Believe in the Scribble

If you're anything like me, keeping a series of events sorted in your mind is quite difficult. I'm sure there are people out there that can house an infinitesimal amount of information at the forefront of their brains, but I am certainly not one of them. When writing a book, it can be quite burdensome to keep actions, plotting, and even motives behind the former two laid out with perfect accuracy and coherence without ever looking at it with your eyeballs. That's where "scribbling" comes in.

Provided for your viewing (not-so-pleasurable) pleasure, I have included a picture of one such scribble I made for IC: Call of the Dead. It looks a mess, but it helped me more than you might think. As I write, I often reach points in the story where I say something like, "Hmmm. I'm not sure what comes next" or "I have an idea of where I want to go, but I'm not sure how to get there." Writer's block, anyone? In the picture, you can kind of see that it's all over the place. However, in the scribble I recently did for my current project, I needed to hash out specifics for one particular section of the overall plot.

Here's what you do: Grab yourself a piece of plain white paper (so nothing interferes with your words) and a writing utensil. Next, whether you know where you want to end up, or you know only what you've got on the page, write down your starting point. Write what you know. - Tom has a gun and he's angry -

- Clara wants to attend the rodeo, but a serial killer is on the loose picking off people in cowboy hats - Then follow your train of thought. Write down questions that will lead you to answers.

- Tom has a gun and he's angry -

Why is Tom angry? Why does Tom have a gun in the first place? What made him pick up the gun? Is Tom the type of guy to misuse a gun when he's angry?

- Clara wants to attend the rodeo, but a serial killer is on the loose picking off people in cowboy hats -

Is someone keeping Clara from going to the rodeo? Is Clara willing to take the risk? How important is it that she attend the rodeo?

Obviously, you don't have to ask that many question, just the ones that are relevant to where you want your character(s) to go. Sometimes, you will even have to ask questions to your previous questions. Then, while you're looking at your train of thought there on the page, it will become easier for you to answer those question without "losing your place."

- Tom wants to stop violence in his neighborhood. He grabs his gun to stop two thugs from beating up a man. Tom yells at them to stop and points his gun, but doesn't shoot. They run away and Tom calls the police as he helps the hurt man.

- Clara's father is worried about her going to the rodeo since he's seen news of the serial killer's victim trail leading to their hometown. Clara stubbornly goes anyway to see her boyfriend ride a bull. She notices someone acting strange in the stands and tries to warn her boyfriend before the bullpen opens.

You'll see the motivations behind your characters, you'll see the events leading up to where you want your character to end up. With a 1-page scribble, I was able to discover how my protagonist and antagonist would finish their bout by the end of the book. Writing the rest is just filling for your story once your key plot points are down.

Once you're finished with your scribble, read over what you've written. It will refresh everything in your mind, and it will also illuminate any remaining unanswered questions. If some still exist, write it out, draw a few arrows to direct your train of thought, and answer your new questions. Before you know it, words will start flowing on the page once again.