Comments on: A ten-step snowflake versus a five-step star: Organizing a manuscript my way

By: Cayleigh

Cayleigh — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:48:41 +0000

I’m not quite sure I can agree with your 5(.5) step method. The Snowflake method has definitely helped with organization for me. I do skip around, and sometimes I do get the “analysis paralysis” because every detail has to be ‘perfect’ -whatever that means. I usually ignore the one-page synopses and character synopses, and focus on the paragraph description of plot, character details, and scene details.

There is an over-emphasis on character detailing, but then again, agents tend to enjoy character-driven stories, from what I’ve heard. The last two steps, actually going through each scene, is definitely worthwhile to get the whole picture in there and break it up in manageable pieces.

There is also another method, typically used for NaNoWriMo, but can be valid any other time of the year. Typically, the novel is divided up in 300 chunks (or scenes) that can be expanded to about 200 words or so. It is up to the author to write as many as he/she can per day. This is effective if combined with the character planning in the Snowflake method.

Of course, any outline can (and should) be altered if need be. Nothing in writing is ever set in stone, unless, of course, it’s published. Even then, it’s paper…not stone.

Basically, there are more than enough ways for people to outline or plan their novels. Usually, a quick search on Google will yield more results than necessary. Combine that with NaNoWriMo, and you have yourself a few weeks of searching through links. There’s always something out there for everyone. It just depends on what works for YOU.

By: Brett

Brett — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:33:30 +0000

@Irrevenoid-
I’d have to say that the character prep is by far the hardest part for me, which is why it was quickly cut from my methods. I used the snowflake method for my first novel. Once I got to the full detailed synopsis, I got so frustrated with this step that I just started writing my first draft. I skipped step 7 completely, did a rough step 8 and edited step 8 as I wrote. The end result was weak characters and story elements that no longer fit, and a few minor descrepancies within the story. In the end, as I edit my first draft, I’m going back to step 7 and redoing step 8 to clean my story up and make more interesting characters.

I think there’s a lot of value in the snowflake method – especially for first-timers – but I agree with a lot of people that it sapped the life out of ME, not really my story. I spent too much time not writing a story and trying to figure out every detail of my characters. It has its pros and cons, but if you don’t enjoy fleshing out your characters, you’ll hate it. I think the most accurate con for the method is that it is unbalanced – too much time on characters, and not enough on plot. I think that’s the biggest reason that some people that use it only get through the first 5 or 6 steps before giving up and just start writing, or sadly not writing at all.

By: Irrevenoid

Irrevenoid — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:24:55 +0000

I notice that your version of the snowflake has eliminated ALL the character prep steps.

I’d definitely pare it back – a full snowflake would choke the life out of a story for me too. But isn’t SOME character prep still warranted?

By: Rachelle

Rachelle — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:41:23 +0000

I like these ideas. I use a rough outline that continually evolves with extra notes as I go along. I think it’s important to have some kind of outline, but to still allow the characters to move the story. In my WIP, I had outlined one of my characters to leave the main point of action, but he really wanted to stick around. This is where it’s important to be flexible with your outline because I really like what he’s doing now!

By: Jordan

Jordan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:26:56 +0000

@Andrew—Pfft. Writing the first draft. Like that’s important.

@Carol—thank you.

@Shari—Ooh . . . what do you do to choose the narrative voice?