The problem with free-form writing, I'm sorry to say, is that most of us are not very good at it. The story wanders, becomes trapped at a dead end and can suffer from a variety of flaws ranging from plot collapse, undue length, pacing problems, etc.
What is the solution, you ask? The answer: scene outline. Wait! I heard that groan. It takes all the fun out of writing. While I disagree, I understand the sentiment. But think about it. The best film directors story-board every scene sequence before shooting. There are those who may successfully 'wing it,' but with pressure to bring films in on budget, story-boarding the movie is the norm, rather than the exception.
As the author of your story, you are also the director. You have to deal with all of the same elements of story that a film director must manage, only without the cameras.
There are actually a number of advantages to crafting an outline of the major scenes of your novel before you begin. But before we get into these, let's review some basic operating rules of storytelling:
RULE #1: Put your character in danger.
RULE #2: Keep your character in danger.
RULE #3: Ensure that the danger gets steadily worse.
RULE #4: For each action, there is a reaction – or consequence.
Rule # 4 will drive your story. What do I mean by this? If you will recall when we last left Sergei, he was about to do some serious damage to our boorish director. Remember, Sergei's goal is to leave his homicidal past behind and become a 'good American' – and ultimately a citizen.
We open our novel in the darkened theater just as "The Director" discovers two things: (1) Sergei's daughter is relatively flat-chested and (2) Sergei has the capacity for rage and violence.
Scene 1: Sergei beats up "The Director" (Mr. Di).
Scene 2: Sergei gets fired by the studio, so no more catering business. He also gets arrested and is being sued for assault by Mr. Di. Newspapers publish Sergei's photo and his former mob associates locate him. (Sergei's life gets turned completely upside down.)
In these two scenes, we have action and reaction or action and consequence. The story from this point forward will be a series of unfortunate events all of which flow from his assault upon Mr. Di.
We've also initiated the story at the point where Sergei's life is about to be altered dramatically. At this point, we need to know how the story will resolve itself. Will Sergei be able to become anything he wants? Will he be forced back into a life of crime? Will he be able to earn his citizenship? These are the questions we must answer. Once we know these answers, we can then begin placing a series of obstacles in front of our character and basically make his life miserable.
Given Sergei's criminal history, we actually have a lot of obstacle material with which to work.
Scene 3: Sergei and his daughter flee with the Russian mob in hot pursuit. He and his daughter survive a harrowing chase and escape to a friend's house. Whew! Safe at last. Wrong! The mob anticipated this move and is waiting on him. They have one last job for Sergei. The mob takes his daughter. Sergei either takes the murder assignment or risks the mob killing his daughter.
Scene 4: Sergei considers taking the job, but finds out the target is both a moral man, but a man like himself, who has daughters.
At this point, we have set five difficult tasks for Sergei:
1. Avoid being arrested by the police and / or killed by the mob.
2. Avoid killing the target.
3. Rescuing the target.
4. Rescuing his daughter and preventing her from being killed, and
5. Doing all of the above without destroying his ultimate goal of becoming a good American.
Some possible scene sequences…
ACTION: Sergei approaches the target – tells him everything and asks for his help. The target appears supportive, but...
CONSEQUENCE: Target flees, contacts the police and now the police are looking for Sergei.
ACTION / SCENE: The mob finds out about Sergei's plan and prepare to take their revenge on both Sergei and his daughter.
CONSEQUENCE: The mob captures Sergei and finds someone else to eliminate the target.
ACTION / SCENE: Sergei and daughter escape.
CONSEQUENCE: The mob is looking for them. The police are looking for them and Sergei feels an obligation to try and rescue the target whom he was originally assigned to kill.
How does Sergei do this? Well, that's your job as the author to figure out. We want him to struggle, rest briefly, struggle harder, rest briefly, and then have the largest struggle near the end of the book. We will, however, probably pull the rug out from under Sergei in the form of a deportation hearing resulting from "Mr. Di's" assault charge – providing yet one more obstacle for our unlucky hero to overcome.
What action and consequence scenes would you develop that:
1. Provide ever-increasing suspense, tension and danger?
2. What other dangers (other than physical) will Sergei face? Will his daughter, upon learning of his criminal past, no longer love him?
3. Assuming Sergei is able to outwit the mob and avoid the police, how will he convince Mr. Di to drop the assault charge?
Have fun and Happy Writing!
Bob
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