I’ve been struggling with the latest urban fantasy, BOX OFFICE POISON with all these final set up scenes that have to be in place before the dominoes can start to fall and we are into the “race for the credits” as we used to say on Star Trek.
I’m using Scrivener and I quite like it. It has a corkboard function, but it just wasn’t cutting it for me. I needed to get mass on the problem. So, I pulled out the cork board, a sharpie, and cards. Titled each card with a chapter number, wrote a shorthand of what happened in each chapter, stuck them all on the board.
Then I made cards (without chapter headings) for scenes that I knew I had yet to write.
Then I looked at the act outs.
Act one is ending at the end of chapter seven. It would probably be better if it was chapter eight or nine, based on twenty-four to twenty-five chapters, but it’s pretty close. Looks like act two is going to be longer with the act out falling in chapter eighteen or nineteen.
Gives me five or six chapters to reach the big climax and wrap it up which feels about right since the final act should be quick, and not dribble out to a conclusion.
After this exercise I decided I’m not in bad shape vis-a-vis this book, but damn it’s nerve wracking sometimes. Writing a book is like a high wire act while riding a bicycle and juggling. The timing has to be so perfect or the book doesn’t work.
I find it much easier to do this in a screenplay. *sigh* Ah well, back to work. Dragon Age later, if I’m a good girl. I downloaded Witch Hunt and I can’t wait to play it.
