Creative Writing Course – Week 15

This week's writing class was the penultimate class of the term for me, because next week I'll be watching comedian Sarah Millican. The last week of term two is also the submission day for our second chapters.

This week we constructed scene breakdowns for our second chapters and looked at elements such as;

Characters – who is in each scene
Location – where is the scene/chapter taking place
Incidents/Action – what happens in the scene
Reasons/Scene Objectives – what are the motivations for the actions, where does the scene take us in terms of the plot?

We then took a few minutes to apply this structure to our second chapters, but it could also be applied to all our writing as a whole. This helps us keep in check with where our work is going and how it might be better organised etc.

This technique is better suited to those types of writers who are planners by nature, as opposed to those who write by instinct and return to it later, enjoying the narrative as it unfolds in front of them. More of that here. Even still, it could be applied retrospectively to a body of work at first or second draft stage.

Once we'd spent some time making notes on our work after applying the breakdown to Chapter Two, we looked at some of the elements we should bear in mind for the beginnings/opening of that chapter. Another bullet-pointed list for you;

Continuing the narrative throughline – to maintain the story established in the previous chapter. This could even directly refer to the first chapter if need be.
Adding or maintaining contextual information – to add to the sense of the environment you are creating, you should aim to reinforce informational nuggets like the location and era, or place and character names. Perhaps introduce some more backstory.
The 'Hook' – not necessarily a cliff-hanger, but something that keeps the reader glued to the story. A lot of novels have a mini cliff-hanger or hook in every chapter, all designed to lead into the next chapter. Introducing conflict or an objective for the protagonist is a good way of developing and sustaining the reader's interest.
A clear sense of authorial control – a writer should aim to assert some sense of control over the story, so that the narrative reads like it is being led somewhere. Consistent style and voice helps to maintain authorial control.

We then had the openings of our second chapters read out by the tutor. This was preceded by a brief recap by the writer of what had happened at the end of chapter one. Once we'd heard our individual pieces read aloud, we were asked our thoughts on what we thought of our own work. For me it was clear I had crowbarred in lots of exposition, much of which can be split up and dropped into the text at later points. I think I also need to make an earlier reference to location, just to establish that it's set in London and not New York or LA or some other crime-ridden urban sprawl.

As I'll be missing next week's class about style and voice, I'll do some edits to my second chapter and email it to the tutor. I'll also have to come up with some content for a blog for next week. And then I had better turn my attention to chapter three!