WHATEVER IT TAKES - QUT · 2010-06-09 · WHATEVER IT TAKES ... Using Krauth’s explanation, this...
Transcript of WHATEVER IT TAKES - QUT · 2010-06-09 · WHATEVER IT TAKES ... Using Krauth’s explanation, this...
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WHATEVER IT TAKES
An exploration of Writing Tools and Strategies for Completing a
Novel
Chaffey’s Island: a novel
by
Louise Ousby
October, 2009
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of
Master of Creative Writing (romance)
Faculty of Creative Industries
Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove
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Abstract This thesis consists of a novel written with the express purpose of exploring what practices
and strategies are most useful in writing novel-length fiction as well as an exegesis which
discusses the process.
By its very nature, an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing is broad and general in
approach. The Creative Writing undergraduate is being trained to manage many and
varying writing tasks but none of them larger than can be readily marked and assessed in
class quantities. This does not prepare the writing graduate for the gargantuan task of
managing a project as large as a single title novel which can be up to 100,000 words and
often is more.
This study explores the question of what writing tools and practices best equip an emerging
writer to begin, write and manage a long narrative within a deadline.
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Keywords Writing, fiction, novel writing, deadline, tools, techniques, plotting, collage, character
profile, character interrogation, narrative, goal, motivation, conflict, journaling, editing,
creative practice, plotting, editing
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Acknowledgements To Joseph who has never wavered in his love and belief in me and who was with me on
that fateful day in outback Queensland where the ‘what if’ question was born. Without
him I might never have had the courage to start. To my support team and cheer squad
who began as Hamish and Geraldine but whose numbers increased to include Joseph,
Tammy, Richard, Kristy, David and Cathy. Without them I might not have persevered to
completion. To my QUT Romasters cohort: Lisa Barry, Sandra Barletta, Catherine
Cockburn, Marilyn Carey and Melynda Genrich whose friendship, camaraderie and
support have been invaluable. To my son, Hamish, who has kept me thinking, imagining
and, most importantly, laughing. To Richard, chef extraordinaire, for his many hours of
expert culinary advice as well as a kangaroo tail to test the recipe. Finally, my thanks
must also go to Dr Glen Thomas, my supervisor, for his deep font of knowledge, his
endless patience and his quirky humour. Truly a hero.
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Statement of Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet
requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best
of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or
written by another person except where due reference is made.
Signature
Date __________________________________
This exegesis is weighted 35% of the overall mark for the Masters by Research –
Romance Writing. The remaining 65% is for the creative component, a novel of 99,861
words titled Chaffey’s Island. My goal in undertaking this research was the development
of a consistent and effective discipline of practice in writing novel length fiction within
a limited timeframe. My research question became, therefore:
‘What strategies and tools can a writer use when creating novel-length fiction within a
deadline?’
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CONTENTS WHATEVER IT TAKES ............................................................................................................... 1
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3
Keywords ............................................................................................................................ 4
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 5
Statement of Authorship ..................................................................................................... 6
CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 7
THE PROJECT ........................................................................................................................... 9
Writing to Deadline ............................................................................................................. 9
The Research Material ...................................................................................................... 10
Genesis – ‘What if' ............................................................................................................ 10
The Magna Cartas ............................................................................................................. 11
The Collage ........................................................................................................................ 12
Plotting or Not Plotting ..................................................................................................... 12
An Open Mind ................................................................................................................... 14
The Soundtrack ................................................................................................................. 15
Writequickly.com .............................................................................................................. 16
Goal, Motivation & Conflict ............................................................................................... 18
Feedback ........................................................................................................................... 19
THE BLACK MOMENT ............................................................................................................ 20
Overcoming the Inner Editor ............................................................................................. 20
Journaling .......................................................................................................................... 22
Freewriting ........................................................................................................................ 22
Scene Tracking .................................................................................................................. 22
CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 23
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 25
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................... 27
Appendix A - Collage ......................................................................................................... 27
Appendix B - Magna Carta as recommended by Baty (2006) ............................................ 28
Appendix C - Character Profile as recommended by Wiesner (2005) ............................... 29
Appendix D - Plot Sketching as recommended by Wiesner (2005) ................................... 30
Appendix E - Character Questionnaire as recommended by Daws (2003) ........................ 31
Appendix F - Interrogating the Scene as recommended by Daws (2003) .......................... 32
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Appendix G - Scene Tracking as recommended by Martha Alderson (2004b).................. 33
Appendix H - Notes made while Scene Tracking .............................................................. 34
CHAFFEY’S ISLAND .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
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THE PROJECT
Haseman has said that ‘research design needs to flow from a central research question
or problem statement’ and that ‘Practice led research is intrinsically experiential and
comes to the fore when the researcher creates new artistic forms’(Haseman, 2006).
Haseman’s statement implies that the best way to discover what strategies and tools
work best for writing novel-length fiction is to test them out while writing a novel.
Brien goes further and asserts ‘it is as researchers that creative writers can provide
valuable insights into the creative process’(Brien, 2006). My own interest in pursuing
this line of research stems from my frustration with my undergraduate degree in
Creative Writing. I had undertaken the study to learn how to write novel-length fiction
and, though I learnt how to write many things in the degree, novel writing was not
amongst them. Nevertheless, in the university breaks and any spare time I could
wheedle from my schedule, I managed to complete a 130,000 word rambling narrative
not long after graduation. The work was riddled with problems and lacked structure,
comedy, tension and conflict. Problems I had no idea how to fix. Haseman and Brien,
however, were suggesting that by undertaking a research project, I would discover the
tools I needed to write any novel and perhaps fix my first.
By the commencement of this Masters by Research I had written two complete novels
and 50,000 words of a third and was closer to understanding novel writing but a long
way from having confidence with the medium. Nor did I have a professional discipline
of practice. I write romantic comedy with elements of mystery and suspense and, as
with all commercial fiction, publishers of this subgenre expect authors to write
regularly and meet deadlines. As it has always been my intention to seek publication, I
felt it imperative that I develop a discipline of practice that would not only have me
able to produce work of a consistently high standard on a regular basis, but produce it
to deadline.
