Erica here: I'm delighted to host Angela Ruth Strong here at Seekerville today. If you know Angela at all, you know that Strong is more than just her name. It's who she is! She's a great friend, a great writer, and so very, very strong. A few weeks ago, she mentioned filling out scene cards in a post on Facebook, and I was intrigued! I'm always curious as to fellow-authors' methods and means of crafting stories, and much to my delight, Angela agreed to come here to Seekerville to share her method! Take it away, Angela!
I’m not the most structured person, so often when I write, my notes are scattered everywhere from phone texts to napkins I stole from The Cheesecake Factory. Sadly, I often lose these notes and have to completely recreate the work I’ve already done.
It’s much more fun to have my work compiled in such a way that I can refer back to it when needed, and I’m really thankful I found a system for this while going through chemo treatments. Because now that I’m ready to write the novel I’ve been dreaming out for over a year, I’ve already got the plot and characters ready to go.
This method comes from the book Story Genius by Lisa Cron, though I’ve adapted it to fit my own wild ways. And whether you are a pantser or a plotter, you can adapt it too.
First, I got a file folder and divided it up into sections for Scenes, Characters, Ideas, Random, and In-Development.
The goal is to get to a pile of numbered scene cards that lead from one to the next, powered by your character’s motivations and the domino effects their actions cause. The cards are simple, and they reveal plot holes or areas for potential writer’s block when you can’t fill in a blank. The cool thing is when that happens, you already have a file full of character info, ideas, and random notes to pull from.
Yesterday I took my pile of In-Development cards to a brainstorming session with one of my favorite comedy writers, Heather Woodhaven. Granted, my book titled Football is My Boyfriend is based on the football season, so I was also able to pull this old season calendar out of my folder.
This feels kind of like cheating, but it was great for knowing where a scene should go even if I didn’t have an idea for it yet. I was able to say, “This is an away game, so they are probably watching at Payton’s mom’s house, but I don’t know what happens there.” Then we’d look at the scene before and after, see exactly where the characters were at in their motivations, and fill in the blanks accordingly.
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It was great because I was able to tie all my random ideas together. Some ideas were vetoed by Heather like “her dog dies.” I really didn’t want to kill the dog, but I needed my characters to have motivation for an upcoming scene. We were able to take other random notes that I didn’t remember writing like “her uncle shows up” to fill in that blank and trigger specific reactions in each of my characters.
My favorite moment came from a connection we made with a sledgehammer. “Yes!” I yelled and scribbled “sledgehammer” across the card. Heather added, “It was meant to be!” Which I followed up with, “It’s brilliant!” Then the wind whipped the card away into a nearby fountain we couldn’t reach, and we both stared at it for a moment. “It’s good luck,” Heather finally said. “Like throwing a penny into a wishing well.”
I liked that perspective. But rather than wish for a story that works, I’m going to keep filling out these cards.
Scene #1
Alpha Point: Angela fills out plotting cards for the first time.
Subplot: Heather enjoys the process and gets excited to finish her last contracted Love Inspired Suspense novel so she can start her own romantic comedy.
Cause: Angela is trying to figure out life
after cancer.
Effect: Angela gets invited to blog about her
new process by Erica Vetsch.
Why it Matters: Angela cares about story and wants to be an inspiration to other writers.
Realization: Getting organized is worth the
extra time and effort.
And so…Whether or not she writes a bestseller, wins awards, or has Football is My Boyfriend made into a movie with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, she will still find more satisfaction in her work.
