if this process helps you. I’d love to hear about it either way.

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About the Writer:

Paul Alan Fahey is a California Central Coast writer. His work has appeared recently in Byline, New Times, audience, Crimson Highway, Boston Literary Magazine and in the Cup of Comfort Anthology for Single Mothers. He is a five time recipient of the annual "Lillian Dean Award" at the Central Coast Writer's Conference. Paul has just completed two screenplays and three short stories using Syd Field's three-act paradigm as a guide for structure. He lives in Nipomo, California with his partner, Bob, and three loveable yet very unruly shelties.