In his article titled ‘The Preface as Exegesis’, Nigel Krauth writes:
A preface provides a way into understanding a book: by stating its subject and
scope, by commenting on techniques employed or themes addressed, or by
focusing on a central or contentious issue. Prefacing involves an explicatory
introduction to a reading of a work. (Krauth, 2002)
Using Krauth’s explanation, this exegesis is written in preface form as a record and an
exploration of the process of writing the novel ‘Chaffey’s Island’ and researching
various writing techniques to help complete the task.
Writing to Deadline I had come across the notion of writing to deadline previously by participating in
Nanowrimo(Baty, 2006). In No Plot? No Problem Chris Baty writes, ‘Deadlines are the
dynamos of the modern age. They’ve built every city, won every contest...Deadlines
bring focus, forcing us to make time for the achievements we would otherwise
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postpone’(Baty, 2004). However, even having completed Nanowrimo two years
running I still did not feel my creative practice had the discipline it took to produce
publishable manuscripts to a contract.
What was necessary was a standard or benchmark to aim for within the deadline. I
looked amongst authors in the subgenre of romantic comedy and chose Jennifer Crusie,
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Rachel Gibson because of the consistent high quality of
their writing. All three writers are, in my opinion, masters of the subgenre and achieve
a standard worth striving towards. Next, for the novel to be completely fresh and the
research valid, I undertook not to use any of the material I had previously written, nor
any of the notes for story ideas I had collected.
The Research Material Following is a list of the writer’s methods, tools and practices I tried in the course of my
research.
The ‘what if’ question (King, 2000)
The two Magna Cartas (Baty, 2004)
The collage (Hannay, 2006) (Crusie, 2003)
Plotting – First Draft in 30 Days (Wiesner, 2005)
Plotting or Not Plotting (Sugden, 2006)
The soundtrack (Wiesner, 2005)
Writequckly.com – Write Any Book in 28 Days (Daws, 2003)
The Hero’s Journey (Vogler, 1998) (Daws, 2003)
Goal, Motivation, Conflict (Dixon, 1996)
Scene Tracker Template (Alderson, 2004b)
Blockbuster Plots (Alderson, 2004a)
Genesis – ‘What if' In his memoir On Writing, Stephen King asserts that ‘Stories are found things, like
fossils in the ground’ (King, 2000 p128) and that ‘The situation comes first. The
characters – always flat and unfeatured, to begin with – come next’(King, 2000 p129).
Having opted, for the sake of the research, not to use any of the material I had
previously written or prepared to write, I needed an entry point, an idea to begin with.
King goes on to say that ‘The most interesting situations can usually be expressed as a
What-if question’(King, 2000, p133) and I saw this as a way of beginning a novel from
nothing.
In 2006, on a trip to the outback I passed the uninhabited pub at Betoota, surrounded
by a wire fence and completely isolated in the wilderness. Betoota is marked on the
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road maps and the mileage signs in the Diamantina area and yet the pub is the only
residence and no one lives there. Driving past, my brain buzzed with questions. Who
owned it? How could anyone live in such an isolated place? I wondered why it was
surrounded by the fence, if maybe the person who owned the pub had died. Who would
inherit it? What if you inherited a pub in an isolated place like Betoota? What if you
were young, female and inherited a pub surrounded by a chain link fence in the middle
of nowhere?
Now that I needed a ‘what if’ question I went back to that memory of Betoota for the
genesis of my novel. What if a young city woman inherited a pub in the middle of the
outback? In reality, it wouldn’t be possible for one person, man or woman, to single-
handedly run such an isolated pub so I tweaked the local geography and invented
Scott’s Crossing, an imaginary nearby settlement. Scott’s Crossing became a valuable
source for interesting characters and sub-plot threads. The second tweak I gave reality
was to put the pub on higher ground so that when the area was inundated with floods,
it became an island, Chaffey’s Island.
At this stage, I also made some decisions about my two leading characters. My heroine
would be a chef to make it more likely for her to be tempted to take on the pub and my
hero would be the lawyer handling the deceased estate.
The Magna Cartas According to Stephen King, ‘Fiction writers...don’t understand very much about what
they do – not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad.’(King, 2000,
p. xiii). King’s assertion seemed to correlate with my own writing experience to date
but I was hoping through my research to alter that. In my earlier novels I sometimes
found the ideas would peter out after a time or, worse, would head off in a dark
direction, one not at all suitable for romantic comedy. Therefore, in exploring the nuts
and bolts of my writing technique I hoped for two results.
Firstly, to develop a discipline of practice that would give me the ability
to meet publishers’ deadlines.
Secondly, to gain some insight, and therefore, a modicum of control over
a story as I am writing it.
However, I had no desire to control the story to the extent where it lost its vitality and
spontaneity. Instead, my aim was to find a way to keep generating the writing even
when I couldn’t clearly see a way forward.
My second novel, ‘Getting Cross’ was written during my first attempt at Nanowrimo
(Baty, 2000). The task of writing fifty thousand words in thirty days is designed to have
participants writing ‘with velocity’ as Baty terms it (Baty, 2004) and deliberately allows
little time for reflection and editing. In this first attempt, I found my story went to
darker places than I had planned for it. The heroine’s son came close to being killed in
the first half of the story, causing her great upset. Naturally enough, she lost all her
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appetite for romance as she sat by his bed in hospital. Not only did the son sabotage the
romance, he killed off all the comedy. It took many months after Nanowrimo was over
and done with to salvage the story from that dark place.
Chris Baty’s solution to this dilemma is to create what he calls ‘The Two Magna Cartas’,
two ‘frame-worthy’ lists before commencing writing. The first is a list of elements the
writer wants to include in the novel and the second is elements to be excluded because,
as Baty says, ‘the things that you appreciate as a reader are also the things you’ll likely
excel at as a writer’(Baty, 2004).
