Post # 219 June 29 2020

“Logistics of the Writing Life: From Idea to Story”

Many first-time writers blanch at the work involved in moving their great idea to a finished story.  That’s normal and it can be a lot of work.  But if you develop a process to follow, you’ll find the effort much more manageable.  The following is a detailed description, a peek behind the curtains, of my process for taking an idea to finished story.  I’ll be using my upcoming alternate-history novel The Eureka Gambit as an example.

For starters, here is the basic premise, in other words…the original idea: Adolf Hitler approves a plot to abduct Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill as they arrive and assemble for the Teheran Conference in Nov 1943. Hitler wants to prevent an invasion of western Europe.  The plot involves ransoming off the lives of the Big Three for a cessation of hostilities in Europe and recognition by the Allies of current borders and military gains by the Third Reich.  Recognizing a new order in Europe. 

What’s next?  I let this idea percolate for some months in the back of my mind before I felt ready to commit much more to paper. Once I had convinced myself that this idea was worth pursuing, my next step was to write a straight-forward description of what happens in this story, sort of a scene by scene sequence of events.  I didn’t do anything but straight write out what I envisioned happening, what is done, when and by whom and where.  I called this my Story Outline.

The next step for me was to break this outline down into what looked like logical chapters and scenes.   To extend this part of the process further, I created a Table of Plot Lines.  In this table, I devoted each column to separate plot lines (as I saw them at this point) and wrote down in the cells what was supposed to be happening.  This allowed me to see all that would be happening with each plot line from the beginning to the end of the story.  I might not include every ‘happening’ in the story, but I would at least know what was going on.  Of course, by this time, I would also know who many of the major characters were and their roles in the story.

To assist this part of the process, I created a List of Major Players and highlighted which ones were really major and would need some kind of bio done on them.  More on this later.    

Now it was time to take my early outlines and tables and flesh everything out.  To do this, I make a ‘final’ decision on what scenes go in what chapters, shifting back and forth from one plot line to another.  From this, I wrote my Chapter and Scene Details, which describes what happens in each and every scene in the story, who’s in it, the time and settings, all the details.  For The Eureka Gambit, this file was a Word document of some 41 pages and 15 chapters.  This document becomes my working outline, the outline I actually write the story from.

I mentioned a List of Major Players.  With the key characters decided on, I then proceed to do a fairly detailed bio on each key person.  These bios always have the same format: a physical description, a chronology of major life events and a short personality sketch.  By fairly detailed, I should add that this sometimes comes to 1 page, sometimes to 10-15 pages, depending on what develops.  But the end result is that I really ‘know’ this person pretty well when I start the story.  And I refer back to this background in the story, sometimes even cutting and pasting text from the bio right into the story.

Now it’s time to deal with details of settings.  In The Eureka Gambit, the setting spans multiple places over several months: Tehran, Turkey, London, Washington, a remote mountain valley in the West Virginia, mountain roads in southern Austria and the port of Venice.  I need to collect some details on all this, since the story is set in late 1943. 

To accomplish this, I set up separate folders of Setting Details with titles like ‘England Details’, ‘OSS and US Details’, and ‘SS and Germany Details.’  In these folders, I place all kind of geographic, historical, cultural and other details, especially maps and floor plans.  My ‘OSS and US Details’ folder contains info on VP Henry Wallace, Hostage Rescue Tactics, Notes and Diaries of FDR during this time, etc.  Anything related to setting that might be useful as a reference goes into these folders. 

For this project, I have also created a list called Research Needs.  On this page, I list everything I feel I need to know to complete preparations for starting the first draft.   As I accomplish them, I check them off.

At the very end of my preparation period, which could take several months and is usually an ongoing effort, I create a list called Next Steps.  In this list, I list the things I have to do to create a finished story.  This is my list for The Eureka Gambit:

NEXT STEPS:

1. Complete all Research Needs
2. Review (Read) all relevant background materials
3. Write character bios (marked ***) WIP
4. Operation Titan tactical plan
5. Make a schematic of Soviet embassy layout
6. Expand outline to Chapter and Scene Details DONE
7. Projected start date:
8. Finish first draft:
9. Projected upload date:
10. Review and edit final
11. Spellcheck
12. Book descriptions
13. Tag lines
14. Word 97 version
15. Verify cover format USE JPEG!
     
    This is my process for taking an idea to finished story.  The actual writing of a first draft for a story like this might take 6 months.  Add to that 3-4 months of prep and editing and re-writing at the end and you can see a project like this might take a year or so.  Every writer is different.
     
    I have found this methodical process works very well for me.  Your own process will be different.  But almost every writer I know has some kind of process they follow.  And when you’re done and you’ve got a finished manuscript to send out or upload, it’s always a great feeling of accomplishment.
     
    The next post to The Word Shed comes on July 13.  There will be a one-week hiatus to observe the Fourth of July holiday.  Have a great holiday and we’ll see you then.
     
    Phil B.