Today I'm working on layering. This is something that doesn't come naturally to me as a writer in my first drafts. I tend to skim read, and my first drafts are usually very close to a skim read - not enough depth in my characters, my settings, everything really. So today is about trying to add that in.
One of my favourite techniques to get to the bottom of what makes my characters tick is Twenty Questions. All it takes is a blank sheet of paper and one of your character's traits. You then try and come up with twenty reasons "why" they are that way and "what else". As always, when you start something like this you write down the predictable, but by the time you get closer to number twenty you come up with all sorts of unpredictable things. I find this exercise triggers the creative part of my brain and unlocks things about my characters I never knew. I then go back and layer that into the story. Wish me luck with the layering. 3/5/2013 08:08:07 am
I love the idea of Twenty Questions. It sounds like a great way to get to know the character quite intimately. I'm discovering the more I edit and tighten and layer my story the more I'm actually enjoying the editing process as a whole as opposed to how I used to feel about it.
Fiona Greene
7/5/2013 04:45:41 am
Hey Danielle, I hear you. I've just spent an age pfaffing around trying to avoid the dreaded "editing" but once I started thinking of it as layering, it all fell into place. Comments are closed.
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Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
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