Given the problems I encountered with my first two attempts at novel-length fiction, I
was more than open to Baty’s suggestion, including humour, believable plot and strong
emotional conflict on my inclusive list. Irredeemably bad villains, pathos, angst and
sadness were on my list of exclusions. Amongst the inclusions I listed a hero with
strong principles and quirky secondary characters. To revisit these lists now that the
novel is complete and I am so familiar with it makes for interesting reading because I
believe that my hero and heroine both have strong principles, the secondary characters
are quirky and Trev, the villain, is not irredeemably bad(Ousby, 2007). From this I
have drawn the conclusion that creating a framework for the writing in this way is a
valuable exercise and one I will repeat in the future.
The Collage At the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in 2006 I attended a workshop run by
author Barbara Hannay on the technique of collage as a visual tool for novel writing
(Hannay, 2006). To create a collage for a novel, a writer collects pictures and small
artefacts that evoke the story and characters, fixing them onto a background to create a
large composite picture. Not only does this exercise compel the writer to think deeply
about the visuals in the story, but the finished collage becomes a great tool to stimulate
the writing.
During the salvage process of my second novel, ‘Getting Cross’, I kept the collage within
view when I wrote and found that not only did the collage inspire the writing, but it
inspired the brainstorming of ideas when the storyline seemed to stall.
During the writing of ‘Chaffey’s Island’, the task of researching different writing
methods at times slowed the flow of the story to a standstill and I found the collage an
excellent tool for keeping the story present for myself. Jennifer Crusie is also a writer
who uses collage, claiming , ‘It’s just amazing how much story this process brings out as
you work’(Crusie, 2003.)
Plotting or Not Plotting Part of me was chafing to get started on the writing, but if I was using this degree to
design a creative practice that would see me completing novels within deadlines every
time, I needed to make sure I had prepared the ground well. All I had for ‘Chaffey’s
Island’ at this stage was a vague idea of hero and heroine, two Magna Cartas and a
collage. I still struggled to garner a firm sense of my characters and the world they lived
in. At this time, one of the members of the online group for Romance Writers of
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Australia (RWA) recommended a book called First Draft in 30 Days: A Novel Writer’s
System for Building a Complete and Cohesive Manuscript by K.S. Wiesner.
When discussing writing methods with members of the RWA, the question is often
asked: ‘Are you a plotter or a ‘pantser’?’ These terms refer to methods of approach to
novel writing. Plotters plan out their novels, step by step or scene by scene, before
commencing writing. They write character profiles for their main characters, if not all
their characters, much as Wiesner was proposing. ‘Pantsers’ is a term coined to
describe people who write by the seat of their pants. They write by simply starting and
seeing where the stories take them. The difference is described quite well by Anna
Sugden using the analogy of travelling.
Plotters, for example, research their journey meticulously – studying each and
every aspect of their destination to create a detailed plan of what they will do
and when they will do it. Pansters, on the other hand, choose their destination
on a whim and turn up ready to take it as they find it. Free from any
preconceived plans, they can explore to their heart’s delight and hopefully
uncover some wonder far from tourist traffic that they might otherwise have
missed. (Sugden, 2006).
However, I had learned three very useful lessons in the three stories I had written by
the ‘pantser method’. Firstly, a novel written with no plan in mind can meander on for
thousands of words without measurably moving the plot along. My first novel ran to
one hundred and thirty-five thousand words before it finally resolved itself. That is not
to say that long novels are a bad thing or that I do not intend to ever write one.
Secondly, as I have mentioned before, an unplanned novel can get lost or peter out
without the reader experiencing the satisfaction of a resolution to the plot. The third
novel, written during Nanowrimo, 2006, ran out of storyline and I could see no way
forward once Nanowrimo ended.
None of the problems listed above are unfixable or, if caught in time, particularly
daunting. In fact, the difficult part for a writer, working alone, is identifying problems
before they become too major. In the case of my first novel, the easiest way to fix it now
is to rewrite it.
I was determined that my fourth novel, ‘Chaffey’s Island’, would not bloat out on an
insubstantial storyline with no subplots, nor would it grind to a halt because of
problems with characters, plot or subplots. The answer, it seemed to me, was to try
Wiesner’s method.
The introduction was promising. ‘Despite their abhorrence of the word outline, many
authors are seeking a method to give them direction, a method that embraces an
individual’s way of working, a method that takes away none of the joy of
creating’(Wiesner, 2005). However, as I read further my unease with the book, and
therefore Wiesner’s method, grew. The method requires an inordinate number of lists.
Characters, character attributes, research topics, scenes and story threads all require
their own lists. Karen Wiesner had created a thirty-day method and each day in the
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thirty had a list of tasks. There were also worksheets one through to 19 and goal sheets
one to five, most of them involving lists or charts (Wiesner, 2005). I was comfortable
with my Magna Carta lists (Baty, 2004, p. 85) but, given I had to remind myself to refer
to that single page from time to time, would I remember to refer to twenty-four further
pages of lists and charts if I took the thirty days to prepare them? In all, the section
devoted to worksheets, lists and charts to fill out accounts for fifty-four pages of the
book which felt like anathema to my creative process and I might have slammed the
book shut and never mentioned it again had I not undertaken investigating writing
techniques.
Every creative instinct in me was in revolt at Wiesner’s method. I saw the possibility
that if I was faced with working my way through fifty-four pages of lists and charts
before writing a novel, then I might never start another. Stephen King writes: ‘I believe
plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible’ (King, 2000, p. 128) and
I was in complete agreement after spending two months labouring over the method.
However, that is getting ahead of the story. At this stage I need to confess that before I
embarked on Wiesner’s method, I also felt a tingle of excitement because if her plethora
of lists did indeed work, I could produce at least one novel every year. October could be
spent planning and November for writing with Nanowrimo. The rest of the year could
be for finishing and polishing the manuscript.
Added to that, it would be hypercritical to condemn the process of plotting out of hand
given my collage and Magna Carta lists were, if not actually plotting, at least a step in
the planning direction. However, I had never filled out a ‘Character Sketch’ before and
when it came to entries for ‘Skin Tone’ and ‘Style of Dress’ I was completely stumped. In
the past, the characters had formed for me as I wrote each successive scene. I had
written the first scene as it came, fully formed, into my mind as I worked on the early
stages of the collage. However, with only one scene on the page, I was not concerned
with skin tone and style of dress as how these two people were going to be on friendly
terms long enough to fall in love.
