Thursday, March 3, 2016

Writing my novel PART IV

After a rocky start to planning my novel, I have decided to adopt the "snowflake method", a novel writing process that happens to be the top hit when one googles "how to write a novel".  (shout out to Randy Ingermanson for the helpful article).  I have completed step one (a one sentence summary, in my last novel post) and now it is time to move on to step two: "take another hour and expand that sentence to a full paragraph describing the story setup, major disasters, and ending of the novel."  Ingermanson suggests three "disasters" and an ending, each comprising approximately one quarter of the book.

This sounds easy enough.  In fact, I thought about this during the car ride home and while cleaning up dinner, easily meeting the requisite hour.  Without further ado (already sounding Shakespearean):

A fling with a student and a drop in class enrollment leads to a young professor (Ted) exiting a loveless long-term relationship and taking an involuntary semester-long sabbatical.  Having already purchased the non-refundable tickets, Ted is left to take his hapless best friend with him on a vacation to Paris.  Once back home, Ted gets a DUI after being suckered into driving a (unbeknownst to Ted) married woman home from a party.  As Ted deals with legal and crazy husband problems, he is counseled by a long-term crush, of whom he is unsure of her motives.  (ENDING OF THE NOVEL)

A few things:

1)  I cannot just give away the ending of the novel.  Please do not forget this is a $$$ profit deal.

2)  I need to temporarily move to Paris to write that section of the novel.  Familial obligations, negative financial implications, and the lack of vacation days will make this difficult.  So it is very important the first quarter of the book is on point so that I can get my bosses and my family on board.  Sure, uprooting my family to move us to Paris to work on a novel that does not have the first word written seems unnecessary, but I want Ted to really get a feel for the city.

3)  The way I have been titling these is confusing because I am on "PART IV" of writing my novel, but on part two of the snowflake method.  I will try and rectify this.

4)  Please feel free to comment, Facebook, email, twitter etc. any ideas you would like to share regarding Ted or the novel generally.