Writer's Fallout Shelter

The "filler" or middle is the toughest part for many writers. Outlines give some people the willies, but theyre really good tools once you get comfortable with them. Even with tightly constructed outlines, the middle of the book can wreck story structure. One way fo dealing with this is the stroyboard.

Use an excel spreadsheet broekn into columns, each column representing a chapter. (Any column/row format will do.)

You fill in the blocks with title number, major characters, and the theme of the major scene in that chapter. When you hit the empty blocks, consider the chapters before an after. Look at the big picture of "cause and effect." If so-n-so occured in the preceedig chapter, then the natural progression would be...__________(fill in the blank) Or, you might determine its a good spot to introduce a new character or minor side arch. if youre stuck and nothing comes to mind, play the what-if game. for instance, if Mike and Bob rescued a vampire poodle from the pound in chapter eight, WHAT IF...its litter mates escape the pound and track it to Mike and Bob's house, or WHAT IF, the kitten slips out of the house on the first night with Mike and Bob, and the next morning every dog in the neighborhood is toast....or better yet, enthralled to a vampire kitty?

You might go through one of two WHAT IFS before the right idea strikes home, or it could take a few days. But the WHAT IF game is notorious for working authors out of dead ends and tight spots.

Best of luck to ya!

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"Have you ever been caught hiding bodies in your closet? No? Good place to hide them, uh?"

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