[K.M. Weiland] In which we structure your novel

Bleeding Ink

Daunting endeavors often start with a sketch. Perhaps on the back of a napkin, a few words sitting above some squiggly lines. These seedling notions are the genesis to boggling achievements. Words are power—they provide the scaffolding so that larger ideas may stand firm. To assume this isn’t an effective method to develop a novel is silly. It may not be the only method, but a method it is—a method called outlining, and this method has been judiciously applied by the likes of Faulkner to Follett.

Outlining allows the author to hammer out the knotty bits of a story’s shape and aids them in a few ways. It frees the mind of pesky plot corrections as the author undergoes the overwhelming task of writing prose. It maps a series of waypoints toward which the author may confidently point their pen. As Anne Lamott states to us in her self-deprecating and practical writing guide Bird by Bird:

“I go back to trying to breathe, slowly and calmly, and I finally notice the one-inch picture frame that I put on my desk to remind me of short assignments. It reminds me that all I have to do is to write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame. This is all I have to bite off for the time being.”

Ladies and gentleman, imagine your one-inch frames all lined up and awaiting your pen: just show up, fill in the frames, and a novel emerges. It’s a beautiful way to work!

K.M. Weiland is my guest today. She is the award-winning author of several fiction and nonfiction gems, two of which we focus on in our interview: Structuring Your Novel and Outlining you Novel. There’s a little something here for every writer, whether you “pants” or “plot” or a dash of both, and you are sure to take away immediately applicable techniques you can apply to your novel or any writing endeavor.

Enjoy.

Learn

• Three tips on how to structure your novel
• Why writing will remain a daunting challenge no matter your experience, and that’s okay
• How to figure out if the story in your head is an easy proposition or a patience grinder
• How to go from outline to first draft
• Why you shouldn’t worry about writing a novel every other week
• The beats of a three act story
• What counts toward “writing time.” Hint: it’s not always writing.
• Why outlining is a good idea
• Why you should let your book ideas marinate for years
• How log lines can clarify your entire narrative
• Why “What if” is your best friend
• How to write killer scenes
• The four phases of writing a novel, how long each takes and how they bounce between logic and creativity
• Why there isn’t such a thing as “pantsing” or “plotting”

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