Dreaming of Snowflakes

A friend asked me the other day - after we lamented the sheer hard graft of the story process - if I had heard of the 'Snowflake Method'.  

She explained it as simply as this: Using one sentence, summarise your story. Then take a section of that sentence, and write a paragraph. Then another.  Write a page. Write two. And so on.

Expand each sentence of your summary paragraph into a full paragraph.

Write a one page summary on each of your characters.

Keep writing, growing each sentence, the storyline, developing those characters.

You've effectively designed your novel, and have a huge resource to build on.

And all it took was that first sentence.

And this YouTube clip I found illustrates this simple but hugely effective mathematical fractal known as the Koch Snowflake.

Now, all I need is to write that sentence, deciding exactly what my story is truly about.  The challenge is to cast aside the twenty other plot lines and tangents my current scribblings have wandered off on.

Next blog - LONDON.

The upcoming trip next month, the packed itinerary, what I hope to see/what I did see, the inspirations/research, and my goals/accomplishments.  But most importantly, the fun of my lovely friend Carla's wedding.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Meanwhile, I'll be dreaming of the snow.