Thursday, September 1, 2011

Writing Wallpaper

122/206

I finished the scene rearrangement mentioned earlier, and began working on the text beyond that.  I worked in the dining room (rather than my upstairs hall alcove space)  because it allowed me more room for the "visual aids" of sorts that I had made for the scene swap.  Visual aids, you ask?  Allow me to explain.

I had several scenes that I basically wanted to float around, possibly reshuffling them completely in order to strengthen my story.  I don't know about you, my readers, but the idea of staring at my iPad and trying to mentally sort out what should go where was not appealing.  Sometimes, when a task seems too hard for my mind, it tends to just want to stop working.  I don't know if this would have happened here, but there was a way to circumvent the issue completely.

I printed out the section of manuscript in question, then cut and taped pieces together, making several large paper pieces, each one with a particular scene.  That way, I could physically arrange the scenes, making it easier to play with and envision a new order for them.  Once I had the order figured out, I numbered each scene with a highlighter.  When I left the task for another time, it was easy to keep a handful of scenes together, numbered, stacked in order, and clipped together.  It was more prep to actually do my little cut and paste project, but the visual organization was helpful to me.

My recent cut-and-paste scene organization.
Sebastian the cat got involved as well.
This is not the first time I've done something like this.  Years ago, while still living at home with my mom, I printed out the manuscript and taped it up, in order, in my room.  The sheer size of the thing was so daunting, it seemed like it would be easier to get a handle on the big picture if I could literally see "the big picture" of it on my walls.  Pages and pages were taped up.  It took up a large part of one wall, and may have also been spread on to the back of the bedroom door.  An interesting form of decor, to be sure.

I don't know how much the wallpaper method helped back then, but it felt good to do.  I could highlight and color code sections, make notes, and plain just look at the volume of words committed to paper so far.  Rather cathartic, I guess, to let the words out for viewing like that.

Earlier this summer I spent some time with some old high school friends. I found out one of them has employed the same wallpapering technique she saw me do all those years ago, with an unfinished novel of her own.  It was a compliment to me that my actions back then somehow affected hers.  It validated my process, to have her adopt it too.

So if you're feeling stagnant in your work flow, tired of the same view from your computer screen, get creative.  Hit print, break out the tape, and do some decorating.  :)

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