FSN - Day 21 - Writing by the Numbers

[ladyseishou]

Day 21 - 10 days until the start of NNWM




Today we embrace left-brain thinking and spend a little time looking at numbers as we assemble the skeletal pieces of our story based on our FSN lists for the opening, the catalyst (First Plot Point or inciting event), the midpoint, the events after the “all is lost moment” (Second Plot Point) and the ending.

Of course, the assembly of these key events for your story should be one of your own choosing but for simplicity and example, I have selected a popular outline/plotting method called the Save the Cat “beat sheet” by Blake Synder which itself is based upon the classic three-act structure for narrative fiction: set-up, conflict and resolution.

Yep, that’s right, Nano Writer, when it comes down to it, all you need to tell your story is a set-up, description of the inevitable conflict that comes out of your set-up, and how it all comes out in the end.

So, you ask, if that’s all you need, what’s with all the numbers? Wasn’t Friday suppose to fun? Well, for me numbers are fun… let me show you how…

Short answer: IMHO, numbers, or the idea of numbers, defines and creates our sense of reality from chaos. Umm, maybe that was a little too short and way too philosophical. Okay try this on for size:

To win NaNoWriMo,
write a 50,000 word “novel”
beginning on November 1,
validating your “final” word count
on or before November 30.

Too stark and unromantic? Well maybe. But the whole founding philosophy behind NaNoWriMo was the idea that deadlines can motivate an almost-maybe-someday writer into becoming a real writer by redefining the daunting, dare I say chaotic, novel-writing process as an accessible and fun challenge:

• Write a “novel” with a minimal word count of 50,000 words. Now some say that this word count best describes a “novella” but let’s leave that discussion for another day. It's also widely assumed and sometimes misunderstood, that this “novel” is what professional writers and editors refer to as a first draft and not as some suppose, a final draft - we good on that?
  
  
• Write this novel during the month of November which gives us 30 days to complete the challenge.

Numbers, right? So the first thing we can do to make the NaNoWriMo challenge a little more approachable is to break the writing down into manageable daily targets. So 50,000 words written over a 30 day period becomes 1,667 words a day.

And to make this daily goal even a little easier, we’ve suggested Nano Writers think of this daily goal as three writing goals for the day: 556 words written early in the morning and again during the day (commute time, lunch time) and one more time at night (after dinner, before bed).

So well and good. And it works - for the most part. The first week of November is glorious and full of great expectations and good fellowship until… the second week of November rolls around and then things start to go… well not so good.

There are a lot of theories as to why: schedules conflicts, writer’s block, and often the story just stalls out and that’s why we’ve worked on our lists, right? So for our lists, let’s come up with our own numbers!

Note: we’ll be using 50,000 words as our final goal but all calculations can be adjusted accordingly.

A manuscript page consists approximately of 250 words which means that a 50,000 word novel has 200 pages.

Using the “Save the Cat” Beat Sheet Calculator, we get the the following “blueprint” for our story:

Page	Beat
1	Opening Image
9	Theme Stated
1 − 18	The Set Up
22	The Catalyst
22 − 45	Debate
45	Break into Act II
55	B Story
36 − 100	Fun and Games
100	Midpoint
100 − 136	Bad Guys Close In
136	All Is Lost
136 − 155	Dark Night of the Soul
155	Break into Act III
155 − 200	The Finale
200	Final Image

What this chart shows us is where and when our Plot Points work best within the body of our story. Or more specifically, the opening scenes of the story - where we write about our hero’s “ordinary” world - begin on page one and should run about twenty pages or 5,000 words. After that, the First Plot Point - the event that entices our hero away from his ordinary life - comes into play around page 22.

The midpoint? That comes up around page 100 or at the 25K word-count mark (not too surprising, right?).

Plot Point Two? Our hero begins to have serious doubts about it all around page 136. The ending? Starts around page 155.

And everything else leads into, sets up, explains or leads away from these pivotal scenes in our story. Or in other words, following this plan will help ensure that you will finish your 50K novel first draft by November 30.


So do all stories follow this scheme? No, of course not. But many do.

And I imagine now what some of you are asking: what of creativity and spontaneity? Doesn’t following this plan lead to the worse kind of formulaic pulp fiction?

Why should it? It’s your story, your hero, your protagonist’s desires and abilities and character faults. Your antagonist too. And when the bad guys close in - it is your particular battles that will be fought and won or lost.

Still not convinced? Tell me then, gentle Nano Writer, what the movies Inception and The King’s Speech have in common besides nominations for Best Motion Picture? You guessed it if you said that the beats for both stories fit the “Save the Cat” Beat Sheet.

So get with the beat and try the “Save the Cat” Beat Sheet on for size. Questions? Comments? Favorite movie? It’s all good - so keep writing!