How To Write A Novel From Scenes \\ Writing Great Scenes Video 5
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- Welcome to the fifth and final episode in our series on Writing Great Scenes. I’m so excited for this video, because it’s the most in-depth and specific I’ve ever gotten in explaining how I go from a spark of an idea to a full-length novel. I sincerely hope it helps you.
Here’s the full playlist for this series if you want to catch up: • Writing Great Scenes
Like the sound of The Witch’s Key? Find links to buy here: sarracannon.com/book/the-witc...
Or listen to me read the full book over on my @SarraCannon UA-cam channel as I was writing it here: • The Witch's Key
To grab the free scenes workbook, head to my blog and scroll to find the newsletter signup box. I’ll send it over right away, along with a link to my entire free resource library: heartbreathings.com/how-to-wr...
TimeStamps:
0:00 Intro
2:18 Get An Eagle Eye View
6:06 Brainstorm Scenes
10:23 Fill In The Gaps
11:19 Example of Scene Cards
21:45 Start Writing
30:20 Final Thoughts
Other books and resources mentioned:
🖤Structuring Your Novel by KM Weiland: amzn.to/3w14vjz
🖤My plotting series here on UA-cam: • How To Plot Your Novel
🖤My plot wall: • My Plotting Wall & Plo...
🖤My plotting planner setup: • Plotting My Books In A...
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🖤Visit me on Etsy to see my custom 90-Day planner, the HB90 Method. The 2022 Planners are available now! www.etsy.com/shop/heartbreath...
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books2read.com/thewitchskey
🖤FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM FOR PLANNER HAULS, DAILY BOOKENDS CHATS, AND STORYBOARD UPDATES IN MY IG STORIES!
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Heart Breathings, Episode 355
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About Me: My name is Sarra Cannon, and I've been indie publishing since 2010. In that time, I have published 26 books and sold well over half a million copies.
I've made some mistakes along the way, but I've also learned some valuable lessons that I think will help you reach your goals. I can't wait to help you learn to make money writing what you love.
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The final video in this series, and I feel it's the most I've ever truly shown my process of developing scenes and writing from my scene cards. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what other series or topics you want to see on this channel! If you're intrigued by the sound of my book, The Witch's Key, I'd love for you to download and read it here: books2read.com/thewitchskey Thanks, everyone!!! Have a great end to your week!!
This was crazy helpful and really just spoke to my brain in the right way. It feels so good when writing advice just clicks! Your scene bridging was a massive aha moment for me. Thank you!!!
Did you hear the A-HA? This practical, in-depth look at your scene development and plotting process bridged the remaining gap for me from your How-to-Plot-Your-Novel series. I struggled with planning the key plot points without having a detailed road map between each one. Yet I was also frustrated that my pre-planning didn't allow enough flexibility for the discovery that happens while writing the story. The example in this video really helped me see the balance in the process and makes me feel more confident in having a route planned, but discovering the detailed directions as the journey unfolds. Thanks!
Yay! So glad to hear this
Loved the series! So helpful as always! I would love a series on multi POV, and duel POV that's not only 2 love interests. For example, siblings or friends. I would love to know the best way to weave in multi/duel POV into the story when the charcters have different journeys/are separated for a while, and how their individual storys/arcs come together for the bigger book story plot. Hope that makes sense, lol. Would also love to see everything you suggested!
This was so helpful, Sarra! Especially the last video where you shared your notecards and walked us through how you connected the dots between scenes. I do love it when you show examples as that helps cement the information in my brain. I'm writing a series and I would love for you to walk us through your thought process on how you designed the book covers for your series. I'm interested in why you picked the objects on the covers, their relative proportion to each other (how big the character is compared to the objects in the background), your choice of colors, your choice of font, how you decided on the size of your author name and the title. And anything else you've learned about cover designing over the years.
I did not design the covers for my books! Ravven did most of my covers and her process is just for me to fill out a form with details about the book and then she does all the art. I give feedback until it's good but I don't make all the little decisions about images and things! For me, cover design is not my zone of genius so I found someone whose work I admire.
This was fabulous as always. You and I both plan and write very similarly, so it is always great to watch your videos. The only thing I do a little differently is I get all 10 major beats up on my board and then write the scene right before and the scene right after each beat. This gives me 30 cards ready to go, and I find writing around the beats is easy because I generally know what is going to trigger the beat and what the consequence of the beat is. And I very rarely write the book in chronological order as I also will get a picture of a scene and will just write that first. I also do more detail in act one to get me going. What I would love to see more of is how to create tension and add twists and turns. This is something I wish I knew how to do better :-) Thank you, Sarra!
All this info is greatly appreciated. I’m a nonfiction writer and I does give me some pointers on keeping the flow. But hopefully I will be writing my first novel or short story next year. So I will be checking this series of videos over and over. Thank 🙂
Thank you so much for the step-by-step guide! I just published my second book AND my free book for my email list on Monday, and am starting my next book, due in November. I already have a rough outline, so this is getting to me at the perfect time. 😉
Woohoo, congratulations!
Thanks, Sarra! I struggle to make sure I don't have just a random string of scenes, so it was really hopeful to see how and why you filled in the gaps between scenes.
