I do not care for things like beat or character sheets, simply because I've written enough books to understand how the pacing works--also, pacing varies according to the sort of story you're writing.
But part of it is my resistance to worksheets in any form. I'm a former middle school teacher, and while worksheets have their place, they can become formulaic and overused. I prefer to go by the rule of thirds--in other words, by the first third, I need to have laid out the initial conflicts, the second third is the intensified conflicts, including assorted twists in the story, and the final third is the climax/resolution of conflicts.
Since I've figured this aspect out, I've had a lot fewer issues with that infamous "muddle in the middle." I tend to create chapter synopses as I write, unless I'm writing something like four POVs. Then I might use a scene matrix, just so I can balance POVs and know where everyone is and why they're doing what they are in each scene. That was absolutely crucial when I had characters spread out fighting a war on multiple fronts in a fantasy world. Or when I had a fast-paced, multiple-viewpoint story with characters dealing with The Big Issue both on Earth and on the Moon/in space.
I find that most character sheets tend to focus on the superficial stuff. If I need to figure something out about a character's motivation or backstory, I'll often write a short story about it. That has the additional feature of providing an entry point into that world for readers. Most of my series have a number of worldbuilding short stories that tell the backstory of the world and its main characters. Sometimes I incorporate elements of the short story into my books, most notably the "First Meeting" short story in my Martiniere Legacy story. It ends up being rewritten from a different point of view in BROKEN ANGEL: THE LOST YEARS OF GABRIEL MARTINIERE.
Ooh, do you have an example of what you mean by scene matrix?
I feel like I am a person who always goes for the beat sheet, haha. I like to have the framework, even if I muddle it up afterward. I agree about character sheets, though – they feel so superficial and never, ever work for me, and I too prefer the old write-a-scene-from-a-different-character’s-POV.
That’s so smart to incorporate those scenes into other books or stories. Usually I just dump them in a folder and forget about them. Maybe something to reconsider…
So the scene matrix works like this. I generally take a letter-sized table and turn it sideways. Down one side is all the major characters. Across the top are the scenes summarized in brief. Then I go down the column identifying where each character is, if they're the viewpoint character, what they're doing (in scene or out), and anything else relevant. That's the working draft version.
I have gone back through the rough draft, doing the same thing, to ensure that I haven't dropped a plot point. But I haven't been doing that of late because I did this with several books, and that seems to have internalized my awareness of plot holes. But after twenty-some books, I have pretty much figured out when I'm running into problems, and have a helpful group of writer friends to brainstorm with when I get stalled.
I'm currently writing serial stories on Kindle Vella and on Substack, and I've found that the requirements for serialization also provide excellent developmental awareness.
I do not care for things like beat or character sheets, simply because I've written enough books to understand how the pacing works--also, pacing varies according to the sort of story you're writing.
But part of it is my resistance to worksheets in any form. I'm a former middle school teacher, and while worksheets have their place, they can become formulaic and overused. I prefer to go by the rule of thirds--in other words, by the first third, I need to have laid out the initial conflicts, the second third is the intensified conflicts, including assorted twists in the story, and the final third is the climax/resolution of conflicts.
Since I've figured this aspect out, I've had a lot fewer issues with that infamous "muddle in the middle." I tend to create chapter synopses as I write, unless I'm writing something like four POVs. Then I might use a scene matrix, just so I can balance POVs and know where everyone is and why they're doing what they are in each scene. That was absolutely crucial when I had characters spread out fighting a war on multiple fronts in a fantasy world. Or when I had a fast-paced, multiple-viewpoint story with characters dealing with The Big Issue both on Earth and on the Moon/in space.
I find that most character sheets tend to focus on the superficial stuff. If I need to figure something out about a character's motivation or backstory, I'll often write a short story about it. That has the additional feature of providing an entry point into that world for readers. Most of my series have a number of worldbuilding short stories that tell the backstory of the world and its main characters. Sometimes I incorporate elements of the short story into my books, most notably the "First Meeting" short story in my Martiniere Legacy story. It ends up being rewritten from a different point of view in BROKEN ANGEL: THE LOST YEARS OF GABRIEL MARTINIERE.
Ooh, do you have an example of what you mean by scene matrix?
I feel like I am a person who always goes for the beat sheet, haha. I like to have the framework, even if I muddle it up afterward. I agree about character sheets, though – they feel so superficial and never, ever work for me, and I too prefer the old write-a-scene-from-a-different-character’s-POV.
That’s so smart to incorporate those scenes into other books or stories. Usually I just dump them in a folder and forget about them. Maybe something to reconsider…
So the scene matrix works like this. I generally take a letter-sized table and turn it sideways. Down one side is all the major characters. Across the top are the scenes summarized in brief. Then I go down the column identifying where each character is, if they're the viewpoint character, what they're doing (in scene or out), and anything else relevant. That's the working draft version.
I have gone back through the rough draft, doing the same thing, to ensure that I haven't dropped a plot point. But I haven't been doing that of late because I did this with several books, and that seems to have internalized my awareness of plot holes. But after twenty-some books, I have pretty much figured out when I'm running into problems, and have a helpful group of writer friends to brainstorm with when I get stalled.
I'm currently writing serial stories on Kindle Vella and on Substack, and I've found that the requirements for serialization also provide excellent developmental awareness.