I have approached the idea of writing a novel several times, but I have been intimidated by the sheer scale of the task.

However I have come up with an idea that I doubt is new but I haven't heard of anyone using it, and I would like everyones/anyone's thoughts, commments, alternatives.

Basically, I have the meta-plot in my head. So I can write down the Grand Plan. Then what I thought I would do is write a series of Flash Fiction stories around 2,000 - 2,500 words each on each of the plot points, bits of character development, etc. and string the whole lot together to make the novel. Rather like a string of pearls.

O.K that's it. Please prepare your mud for slinging...

Cheers

John

Hi John
It's good to brainstorm and this strategy will give you loads of material to work with. After writing your series of Flash Fictions, see what you can use in the novel and what you can't. Then take another look at your Grand Plan - possibly by this time you may need to scrap it and draw up another. Then write the novel.

Best of luck!

Frances

Hi Frances

Yes that was the idea, generate lots of material but in easy doses. I particularly like writing Flash, and the polishing of each story will, hopefully, cut a lot of the crap before I get to the editing stage. Though having said that 'the best laid plans...'

Likewise as you say the Grand Plan may well need to be revised, but at least I will feel I have some idea of where I am going and how I expect to get there.

Oh by the way congratulations on your Micro fiction win. I entered, but when I read some of the stories realised I was so far off beam I probably didn't even make the 2,500 on the short-list

Hey ho there is always next time.

Thanks for commenting and endorsing my idea. I feel a lot more confident about it now.

Best

John

This is very weird, John. I'm at the very early stages of my new novel. Now, I love the scale of a novel - all that expanse of empty page to fill – but I never plot in advance, so it’s always a bit of a white-knuckle ride.

So with this one, I'm planning to do something similar to you. I'm going to write the first draft of each thread separately and then weave them together. I don’t think I’ll be able to get to the end of the novel in this way – the threads will all have an effect on each other – but I should be able to see which threads are too dominant, or too weak, or not relative to the main story.

I've just seen your response to Frances. I would beware of doing too much polishing until you have the whole thing knit together, otherwise the joins might show.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Dee

John,

This sounds like a burden of administration.

Flash fiction stories should not be confused with notes, character or event synopses. Each needs to be complete in itself reflecting a piece of work that stands on its own. I am sure you will have some difficulties in joining these together to form a coherent and smooth, easily-absorbed novel.

The important factor is to find something that works for you for we each have our own approach and individual techniques. A writer friend I have makes copious notes and sticks them on the wall like insane wallpaper. It takes all sorts to make a world.

Anyway the best of success and all that.

Len

Hi Dee and Len

Interesting that you Dee, and I are on a similar track and I can see what you mean by too much polishing. Likewise Len, I can see how the separate story approach could leave me with a lot of bits that don't make a coherent whole.

But, basically, this is bit of kiddology to fool myself into thinking I can wite a novel. If I start with the traditional A Journey of 10,000 words begins with a Single Letter, I will never get started.

My only hope is to do something down at kindergarten level and hope that all my finger paintings tell something approaching a story.

Anyway thanks for commenting I really appreciate your time and trouble.

Best

John

I think this is a good idea - I don't agree that a novelist necessarily needs to know where he or she is going to make a novel work. I read an interview recently with Haruki Murakami and he certainly didn't have a clue with at least one of his novels how it would all pan out. But I've re-read your post and you say you have a grand plan - okay! You may have difficulty shaping the novel but that's all part of the fun. I agree that writing a novel is a daunting task but it's made easier if you can etch away at the surface. I view novel writing as like sculpture - you have the material before you but you have to sculpt away until you get to the diamond of the story. I think Len's probably right though when he says flash fiction should not be confused with character notes. You may find that a lot of your material does not end up in the final draft of your novel (which can be demoralising when editing). This should be balanced with the fact that first drafts of novels are rarely perfect. Getting to the end is important, after which there is the painful process of re-writing, modifying, editing and improving. I recently posted the first chapter of the first draft of my new novel and already I realise I need to change it to make it grab the reader. Sorry, I'm rambling - hope the above helps.

Cheers Traveller

Thanks for commenting and letting me have your thoughts. What you say about sculpting reminds me of something I saw in a handicrafts shop. It was a Do It Yourself Mallard model kit. It consisted of a block of wood and a clasp knife. The instructions were 'Remove everything that isn't duck, then paint to taste' They didn't say to taste of what.

Seriously though, I understand what Len is saying, but I find if I just dive into the story the character starts to emerge, and I can visualise him better. If I start with height and weight and hair colour I get something flat and uninteresting. Am I hoping that doing a story about the character will bring him to life and his take on his situation will then show how to move the story forward within the meta-story. Though as Dee pointed out that may have to change as well.

I am well aware that I may have to ditch quite a lot of material, but that is par for the course, whatever length you are writing too. So I have no concerns with that.

Anyway we shall see what happens.

Cheers

John

Interesting thread. Everyone's different, but I guess that's a good technique to aid the transferrance of your imagination to solid words on the page. As for the scale, I'm reminded of JRR Tolkien's famous words: "this tale grew in the telling." My novel is a relatively limited concept, but I'm quite sure that the LOTR philosophy will work better for me than the daunting enterprise of which you speak. Breaking anything down into smaller components is an excellent way to gain small victories en route to the major prize.

I've approached it much as I approached writing my MBA dissertation - have a good basis of understanding of what goes into each chapter, but then leave the reality to evolve as the words go on the page - which often surprises me. The result tends to be the bare bones, into which I can weave subplots in each subsequent edit. A different method but it achieves the same ends, I hope.

Andy

Cheers Andy

I think that is pretty close to what I had in mind, but more eloquently put.

Thanks a lot.

Wot's LOTR?

Ignorant of Inkpen

Lord of the Rings!

I love that Tolkein quote.

Frances

Love the duck quote too.

Emma

I think it's great that you're open to experimenting with different kinds of storytelling. This was a very similar approach to how I wrote my latest novel. I wrote each 'chapter' as a kind of stand alone 'episode'. I'm editing now, and I've been surprised at just how cohesive it is. For some reason, the usual 'link' bits, where one part flows into another, are absent, and boy does the plot just rattle along because of it. It really works.

Next, I may try to write my next book backwards. I'm currently plotting a fictional book about - yep, of all things - Dracula. But not as we know it.

JB

<Added>

Oh, but I always always always plot the whole thing in advance. Incidental and unplanned things happen along the way, but strangely, when I 'imagine' a story (a say 'imagine' because I personally believe the story is already there) I see it all - beginning, middle and end.

JB

JB, what is the relationship, in your mind, between one chapter and the next? If you asked me this question I'd probably say that chapters define specific passages of play and that from one to the next is usually a jump in time, location or character, etc.

I'm currently reading an Alistair Reynolds book where the chapters seem to come with no rhyme nor reason. In many cases one ends and the next begins in the same 'scene' often with dialogue continuing without interruption. Others exhibit the more traditional 'scene change' concept. It strikes me as very odd and I wondered if this was perhaps something to do with the way he wrote in the first place.

Jon

Hi Jon

I have a very 'visual' attitude to my stories. I am like a director, plotting a sequence of scenes. It is also a little mathematic a little like knitting. I imagine all these connected events, like peices of a quilt, and then draw them together with the thread of the plot, hopefully with a satisfying bang!

So many characters jostled for position in my latest effort. Destroying some of them was hard, but a lot of fun.

JB