Fantastic! This wrapped up the series very well and brings everything together. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your videos. You have such an energy that really pushes me into believing I could write a book. I so appreciate watching your techniques.
You are brilliant. I'm working my way throught all of your videos, starting with those I thought I needed the most, but this series was extremely eye opening, and beyond helpful! Thank you for explaining things in steps, with examples!
You are such an amazing teacher! I have been taking notes throughout the entire series and this last video has definitely brought it all together. I can't wait to create my own scenes. I feel like you including concrete examples and guiding us step by step has made all the difference for my understanding of the topic. Thank you so much, you just got a new suscriber! 💖
GREAT SERIES! I would love to see some videos on weaving in backstory. I feel like I'm doing an info dump when I try to do it.
Thank you so much for the inspiration and passion you bring in every video!!
This was a great and helpful video, thank you! I think because I tend to like the snowflake method myself, I should start with a scene for each of the three main disasters in the book, and possibly the climax. And fill in the spaces before that, scenes that would explain why each disaster is just that...a disaster. Like my mc is being blackmailed into doing something she doesn't want to do...I have to be able to show my readers why she doesn't want to do, how her life led up being able to be blackmailed, and what's at stake for my MC if she allows the blackmail to go forth. Which would lead me up to the midpoint, then on and on.🤔🙂
Soooo helpful. Thank you for all of the quality content that you share. You’re a treasure.
This was very helpful and you explained it perfectly!
Thank you so much Sarra for this wonderful resource. I followed the entire masterclass...👏🏿🥰
You are so welcome! Thank you for being here!
I'm loving these videos, thank you Sarra!
Sarra, as usual, your videos are amazing and help me in ways I can't even explain. You did mention in one of your videos to let you know if we would be interested in seeing how you plot with your different vices. Example, your planner, your plot board, and I believe there is one other. That would be great!
This was so helpful, Sarra! I have a similar way of working with scenes, but this helped to concretise the process.
Also, it was really helpful to hear you talking about a character's motivations in specific scenes - I have been going too big picture with this and only thinking how will we get from Act I to Act III. I need to remember a motivation can be specific to a scene because it will help humanise the characters by making them impulsive/curious/follow their small desires sometimes.
I love all your series and workbooks! I keep coming back to your site for how-to inspiration! I am so glad you did a series on writing the note cards. I was having a hard time trying to fill in all the Act sheets from Plotting Your Novel series. I have to work through scenes to get to the next phase of the story like you do. It really helps to see the examples of how you work through planning your own novels. As far as future videos, I'd love to see a video on how to measure chapters. How do you know when it is time to end a chapter and begin another one? Thank you for taking the time to plan and execute this information for us!
This is sooooo helpful Sarra. I'm always craving videos on the nitty gritty of actually creating the fabric of the novel, specifically not generally. I can never find any videos that do this. Your work as a video creator for writers is so very valuable and unique, and I am so grateful I found your channel several years ago. I'm amazed that this life changing series is free!
Thank you so much Jenny!
Omg!! This was amazing!!! So crazy helpful! Thank you!!!!!!
So helpful! Thank you so much!💖
Thanks Sarra, really needed this Video. very helpful, thank you for taking care of us.
That was super-helpful, especially the bit towards the end where you talk about only plotting Act One in detail and having just a basic framework of major beats for the rest of the book - as a discovery writer, I think this technique could work really well for me!
Just ordered the Witch’s Key from Amazon!!! Serendipity!!!
Thank you!!
Sarra, you are such an awesome teacher! I love how you share EVERYTHING with us. I have learned so much from you and it's improved the way I go about my writing journey and helps me think before I start my writing day. Blessings to you and yours. xo
This series was so helpful! You sre an amazing teacher. Subplots hurt my brain and i'd love a video on them! This november is my first nano and I cant wait to see all of the prep videos you make for it!
Oh Sarra, the ‘you’re’ on your thumbnail made me laugh! I love that bitmoji as this is a pet peeve of mine. 😆
I posted a question on discord about my free book for my email list for the Friday coffee chat. I’ll be out of service when you go live but I’ll watch the video later! (Even if you don’t have time to answer my question-ha ha!). 😀
Haha, I couldn't resist for my plotting notebook. I saw your question and I'll hopefully get to all of them on Friday!
Thanks! You’re the best! 🤩🤩
Great video. I wondered if you would continue you great ideas series. Or show us you current book of masterlists?
I'm going to be setting up a new story journal soon and talking about this! Thank you!
I really liked the explanations of filling in the gaps! I found that really helpful. I love idea of a series on sexual tension. I write relatively clean YA, but I want more romance/chemistry than just a few chaste kisses. Maybe this is too obscure, but I think a video on how to grow relationships between characters (whether romantic, platonic, or familial) would be fun.
Thanks for these videos
Thanks for watching!
My biggest problem is I have a bunch of ideas in my head, but I have a hard time organizing them. Have you done a video about getting the ideas from your head to paper lol?
lost my notebook taking notes in my mind
Hi. Do you have a podcast or just an audio file of this that I can listen to on the go? Truly inspiring. Thank you.