An Open Mind I happened to mention my problems with character profiles to two writers I know and
the response of one was to block her ears and say ‘la la la’ to drown out my voice. Both
are strong advocates of ‘pantsing’. Though I respected their passion for their methods
and beliefs, I found the lack of openness to new ideas extraordinary.
Although it is not a writing technique in itself, I became convinced that one of a writer’s
greatest assets is an open mind. I went back to Wiesner. Chapter one of Wiesner’s book
is called ‘Brainstorming Before You Outline’ (Wiesner, 2005) and on my first read-
through I had been somewhat dismissive because of suggestions like ‘Go outside and lie
on your back on the ground. Admire the clouds, birds, and nature with all its sounds
and smells. Imagine your character doing the same thing in his or her setting’. On a
closer look, however, I noticed some sound suggestions and, by the end of the project,
had tried eleven of the twenty-six suggestions, including cutting out pictures of people
and settings which I had done with my collage. Wiesner’s final suggestion in The
Creative Coffeepot brainstorming section was to start writing. ‘Write what ideas you do
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have; you can supplement and polish later.’ Using this suggestion, I had 12,000 words
in no time.
The Soundtrack The soundtrack is another of Wiesner’s suggestions which I found immensely useful.
The idea of a soundtrack for ‘Chaffey’s Island’ came from several directions at once. I
have used music to evoke the story in the two novels I wrote previously but in both
cases the music pertained directly to one of the principal characters.
That was not the case with ‘Chaffey’s Island’. Neither Ally nor Edward plays a musical
instrument or has an avid interest in any particular kind of music. Wiesner suggests,
‘Choose songs that fit specific parts of your book or the theme of the whole book. Each
time you hear a song from your soundtrack, it will inspire you to brainstorm on that
project.’ (Wiesner, 2005, p. 12). While I did not doubt Wiesner’s claim, I was at a loss as
to what music would evoke an outback pub. My first thought was country music, but
anything of that genre had me picturing Edward with a ten gallon hat and a bow-legged
gait, not at all how I pictured a sophisticated, city lawyer.
At the same time as I was working through Wiesner’s brainstorming suggestions I
happened to come across a second-hand shop that stocked a large selection of old
jukeboxes. One jukebox in particular caught my eye. It was lavishly carved on the
outside and, from that view at least, appeared to be an ordinary cabinet, exactly the
kind of jukebox an eccentric man like Albert Chaffey would have owned, I decided.
Furthermore, he would have been unlikely to have updated the music either so I opted
for sixties music. I invested in a selection of CDs of sixties music which I listened to until
I had narrowed the choices down to a selection that became ‘the soundtrack’ for the
novel. I prefer not to write to music, but Wiesner was accurate in asserting that the
music would evoke aspects of the story. Ironically, the one song that evoked the pub
and its isolation was ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ by The Tokens which is about danger in
the jungle, not the desert. However, the sense of potential danger in the night was
perfect for a young city woman from the city alone at night in the outback. ‘And When I
Die’ sung by Blood Sweat and Tears was valuable, along with a picture in the collage, to
give me a fully formed idea of one of the support characters, Roly Burke. Inspired by
the song, I researched the idea of a chronic illness with a dry rasping cough and decided
on silicosis as it is a disease that affects miners and Roly had owned an opal mine. Thus,
from one song, this initially minor character became more important and also firmly
embedded in several sub-plot threads in the story.
Wiesner asserts that ‘Each time you hear a song from your soundtrack, it will inspire
you to brainstorm on that project’ and I found this to be true. According to Paula Roe,
‘The aim of a soundtrack is to capture a unique feeling and mood...so you can use it as a
tool to instantly immerse you in your story’(Roe, 2008). My own experience has been
that no matter how tortuous the writing process, the music invokes the good memories
of the narrative or the character so writers can forget the struggles of yesterday’s
writing session and get straight into the story. For this project, I also found it useful to
re-immerse myself after university assignments and work commitments took me away
from the writing for days at a time.
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All in all I persevered with Wiesner’s method of plotting the story outline for two
months with little result beyond the 12,000 words I had achieved simply by sitting
down and writing. I had spent countless hours writing up the scenes one by one for the
‘Summary Outline’ ‘A free-form chronological summary of all introductory scenes for
the book’. For example:
‘2. Deirdre Moss is suspicious when her semi-ex, Trev, tells her Albert Chaffey is
dead and that he wants to buy Albert’s pub. She starts to worry about the letters
she wrote to Albert. Are they still there?’
However, no matter how much brainstorming I tried, I could not complete the narrative
arc. At the end of the two months I felt drained of all creativity and could still not see
past the halfway point in the story. Ally was in the outback, Edward was in Brisbane
and, using Wiesner’s methods, I was unable to bring them together.
Writequickly.com While researching for writing methods and articles on the internet, I came across writer
Nick Daws and Writequickly.com – write any book in 28 days or less. Daws claims:
‘You Can Write Your Next Book or Script
In UNDER 28 DAYS, Working 1 Hour a Day Max.
And That's 100% GUARANTEED!”
After struggling with Wiesner’s methods and worksheets, my initial reaction to Daws’s
site was to reject it out of hand. Even Wiesner had not made such extravagant claims
and promises. However, I had promised myself to keep an open mind and, added to
that, I was curious. I couldn’t imagine what would be in the book that was not already
in Wiesner’s book so I bought it to find out.
The novel was by no means finished in 28 days and I am not, as yet, a ‘famous author
everybody wants to know’ but two of the techniques I learnt from Nick Daws proved
valuable once I adapted them to suit my own writing style. The first is the character
questionnaire and the second is free writing which I will discuss later.
