Keeping my Sanity

Building my Snowflake

Am enjoying the Snowflake Method process, it's helping to point out flaws as I try to break down my story.  It's really making me think, when I got to writing about my main character and was asked about her 'epiphany' what I thought was her epiphany seemed very fake, if I was a reader I would be disappointed and think that had just been thrown in there.  It really made me think about my character, why she was doing what she was doing and what in her situation would she find out that would change her.  I realised what that something was, although I will need to tell it very well and see how it fits into the whole story to pull it off.





Step Two was writing a full paragraph outlining the story, specifically the 3 disasters that they will encounter and an end.  I re-wrote this a few times, mistaken some things that happen along the way as 'disasters' as I seemed to have loads.  I realised that the 3 disasters are the pivotal moments in my story that move the deep theme along.  This whole thing is one huge learning curve and even if I never do it again, it's great way to breakdown and learn how a story is built and evolves.





One Paragraph Summary





An outcast witch goes on a quest to find a portal shown to her in a vision to escape the implosion of her world.  Her journey takes her across a barren land to a forest where she is attacked by flying beings.  Reaching the cave she causes it to collapse to hide the portal from the coven.  Finding a second portal she escapes.





Really bare bones of the 3 acts and the ending, I get to flesh this out and make it a page long later on.  BTW, I don't recommend reading forwards when you first start this method, I looked on at the steps and found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed, I had to pull back and tell myself just to concentrate on one step at a time.





Next I got to write a bit about my character, coming up with a name was really hard.  I like the one I chose and it really fits her in my head.  The thing I really struggled as I said above was her 'epiphany', nothing is set in stone though and as I go through all the steps I am sure I will come back and change things.





Aura


Aura has a vision of the end of the world and searches for the portal shown to her to escape.


Lonely, Aura would like to have friends/family.


To escape the world before it ends.


The coven her determined to stop her.


Epiphany – the man who raised her turns out to be her real Dad and she becomes half shape shifter.


After a vision of the destruction of her world Aura sets out to find a portal to escape.  The hard journey brings her to a forest where she is attacked by Terra’s and mortally wounded, a shifter finds her and helps her to heal, he recognises that she is a shifter.  Healed Aura finds the cave in her vision, the coven have followed her, she causes the cave to collapse to hide the location of the portal.  Pulled free by the coven they search her mind to get the location of the portal and take her there.  Using her blood to open the portal she is left dying on the floor and helpless to stop them escaping.  Dragging herself up to the tower she watches the fire in the sky and finally pulls out the letter her Dad left her.  With directions to a second portal close by she manages to escape before the world is destroyed.





I now get to write the same about the rest of the characters, I think this will be harder as they are not all as 'real' in my head as Aura just yet.