This was really helpful. It was the first time I’ve seen someone use scene card/plotting in a way that makes sense to my process. When you are doing multiple POV, do you do a similar process for each character?
Yes!
have a lovely day
💗💗💗
Hello there! I am new to your channel and just starting to write again after a very long break (uh...16 years) after my time in school getting a writing degree. I just watched (and *loved*) your scene series. Thank you for that. I bought both books you suggested and signed up to your news letter. I find myself feeling relieved that you didn't instruct us to jump off a bridge... No. I definitely wouldn't have done that. But. It resonated. If you have any advice on how to (obtain is the absolute wrong word...gather? Move into proximity to?) *manifest* a writing group, online is fine, I would love to hear it. Or. Do you have a writing group yourself? Maybe you don't do that and won't have input. Well. Thank you. This was helpful in ways that Master Classes and college courses (that I can watch online today) have not been. Looking forward to your other videos and materials. Cheers!
Welcome to the channel! So happy you loved it and that it helped clarify things for you! I am not currently in a writing group but I've had great ones in the past. Mostly they just tend to grow from friendships, so getting involved and seeing who you get along with and go from there! Come join our writing community if you want and join in on the sprints. See what happens!
@@HeartBreathings Thank you! :) Seems like you even write in my favorite genre. I'll check out those books...
Question: How much do you know about the main character before you start plotting the story itself?
This has been very helpful. So far I've been worried about plotting the whole story from beginning to end, but I see now that I'm biting off too much at once.
It really depends. Most of my books are series books, so I already know the characters before I start that next book. With The Witch's Key, I knew Lenny's past struggles, her general attitude and her wound, I knew what she looked like and cared about, I understood her magic experience and skill. But that book was a bit different in that I was reading it live on UA-cam as I was writing it, so I didn't have the same freedom to try things as much. I spent more time up front with her character. When no one is seeing my rough draft, I sometimes only have their voice in my head and figure the rest out as I go.
@@HeartBreathings Thank you, this is very helpful. Seems that "they" always say you "have to know your character fully before you start to write" - and I've tried that. But I never seem to do. Most of the time, I only have a voice and the beginning of a story. But when you feel like you SHOULD know the whole backstory of the character and have the story plotted 100% out before you start to write - you actually never get started. Thank you. You have no idea how much help you've been to my writing process.
@@beateadriana So happy to hear this! And it's really ALWAYS just about finding your own process. There's no right or wrong! Just works for you or doesn't work for you. When I was writing my Fairhope romances, I had a couple books where I basically had to write half the book before I even understood AT ALL what my male characters were about.
I need to learn how to write backstory without info dumping.
I've had a lot of requests for this, so I think that might be a great idea for another video or series. Thank you!
What works for me is thinking about what the audience needs to know at that time to get or stay invested in the story, what will give them clues or tell them something they don't already know about the character or dynamics between characters. And, of course what will move the plot forward without giving too much away. What adds some intrigue? It may also help to look at other characters in the same orbit. What do they know that's important to the story?
Thanks Pam.
@@Neil-writer-author You're welcome. Just take your time with it. Good luck!
If possible, I would love something on writing sexual tension and subplots, please and thank you. Have a great day!
Check out I Give You My Body by Diana Gabaldon for tips
@@elf1709 Thank you.
@@pamdwriter Check out Year of Author she might be able to help you, most other Authortubers are religious so don't talk about that topic.
@@elf1709 Thank you for the insight.
I struggled my whole life to understand why I wasn't able to visualize scenes, characters, or whatever and have that play out in my mind like nearly all authors speak of. I don't lack imagination, but as an aphantasia - someone with no mind's eye - I can't see ANYTHING in my mind. Only blackness when I close my eyes. I learned that was even a thing during Nano 2019.
I do wish when people speak of visualizing that it is also included that aphantasia IS a thing and if a person doesn't have the ability to see images in their mind (or even if they are weak, faint images - because there are levels of aphantasia. I am on the extreme. Zero images). I wish I had learned much earlier in my life that aphantasia was a thing and when people tell you to "visualize a beach" it wasn't just HYPTHETICAL. Again, my imagination is fine. Just no images (no audio, either. No voices, no sounds. My thoughts are quiet).
It's taken me since 2019 to start over and figure out that everything I learned over 30 years of "learning" to be a writer - most often - did not apply to me. Instead of the years of knowledge I tried to force to work for me.
Scenes was a MAJOR issue for me, but I really have learned a lot from your series on them and I feel so much more confident sitting down to plot my novel.
Also, I want to say that it's always nice when you say how your method is yours and it's okay if it doesn't fit with others. And that finding what works for each person IS the most important. Because as I was learning to write decades ago... that was NOT the mentality. It was "XYZ worked for FAMOUS AUTHOR and if you want to be an author, you'll figure out how to make it work for you!" --- not a great thing when XYZ visualizes and the aspiring author is aphantasia.
Sorry for the novel of a response. I know this video is nearly 2 months old, but I'm just getting to sit down and take notes. :)
Thank you so much for bringing this up! I am such a visual writer that sometimes I forget that it's not possible for everyone to see it the way I do!