Extraordinary as it may seem, this sixteen module e-book attempts to teach writing for
both non-fiction and fiction books. One entire module is devoted to ‘Coming Up With a
Killer Title’ so my lack of confidence was not entirely unfounded. However, my interest
was with fiction, so that was where I focussed. Encapsulated, Daws’s writing method
for fiction hinged around what he called, the Four C’s: character, conflict, crisis, and
change. He recommends managing plot using Vogler’s Hero’s Journey and duly credits
both Vogler and Joseph Campbell. He includes a check list of questions so the writer can
be confident the plot is following this narrative arc, such as ‘How does the call to action
take place?’(Daws, 2003).
Daws says that ‘Plot springs from character’ (Daws, 2003) and sets a somewhat
different character building exercise than Wiesner. I found it more useful. In his face-to-
face workshops he hands out pictures and asks participants to answer twenty
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questions. In his book, he suggests using a random picture of an unfamiliar person. In
my case, I used images from my collage.
It is a most revealing exercise, one I would highly recommend to other writers. I now
call this method interrogating the character. Some of Daws’s twenty questions
resemble Wiesner’s ‘Character Sketch’ such as:
‘1. What is their name?’ and
‘2. How old are they?’
but some of the other questions produced interesting insights into the characters,
particularly my antagonist, Trevor Burke, or Trev as he is known in the novel.
14. How does Trev move? He swaggers
15. What is his greatest fear? To be ignored. To be nobody.
9. What is his best quality? He’s not afraid of taking risks.
These questions tell the writer so much more about the character than perhaps ‘skin
tone’ and ‘style of dress’ and I believe this to be a much more effective way of building
character. I found it challenging to look for Trev’s ‘best quality’, but it was a valuable
insight into some of his actions. Later in the writing I found it useful to interrogate the
characters directly with questions that pertained to the place where the narrative had
stalled. For example: ‘What are you up to Trev?’ or ‘Ally, I know you’ve been through a
lot but would you really faint?’
In module Two, Daws outlines the process for allocating chapters and, in the case of
non-fiction, chapter headings. In step three of the same module, Daws recommends
listing fifteen things to be included in the chapter and then prioritizing the list. These
lists then become the outline for the book. Earlier in the book, Daws demonstrates, with
a simple exercise, how much more easily the writing flows in response to a question,
rather than a word-prompt. He returns to this idea in step four, recommending the
newly prioritized list be converted to questions. The final step is to freewrite the book.
Freewriting is the process of setting a kitchen timer for five minutes and then writing
without stopping to edit or change anything until the timer beeps. Daws’s system
involves freewriting for every question in every chapter, which amounts to about an
hour per day, until the novel is complete. His estimate is that each five minute burst will
produce about two-thirds of a page of writing.
On the first attempt, I had little success with Daws’s technique. First in my list of
difficulties was that I write in scenes rather than chapters and found it hard to tell, from
Daws’s scant text, whether he intended chapters to contain more than one scene. Daws
recommended ‘18-24’ chapters for what he called ‘Pulp Romance’.
Apart from the insult imbedded in the tag, the term is somewhat nebulous given there
are so many sub-genres within romance. The second difficulty was that I had trouble
coming up with a list of fifteen elements, let alone questions for each scene. Thirdly,
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was the fact that with all this research on top of work and university assignments, I
found little time to think creatively and so the story remained stalled and I found it
difficult to see how to proceed.
On my next attempt at questioning the scene, some months later, I adapted the
technique to suit my own practice and then answered the question by jotting onto
scrap paper I kept on the desk, phrases or words that came to mind. The following
example comes from one of the few scraps I have kept from all the months of writing:
‘Roly coming in later; Deirdre not leaving yet because Warren asked; Ally’s joy at seeing
Mel; Ally hurt and confused about Edward; the laptop is missing’.
They are more reminders of what I wanted to include in the scene rather than
questions. On reflection, I see that I could have turned the phrases into questions and
thereby given myself access to the emotion and conflict implied in those phrases. For
example: ‘Why does it matter that the laptop is missing? Why is Ally hurt and confused
about Edward? Is that why she is overjoyed to see Mel?’ Secondly, in that scene it would
have been helpful to have prioritized what I thought needed weighting in the scene. I
will experiment with this in the future.
Barbara Samuels refers to her creative impetus as ‘the girls in the basement’ (Samuel,
2007). I found the process of working through first Wiesner’s and then Daws’s plotting
methods stifled my ‘girls in the basement’ to the point where I found it difficult to write
at all. The experience has given me a much deeper understanding, and respect for my
creative flow and I will be careful using plotting techniques in the future.
Goal, Motivation & Conflict Both Wiesner and Daws had mentioned the need for conflict in narrative and, since the
story seemed mired down at the point where I guessed most of the conflict would
bubble to the surface, I turned in that direction for my next area of research.
According to Fiona Lowe, Debra Dixon, and Jennifer Crusie, what I needed was a
conflict grid. All three writers extol the virtues of conflict grids and each of the three
versions is different. I have pages and pages of grids I have filled out but when it came
to writing, I either forgot to refer to them, or if I remembered, the writing stalled the
moment I did.
My employment, when I am not writing, is in my own business as a studio potter. I
learnt early in my career that to be truly creative you have to find your own way. I had
a teacher in those early days who said ‘and you must’ on a regular basis even though I
had seen other, equally talented and successful potters not doing what he said was
essential. I concluded that the important thing in any creative pursuit was to find the
way that works best for you. Therefore, keeping an open mind about conflict grids, I
asked myself ‘What will work here?’
Debra Dixon (1996)states the following:
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‘Goals must be important and urgent. Failure will create consequences
for the character’.
‘Motivation drives your characters’.
‘Conflict is the obstacle or impediment your character must face in
obtaining...his goal’.
‘Character may have multiple conflicts just as they have multiple goals
and motivations’.
‘Internal conflict is emotional conflict.’.
I found Dixon’s points extremely helpful but only after I returned to interrogation and
couched questions around them for my characters.
I first came across Crusie’s grid in the workshop she gave at the RWA Conference in
August 2007. Her conflict grid is not only useful for checking whether the protagonist’s
goals conflict with the antagonist’s goals but, as she explained in the workshop and on
her Cherry Forums, for making sure the protagonist’s goal is a positive one, not a goal
in reaction to the nefarious deeds of the antagonist (Crusie, 2007a).
