Hi, Everyone! We had a great turnout. I just thought I’d sum up what we did at our very LAST pre-writing session (I can’t believe November is so close!).
We played a game called truth or fiction. Each participant got two 3×5 cards. On one card, they wrote a scene from their favorite book. On the other card, a scene from their life. We read some of them out loud and tried to guess if they were truth or fiction–and who they belonged to.
We talked about what Holly Lisle called “Candy Bar” scenes and how they can help you plot out your novel. For example, if you have a sci-fi book set in outer space, there’s a good chance there will be a space battle. That’s a candy bar scene–something that makes a major impact on the book and moves the plot in a definite direction. Knowing that you’re going to have a space battle in your novel can help you because you know you need to write some scenes leading up to the battle–and some scenes dealing with the aftermath of the battle.
We also brainstormed for random plot ideas–I’m posting those in a new thread.
The bulk of our time was spent broken up into groups. Each person had 5 minutes to explain their novel idea to the group and then ask for brainstorming suggestions. This worked so well I would imagine we will continue doing this as the opportunity arises.
I hope the session was helpful and I can’t wait for Nov 1!!
Meredith
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