Avoiding the Frankenstein Trap

i.e., Killing Your Story with Too Much Early Editing

Last week I talked about writing process and trying to find yours. This week I want to expand on that a little.

Specifically, I want to talk about how your process may change as you grow as a writer.

When I began writing almost 25 years ago (as a baby…) I was very spit and polish. I couldn’t move on to chapter 2 until chapter 1 was perfect. Now, combine that with being a “pantser” (an organic writer who plans nothing ahead), and you can see how far that got me.

At the same time, I watched a very talented critique partner get caught in the same loop. She rewrote her first chapter every time we met (weekly) for months. Sadly, her idea became a kind of Frankenstein monster, bearing little resemblance to the quirky and appealing story she’d started with. And she abandoned it.

Don’t Fall Into the Frankenstein Trap

After watching my friend’s collapse I reviewed my own technique because I was in the same boat – starting a lot of projects and not finishing them, because they had to be so, so perfect.

I think I tried every single magical writing process out there: the “snowflake method”, the outline, the scene-and-sequel, the vertical plot plan, Freytag’s triangle, the hero’s journey, etc., etc. I learned a lot, and honestly, all that effort did instill in me a feeling for how books work, structurally speaking.

Which is when I realized that I had to develop a way to combine my desire to write organically with the understanding that there is an underlying plot structure, and not to spend so much time making chapter 1 so gorgeous that I never progressed into the hard part: making a compelling character.

I learned to do what I call “plan organically”.

What Is Organic Planning?

Here’s my own process, developed and changed over time, and even from book to book.

1. The idea: I start with a nascent idea – a premise. I think about it for a long time. Sometimes that’s months, sometimes years (yes, that was true for my last novel CARRY ME HOME – 5 years in my brain before a single word went on paper.) I want to be sure that I love that idea so much that it bothers me not to write it.

2. The growth: When the idea has formed a solid object in my brain and won’t leave me alone, I keep thinking about it and then draft what I’ll call a path: almost literally, steppingstones in the progression of the plot.

3. The heart: I need to know the character, because honestly, character IS story (fight me). So that’s when I start writing – just to get to know the character. I write pages of narrative, mostly by hand, in a notebook, making sure I understand who that character is and what they want most and why they can’t get it…until they can.

4. The draft: Quick and rough, lean and mean. Because I don’t want to fall into the Frankenstein trap. I don’t want to start polishing because it will all change again anyway.

5. The revision: Only when I’ve finished a first draft do I go back and start over. That’s the time for the glow-up. That’s the time to fill in all those blanks and change my telling to showing and my characters from flat to fully rounded.

Try It, But Find Your Own Way

Try organic planning. But if it doesn’t suit you that’s okay, too. None of us is the same. None of us works the same. But………..having a different way of looking at things sometimes stirs the creative juices.

By the way, over the years I’ve discovered that drafting with Scrivener is a wonderful way for me to get things on paper without feeling trapped, because it’s so easy to move things around.

If You Want to Learn More About Plot and Character

If you go through all the years of trying different plot paradigms you will definitely learn about plot structure, but there are easier ways to skin that cat and I’ve created one way for you.

I’ve built a membership and course-rich program on writing for children and young adults that is now open! It’s called Fox’s Den (cute, right?) It’s where you can find your process.

Nine modules, hours and hours of writing craft content, and regular meetings to keep you going. You can find details here. It’s limited enrollment, and there’s an early-bird reduced-rate deadline of February 29, so please let me know if you’re interested and I’ll send you an application.

And if you want a taste of the program at a one-time affordable price, with lifetime access and a discount should you decide to scale up into the Den, try my Six Day Story System.

I would also love to know what else you’re looking for so contact me! Ask me a question, or two or more.