How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words a day

Re:How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words... by beza1e1 on Monday March 26, 2012 @01:27AM (#3755146)

Looks like a good argument for the Snowflake method [0]. This method is basically to "develop" a novel, by starting with a single sentence and gradually expanding it into the novel. In contrast, the other method (pansing) is to start writing the first chapter immediately.

For either approach you find great writers using them. It seems to be a question of personality.

[0] http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

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Re:How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words... by cpeterso on Monday March 26, 2012 @02:18AM (#3755313)

Thanks for the Snowflake link. When reading a novel, I sometimes try the reverse to crystallize my memory of the story. I imagine summarizing a page with a sentence, then a chapter with a sentence, then the book.

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Re:How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words... by evincarofautumn on Monday March 26, 2012 @10:14AM (#3756758)

Same. And actually, having used this method without knowing it had a name, I can say it’s a great way to write. Crystals grow naturally, but distillation is laborious.

Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight changed the way I write—it puts special emphasis on being able to clearly state, in a sentence or two, precisely what your story is about. And there’s hardly a better way to find out than to know at the outset!

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Re:How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words... by simcop2387 on Monday March 26, 2012 @10:38AM (#3756871)

I know this probably works and when described like that it sounds like a good idea. It seems basically you start with a single idea and write around it to make it bigger.

But, I also can't help but think of the dilbert cartoon where the PHB insists that the most important thing is the name of the project, before you even know what the project is.

Personally I think that there's some overlap here as both techniques seem to be trying to show how to start from a single idea and bring it into something more complete.

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Re:How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words... by thalur on Monday March 26, 2012 @01:05PM (#3757599)

She describes her planning method in a post linked from the submission [0] and it has quite a lot in common with the Snowflake method.

[0] http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/how-i-plot-nov...

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Re:How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words... by aristus on Monday March 26, 2012 @10:49AM (#3756924)

I didn't realize this technique had a name. I usually start with a name or a piece of dialogue, and grow the story like a crystal, eg:

"Things come and go, but Ampere's Law will always be current."

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