| I
wrote White Line to Graceville in disjoint scenes, not in
chronological sequence. As I got to the point of having a lot of
scenes, looking at them printed on paper and imagining them in
some sort of sensible order was a daunting task. My
writing instructor Darnell Arnoult suggested that I use index
cards to represent each scene and then manipulate the cards to
find the best order of events for the book.
I
didn't have a bulletin board big enough for all of these scenes,
so my husband and I debated whether the cards should go on the
fridge on on the guest bathroom shower door. Although it could
be argued that the "reading room" would have been the
perfect place for a developing novel, the magnetic properties
of the fridge won out.
So
here it is in living color, White Line to Graceville. Each color
card represents a different narrator. Pink is Diana Rose, yellow
is her husband Jerry, and orange is that good-looking young
thing, Bradley. Using
the different colored cards makes it so easy to check and see if
each character is getting the appropriate frequency in the book.
I
used the cards to indicate a brief scene description and also to
make note of certain themes or devices which are shown in that
scene.
The
four white cards mark the four sections of the book.
The
cards have a magnet stuck to the back for easy and frequent
scene repositioning. |
This
method was immeasurably helpful. It also proves that Darnell
Arnoult is always right. It was Darnell who told me I could
finish the book in a three-day weekend if only I could get those
three days, and she was pretty much right about that, too.
Another
wonderful thing about this is that my kids are interested in it.
"Cool," they said when they walked in the house after
I had first put all the cards up. And I don't think they
intended the pun. |
