30Apr

The Role of Scaffolding in Writing a Long Novel

• Saved in: Craft, Fiction Writing, Novel Writing, Novels, Process, Writing Experiences, Writing Life
• by Chris Orcutt
• with Comments Off on The Role of Scaffolding in Writing a Long Novel

I’m cur­rent­ly 250,000 words into a nov­el that looks like it will go to 300,000 words. It could go as long as one of my favorite nov­els, Anna Karen­i­na.

Since my longest pub­lished nov­el to date (A Truth Stranger Than Fic­tion) is only 90,000 words, the nov­el-in-progress will like­ly end up being three times as long.

While writ­ing the cur­rent nov­el, about every 80,000 words I’ve had to stop and erect what I call scaf­fold­ing: out­lines and sketch­es of remain­ing scenes, char­ac­ters, plot arcs, etc.

When adding rooms on to a house or anoth­er large struc­ture, builders will often erect scaf­fold­ing because it gives them a stag­ing area from which to work—a place to accu­mu­late mate­ri­als, and a sta­ble set­ting from which to knock holes in the cur­rent struc­ture, etc.

Up to now, I’ve hat­ed hav­ing to do this drudge work. I’ve hat­ed los­ing writ­ing days erect­ing tem­po­rary orga­ni­za­tion­al struc­tures that won’t appear in the final book.

But this week­end, while fin­ish­ing what I think will be the last scaf­fold­ing work for this nov­el, I real­ized the ben­e­fit scaf­fold­ing offers me: It makes the remain­ing writ­ing much more effi­cient, because I don’t have to spend time grop­ing in the dark, won­der­ing where to go next with the nov­el.

Whether you’re writ­ing a very long nov­el or one of more stan­dard length (60,000–80,000 words), here’s how to erect scaf­fold­ing for the remain­ing pages of your nov­el:

1. Make a sim­ple list of all the chap­ters and/or major scenes and sequences (sets of scenes that work togeth­er) yet to write. Give each chap­ter, scene or sequence a sim­ple title: e.g., “JANE’S BIRTHDAY” or “GRADUATION CEREMONY.”
2. Once you have this list, put each title at the top of a blank page (on your com­put­er or a legal pad).
3. On each page, list all of the images, char­ac­ters, ideas, dia­logue, etc. that you would like to appear in that chapter/scene/sequence. Close your eyes and try to see the scene in your mind as a movie, and write down the ele­ments of the movie as they play in your mind.
4. When you fin­ish a first draft of this process, put the work away and return to it in a day or two. Read through your draft, see­ing it as a movie in your mind, and try to see it in more detail the next time through, adding details as they occur to you.

Tagged: novel, novel writing, novel writing process, novels, writers, writing, writing tips, writingtips

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