Sometimes You Need to Hear It More Than Once

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I loved to just sit and write, and let the ideas flow, and come up with lovely descriptions, and think up clever dialogue. Except, the other half of me being a somewhat organized person, I wanted a method to my madness. I noticed an idea kept popping up.

First, Query Tracker & Elana Johnson pointed me to Dan Wells on Story Structure. I have no idea when this happened, but I clung to the information as I learned to write my queries. I thought I was doing OK, story-wise. Hehehe.

Lets just say R stands for rejection, re-evaluation, revision, *redacted*...

April 2011: I picked up Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot: A Guide for Screenwriters, by Peter Dunne. Still shy of note cards, I began to write the plot points on one side of my outlines, and each scene's emotional impact on the other. *light bulb overhead*

October 2011: A critique partner introduced me to Storyfix.com. (There's also a book: Story Engineering.) I got hooked on writing from a beat sheet. I learned to outline the right way, with specific turning points - like Scene 12 as the First Plot Point. I guess I went a little overboard with the setup on the first time around. *blushes*

November 2011: I developed an addiction to Scrivener storyboarding during NaNoWriMo. I finished the manuscript without a single tangent. *crosses heart* :)

January 2012: I signed up for the April SCBWI Master Class on Plot with Scholastic editor, Cheryl Klein. She sent me homework - Bookmap my entire manuscript, scene by scene. I'm working on it. *kisses Scrivener storyboard*

January 2012: I went to the SCBWI National Conference. Delacorte editor, Wendy Loggia, picks up the gorgeous ARC for Starters - and mentions that the original manuscript was pretty flawless, because the author is a screenwriter. My roommate went to see Cheryl Klein and got a great list of things to do on a revision. *buys Ms. Klein's book: Second Sight*

Think someone is trying to pound this idea into my head? I think I'd better listen.

February2012: My son came home with an essay assignment on Heroes in Hollywood. We find a website about the Monomyth, specifically for screenwriters. There's a youtube clip called Story, Screenplay Law. Law? Yes. Law. *doesn't want to break any laws*

Outlining is the new black, in my house anyway. Just thought I'd share.