I also suspect that the small scale and simplicity of the grid (a square divided into four
smaller squares) helps to make it easy to use. In the RWA workshop, Crusie was quick
to point out that she did not use her conflict box until after she had written the first
draft. Although it could help in the editing process, I found Fiona Lowe’s grid too
complex to be useful with my first draft.
Feedback The novel was still in trouble. I was feeling more confident about characterisation but I
wrote scene after scene and then deleted them. No matter how fine the writing, they
did nothing to move the plot forward. Worse, I could not see why.
Although interrogating the characters had revealed some of what motivated them, it
had not made the goal, motivation and conflict tangle obvious enough to kick-start my
narrative again. At about this time we had a master class with author Anne Gracie in
which we workshopped our opening scenes. Until that time I had thought that my
opening scene was one part of the novel that was working. Crusie says to start the story
where the trouble starts and for both Ally French and Edward McGrogan, who see each
other through the café window, that is where the trouble starts (Crusie, 2007b).
However, when I read the scene out to the class, Anne asked one pertinent question
and I realised the problem at once. My basic premise for the conflict between Ally and
Edward was flawed. It was upsetting to realise that the premise of my story was flawed
but nevertheless valuable to discover it halfway through the first draft, rather than
receive the news in a rejection letter from an editor. Feedback, I came to see, was also a
valuable tool. I had, however, become careful about seeking it out.
-20-
My critique group were new to critiquing and tended to be pedantic about minor
issues. By minor issues, I mean things like comma placement, word repetition and
sentence structure. These are all important factors but more so for later drafts. With
the first draft I needed to know:
whether the characters were likeable and engaging;
whether the premise worked and the plot flowed.
After I had grappled with the story for seven gruelling months my confidence was
fragile and I found it hard not to be discouraged.
THE BLACK MOMENT I had 50,000 words and most needed to be rewritten, a deadline getting inexorably
closer, and a middle of the book that was so boring it had become tedious to work with.
Never mind whether the narrative had reached its crisis point, I had.
I had not plotted the two and a half novels I had written prior to ‘Chaffey’s Island’, but,
with both of them, I had had a clear idea of the direction the story would take before I
ever wrote a word. In sane moments I told myself the problems I was having with
‘Chaffey’s Island’ were because I had deliberately started the novel with nothing and
was stopping every now and then to try new writing methods. However, there were
many days when it felt like I’d lost the ability to write, an experience that froze the
writing further. One thing I was sure of: the question of whether or not I could still
write would only be answered by finishing the novel. I rewrote the 50,000 words and
took a break over Christmas, telling myself it would be better next year. With the
perspective of hindsight, the break was a good idea and I would recommend one to any
writer caught in a mire of self-doubt and negative thinking. Chris Baty writes about
imprisoning the ‘Inner Editor’ another aspect of negative thinking that can hinder the
creative process.
He writes, ‘So here’s the deal I’m proposing: I’ll take that heavy, anxious Inner Editor off
your hands for four weeks. No charge. And in exchange, you promise to write your
novel in a high-velocity, take-no-prisoners, anything-goes style that would absolutely
horrify it’(Baty, 2004).
I have a healthy, robust Inner Editor, always ready with a critical review. During my
participation in Nanowrimo I had used Baty’s technique of imprisoning my Inner
Editor. However, I was not able to keep it leashed month after month while I completed
the Masters by Research, especially under the constant (and not always helpful)
suggestions from my critique group. It was clear that, for this project, I would need
something different.
Overcoming the Inner Editor While away, I had the idea to put all those negative thoughts to work as a plot device.
They became ‘The Strict Voice’ for Ally and ‘The Inner Nark’ for Edward. After months
of listening to my own inner critic, the words, for that much of the novel at least, flowed
-21-
easily. In addition, I devised several practices that broke the hold of the Inner Editor.
These are not new ideas but combining them as a way to move forward may be new. I
found them an effective tool when my Inner Editor started to interfere with the writing
flow.
Firstly, I kept ‘Chaffey’s Island’, all 50,000 words of it, separate and
intact. To write I worked in a ‘Notes’ file. For example, ‘Notes on Deirdre
bringing in the order’. With a ‘Word’ icon on my taskbar a new file was
always one click away. I kept all the Notes files separately in a ‘NOTES’
folder. Only when I was satisfied it was ready, would I insert a passage
into the main document.
Secondly, when I felt an overwhelming urge to edit countered by a
morbid fear of my word count moving backwards, a situation that had
strangled my output to a dribble before the break, I used a ‘SPARE
TEXT’ file so that the text was not irrevocably lost.
Thirdly, I took on the discipline of daily journal writing, something I
started calling ‘private brainstorming’, at the same time as I worked on
the collage and played the soundtrack. Months later, it makes for
revealing reading. For example:
‘Saturday, 26th January, 2008
When I was out walking this morning I got an insight into what the
block has been all these long months. Writing linearly. I stumbled
onto the idea by trying to conjure some inspiration for today’s
writing and only being able to come up with a totally different scene
than the one I was working on yesterday. Moreover, it is a scene that
occurs before that point in the story. Quite frankly, I’m all over the
shop and it seems to be the only way I can keep myself writing. So, all
these months I’ve been trying to make myself keep plodding on with
the narrative in an orderly fashion and my
muse/imagination/inspiration just wants to go with whatever it
thinks. No wonder the poor darling shut the whole project down..’
(Ousby, 2008).
With these three strategies, the Internal Editor lost some of its power over
my writing and, as I began to relax, the writing pace improved.
-22-
Journaling The process of journaling merits further mention. I took my portable word processor
on holiday and used quiet moments to journal and brainstorm ideas for the plot. I can
touch type and find my thoughts flow more quickly with a keyboard than pen and
paper. Away from my desk and the constraints of a daily word count, I experienced a
new freedom around experimenting with plot ideas. I am the one most familiar with
the story and the problems I am having, and articulating those problems with myself
via journaling, opened a whole new world of creative ideas and thus, I started calling
the process private brainstorming. At the beginning of this project I was journaling as a
record of my research. That practice fell away towards the end of the year under the
time constraints of study, writing and managing my own business. Now I was
journaling as an active tool in the writing. It is a tool I find invaluable and intend to use
it in future projects.
