At this point in time I have almost completed half of my novel. This constitutes the first and the third acts in the 3-act structure of storytelling. From a length point of view, it is recommended that the first act is about 25% of the novel, the middle act is 50% of the novel and the third act is 25% of the novel.
The segments marked red are completed segments. I cannot truly say that they are completed. It’s just that some events have been dished out to make the story flow.
There are few things that I have realised.
- Non-linear approach to writing is a great way to tackle writer’s block. A planner’s can make more out of this technique than the pantser. Since I had my outline planned out, I could easily switch to another scene when needed. A pantser might have to do something non sequitur at this point to achieve the same effect.
- Notice I said scene and not segment. At this point I am dishing out scene after scene and conversation after conversation. There are hardly any descriptions barring what is absolutely needed for the conversation to happen. Almost all of the information is disseminated via conversation. Naruto has his talk no jutsu. Why can’t Knudalce have something similar?
- I keep telling myself that the great Ernest Hemingway has said, ‘The first draft of anything is shit.’
- I will not be able to dish out the middle section if I don’t plan things out. Now that I have the ending, I know one thing for sure – that I might have to throw away most of my initial outline for the middle and re-outline the entire portion.