Structure and Story

This room gives me the creeps…you?

I’ve been listening to some great videos put out by Nick Stephenson and Joe Nassise, called Story Engines.

While Joe is a plotter, I think I’ll be able to put some of his method to use for my pantser style.

He comes up with a premise, then adds characters and conflict.

He then writes out each scene that needs to take place onto index cards.

Then, he puts each index card in the section that it needs to be in, based on the following:

Story Beginning

Phase I – Preparation phase 

Game Changer #1 (example, Luke comes back to find his parents dead, the event moves him to leave)

Phase II – Reactive phase

Character is running around like a chicken with his head cut off…reacting to everything…

Game Changer #2

Phase III – Proactive Phase

The game changer pushed the character into proactive mode. He knows what he wants to do and sets about doing it. Here’s where you toss in some “try/fail” cycles…

Game Changer #3

Phase IV – Conclusion phase – Everything’s cleared up, all loose ends tied up, etc.

Story ending

I’m going to give it a shot, just to see if it can help me write faster…think of it as priming the ol’ pump. 😛

What strategies do you use to keep the flow going?