Freewriting Using Nick Daws’ freewriting (sic) technique, I could go directly from journaling about
the story to writing the story itself. It was extremely empowering after the months of
no inspiration. Freewriting is central to Daws’ claim of ‘write any book in 28 days’
(Daws , 2003). Further, he asserts it is possible to write two-thirds of a page in five
minutes using his method. He recommends interrogating a chapter or scene with
fifteen questions to stimulate the freewriting. Thus, in little more than an hour of
writing, there should be enough for a chapter. Twenty-eight chapters would make a
book.
However, Daws’s précis of the ease of book writing is too simplistic. I did not have
anywhere near fifteen questions for any chapter and did not manage more than one
third to half a page in any five minute period. This is not to dismiss the method. I found
it valuable as a tool amongst other tools, but not particularly useful in isolation. What
was valuable about this technique, though, was interrogating the scene. If the writing
stalled I would jot down several questions on a slip of paper and then free write. I
would head the page with: ‘What do I want to show in this scene?’ Most notes of this
nature have since been discarded, but one I have kept lists of answers such as:
‘Roly coming in later’
‘Deirdre not leaving yet because Warren asked.’
‘Ally’s joy at seeing Mel’
‘tension with Lola’
‘Ally hurt and confused about Edward.’
‘The laptop missing’
After using this strategy for a few weeks I was eventually able to use it without the
timer.
Scene Tracking
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When all but the final two chapters were complete, I came across a writing tool called
‘Scene Tracker’ by Martha Alderson but it was not until I had its sister product, a book
called Blockbuster Plots (Alderson, 2004a)by the same author, that I was able to use it.
In the book, Alderson describes in detail how to use the Scene Tracker. She suggests
ruling up large sheets of paper into columns under headings such as:
Scene #
character emotional development,
goal
dramatic action,
conflict
emotional change.
The chart tracks the elements of the story Alderson feels are important. Elements
within the scene and significant details are charted and then easily tracked through the
progress of the novel. This is valuable information, particularly when there is a complex
plot or a large cast of characters as there was in my novel.
Scene tracking was not the laborious drawn out process of the Wiesner and
Writequickly.com charts. The scene tracking charts were completed in three days.
Alderson says she has come across writers who use the technique to plot the novel
before it is written, but she uses it to discover why an incomplete novel is not working
or before embarking on the editing process after a first draft.
Having gone through the process of scene tracking I was able to pinpoint where the
story needed work. I had been aware that parts of the narrative were flat and
uninteresting, but during the scene tracking process it became clear that the problem
was caused by the sub-plot becoming too dominant, edging the heroine and hero from
the spotlight. As I tracked each scene I jotted notes on the side margin. I referred to
these notes in the editing process and corrected the problem by moving some scenes
and deleting others.
CONCLUSIONS None of the literature I had read on practice-led research mentioned the excruciating
way the research slows the creative process. Without the burden of research into
creative method, I feel confident I could complete a novel-length project in one year,
particularly since I have done the research and gathered the skills and tools I need for
the novel writing process.
Just as a carpenter does not use every one of his/her tools in each job, so I may not use
every tool every time, but following is a list of tools I would be happy to use in my
writing practice from now on.
-24-
1. The ‘what if’ question
2. The Magna Cartas
3. Collage
4. Soundtrack
5. Interrogating characters in conjunction with the collage and soundtrack
6. Journaling and private brainstorming
7. Writing outside the main document
8. Interrogating the scene
9. Freewriting
10. Scene Tracking after the first draft
11. Conflict grid after the first draft
Finally, one of the most important tools: an open mind. No creative project can stay
fresh and alive unless the practitioner comes to the process with an open mind. I have
found this to be true in both ceramics and novel writing.
As for whether I am a plotter or a ‘pantser’ in my writing practice, I am neither, but
somewhere in between. I used some plotting techniques but did not keep strictly to
that mode of practice. Furthermore, I believe it is unhelpful to apply these kinds of
labels to creative practice because it creates a context for the work that closes the mind
to the other possibilities available. The goal at the end of a project like this is to have a
novel you are proud to sign your name to, so a far more empowering context would be:
whatever works.
-25-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alderson, M. (2004a). BLOCKBUSTER PLOTS Pure & Simple (1st ed.). Los Gatos CA: Illusion Press.
Alderson, M. (2004b). SCENE TRACKER Template Track the 7 Essential Elements in Every Scene of your Novel, Memoir, or Short Story. In M. SCENE TRACKER Template Track the 7 Essential Elements in Every Scene of your Novel, or Short Story (Ed.). Los Gatos, CA: Illusion Press.
Baty, C. (2000). National Novel Writing Month. Retrieved November, 2005, 2006, 2007, from http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Baty, C. (2004). No Plot? No Problem (1st ed.). San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC.
Baty, C. (2006). National Novel Writing Month. Retrieved November, 2006, from http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Brien, D. L. (2006). CREATIVE PRACTICE AS RESEARCH: A CREATIVE WRITING CASE STUDY. Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy(118), 53-59.
Crusie, J. (2007a). An Open Forum for the Cherries Topic Workshop #4 : The Central Question & the Conflict Box. Retrieved 15th September, 2007, 2007, from http://www.cherryforums.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=injevgmeieusohgarcffvugf33&topic=1226.0
Crusie, J. (2007b). SHE WROTE BACK: Narrative Structure. Retrieved 12th June, 2007, from http://www.crusiemayer.com/workshop/she-wrote-back-narrative-structure/jenny/
Crusie, J. (This essay was originally published in Romance Writer's Report. Feb 2003.). “Picture This: Collage as Prewriting and Inspiration”. Retrieved 17th May, 2007, 2007, from http://www.jennycrusie.com/essays/picturethis.php
Daws, N. (2003). How to Write a Book - Writing Course Learn how to write a book, become an author. from http://www.writequickly.com/author/menu.aspx.
