Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Back Door of the Workshop

The Back door of the Workshop

Well finally we are at the end of developing the “The Exploratory Writing Workshop.” For those who have indulged my “Thinking Out Loud” as I struggled with trying to pull this workshop together you have my heartfelt thanks. A special thanks goes to Armor-bearer who must have sensed that I was getting in over my head and stepped in and helped me pull the whole thing together.

Now at the final Assignment that will end week eight the students are told to write the Comprehensive Outline

So, what’s the difference between the Thread and the Comprehensive Outline? you might be asking. Simply stated the Thread Outline, outlines what the student has done in the workshop. The Comprehensive Outline Outlines what will be the chapter or Act/Scene structure of the student’s continuing work. No longer are we talking about Vignettes. Now we are thinking about chapters or in a drama, Acts and Scenes.

Except for the list of Dramatic Ingredients, the students are taking the outline from last weeks lesson and expanding it. Now, they will be adding in the Chapters or if it is a Drama, the Acts and Scenes.

If the work is going to be a novel, they start with between twenty (20) and thirty (30) blank chapters and start filling in the names. Some of the ideas in the vignettes will come in early chapters, some in the middle and others at the end. For example, in chapter 1 the central focus might be a life changing event. In chapter 2 maybe a flash back on some key elements of the back story that requires telling. In chapter 3 maybe a good snapshot of the CC and his/her MO: And in Chapter 4 the first crisis and so on and so forth. Actually this is the part I enjoy most about a novel, or stage play…. moving the ideas, the building blocks and dramatic ingredients around.

Each Chapter will have a synopsis of three or four sentences explaining the highlights. Then the student will begin plugging in the Dramatic Premise and themes. While these are undercurrents and not transparent the writer needs to show evidence of where they lurk. Then the student will shown evidence of the devices, such as foreshadowing, repetition, humor and anguish.

Now I know this is a bit of a leap but the crevasse is not as broad as one might think. Yes! I realize there will be more than six chapters to the novel, however in these vignettes are contained the seeds of the rest of the story. Once they are arrayed in the thread outline they can be expanded taking the ideas, stretching them out and giving name to the chapters.

Actually this is pretty artsy stuff and by now I hope everyone realizes that art isn’t my long suit… However, for many of you it is. So they take the Thread Outline of a story, (Assignment 7) and expand it into the Comprehensive Outline for the work. I hope by now this part is pretty self evident.

Now I want you to pause and ask yourselves. Is this not a better way to prepare for writing a longer work than simply pushing the pencil or pounding the keys and hoping the work will wind up going somewhere? I hope this class makes a believer out of the students and causes them to realize the importance of developmental work… That it’s possible to write a great outline coming in through the back door using techniques learned in the “Exploratory Writing Workshop.”