Dixon, D. (1996). GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict The Building Blocks of Good Fiction (1st ed.). Memphis, Tennessee: Gryphon Books for Writers.
Hannay, B. (2006). Collages: latest gimmick or useful creative tool? Hearts Talk: The official journal of Romance Writers of Australia Inc.(March 2006/ Issue 157), p.16-17.
Haseman, B. (2006). A MANIFESTO FOR PERFORMATIVE RESEARCH. Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy(118), 98-106.
King, S. (2000). On Writing: A Memoir (1st ed.). London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Krauth, N. (2002). "The Preface as Exegesis." Text 6(1): 1 - 15.
Ousby, L. (2007). Magna Carta - Chaffey's Island.
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Ousby, L. (2008). MASTERS JOURNAL 2008. Unpublished Writing Journal.
Roe, P. (2008). Story Soundtracks. Retrieved 16th March 2008. 12.59pm, from http://www.romanceaustralia.com/articles/soundtracks.htm
Samuel, B. (2007). Playing With the Girls in the Basement. A Writer Afoot Retrieved 4th September, 2007, 2007, from http://www.barbarasamuel.com/blog/2007/09/04/playing-with-the-girls-in-the-basement/
Sugden, A. (2006). All You Need is a Six-pack: or yes, you can write if you're neither a plotter or a panster. Hearts Talk: The official journal of Romance Writers of Australia Inc.(December 2006/ Issue #166).
Vogler, C. (1998). The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters (2nd edition ed.). London: Pan Books.
Wiesner, K. S. (2005). First Draft in 30 Days: A Novel Writer's System for Building a Complete and Cohesive Manuscript. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books.
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APPENDICES
Appendix A - Collage
-28-
Appendix B - Magna Carta as recommended by Baty (2006)
MAGNA CARTA - What I want in my novel
Lead characters who are at turning points in their lives
Likeable Hero and Heroine
Quirky secondary characters
Heroine with spunk
Hero with strong principles
Believable plot
Humour
Vivid description
Snappy dialogue
Smart but unpretentious writing
Clear character goals
Motivation
Strong emotional conflict that gets resolved
Humorous and intriguing subplot
Satisfying and believable romance between hero and heroine
Sexual tension and some sex
MAGNA CARTA – What I don’t want in my novel
Irredeemably bad villains
Unhappy ending
Pretentious writing
Obscure description
Cardboard cut-out support characters
Too much pathos, angst or sadness
-29-
Appendix C - Character Profile as recommended by Wiesner (2005) Character Name: Edward McGrogan
Age:
Race:
Eye Color: Dark
Hair Color/Style: short, dark
Build (Height/Weight): tall, lean, broad shoulders
Skin Tone:
Style of Dress: .expensive suits, expensive polos and well cut jeans
Characteristics or Mannerisms:. Drums his fingers when he’s thinking
Personality Traits/Background :
His mother was his father’s secretary. Pregnant when they married. Young. Packed up
Edward and left when Eddy (father) had affair with a client – Trudy who became his wife.
Eddy was serial womanizer, drank. Edward is determined not to be like him, nor to make
the same mistakes. Has been told all his life how like his father he careful in how much he
drinks and careful with women. Keeps his passions under control. Gets engaged to Jacqui
because she is attractive and yet he is able to control how he feels around her. He feels this
is healthier than his father’s lusty carryings on.
Works in family law to try and make a difference for kids like him whose parents split.
His mother has remarried and he likes and admires his stepfather but knows he is too
driven to be like him. Feels slightly outside the family.
Has an uncertain relationship with his brother Ben.
Internal Conflicts :
Finds himself incredibly attracted to Ally.
When she becomes his client he knows he must resist this attraction at all costs or he will
be no better than his father.
External Conflict:
Doesn’t have a job, so can’t prove himself that way. (is driven to prove himself
Wants to help Trudy but wants to rebuild his career. Wants Ally but she has gone to the
outback, knows he can’t build a career out there.
Wants to protect Ally but she calls him the Demon Lawyer.
Occupation/Education: Lawyer. Eight years experience in family law.
-30-
Appendix D - Plot Sketching as recommended by Wiesner (2005)
CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What is their name?
2. How old are they?
3. Where do they live?
"31
, . Are they married? NzjQl_ -\IJ Id! g
Do they have children? ;.la s .
{ r����j cC it?; "' t' (s 0
. \.,O'£)..;41"'"' "L .. 6. __
Do they have a job? If so/, what? Cdd )0(.;;, v\.1,.tt-V\.. a.l?I'C-<-vT � N,';;.:""", I"'(Q. - <.0e-G( 4-<> ""� � ALbed· Ck�i'I'�
Q,/J �\'" 7. What are their interests and hobbies? '301(./�J F'-j�� s
'\Dj' �J.. What is their ambition? -r� �"-6i. �I <.k
� � ,� 8. h.<. w-«i �(r �f "l
����� 9. What is their best quality? � uJ�J
�i/J'\' 10. What is their worst qUality;�"� "(\; l� 6" I"""." r? -r .... c,&(ue CL t-idd(.e. <§::!..r tt"Ci se 11. What do they most like? (v /
12. What do they most dislike? (?uA(; e.,
13. How do they speak? (quickly? slowly? accent?) "S{<!J.>c..U, cc9-vLS,�d 14. How do they move? (awkwardly? purposefully? lazily?) �,'O:Lj
7��� t...L I�s 15. What is their greatest fear?
16.
17.
What do they most regret? ., '""" " ·t,e
What do t ey like to eat and drink?
18. Where do they like to go on holiday? 5� ,,-,� £''f�1-19. What would they do if they won a big lottery prize? S � �
<P-rp�a. 'Y-20. What one word sums up their personality?
5fa(wa-<+-
-31-
Appendix E - Character Questionnaire as recommended by Daws
(2003)
-32-
Appendix F - Interrogating the Scene as recommended by Daws
(2003)
-33-
Appendix G - Scene Tracking as recommended by Martha Alderson
(2004b)
-34-
Appendix H - Notes made while Scene Tracking