Day 13: Plotting character spiritual and romantic arcs
I finished doing Snowflake step 6 on volume 3 of my series, and then immediately started working on the internal and romantic arcs of the characters.
Back on Day 3 when I was talking about my book creation process, I mentioned that Stage 2 for me is doing the Snowflake steps 2 (1-paragraph summary), 4 (one-page synopsis), and 6 (expanded synopsis), and then Stage 3 for me is doing the internal/spiritual and romantic arcs. But today I realized that while Stage 3 is a separate step for me, it could conceivably be included in Snowflake step 6. However, when I make it a separate step for me, it reminds me to do it, whereas if I lump it in with Snowflake step 6, I might forget to do it.
Since this is a series, I have a file that lists each character’s spiritual arc and romantic arc as they progress through the series. It’s a bit sparse right now, but I’ll fill it in as I finish Snowflake step 6 on each volume in the series.
For a character’s spiritual arc, I have a bullet list. Each item starts with the volume number, then has a few sentences about their spiritual struggle in the volume and how it’s resolved (if it is). This way, I can see the progression of their spiritual arc throughout the series, all in a handy bullet list. Then I type a page divider and do the same for the character’s romantic arc (in the same file).
Each character has a file, so after I’ve finished Snowflake step 6, I take a look at the file for each character and add to/revise the list for their spiritual arc and romantic arc according to what happened in the volume. Then I insert those things (or make sure they’re already inserted) in the Snowflake step 6 file for the volume.
This is the first time I’m writing a multi-character series with several volumes in an overarching storyline, so this system of separate files summarizing each character’s spiritual and romantic arc has been very helpful for me. I can clearly see the progression of each character’s spiritual changes and also the progression of the romance between characters.
But also, because I have so many characters, doing the spiritual and romantic arcs takes a lot longer than I’m used to for a single book. I got through most of the characters’ spiritual arcs, although it took even longer because I ended up revising their spiritual arcs in the previous two volumes of the series (yes, even in the volume I’ve finished writing—I’ll have to do some revisions on it).
I still need to do the spiritual arcs for two characters who are rather minor in this book, but I want to include at least a little about their spiritual arcs because I think it makes the characters more three-dimensional. Also, they’ll have larger roles in the series later, so I want them to become more fully fleshed out early, before they start doing more in the overarching plot.
I also did romantic arcs for three out of eight characters. While the romance arcs move slowly for all the characters, I want to include at least a little progression in each volume in the series, so I still have to write at least a little about the romantic arcs for the remaining five characters.
I didn’t want to stop in the middle of doing the spiritual and romantic arcs, especially because tomorrow is my writing Sabbath so I’m not supposed to do work on my story, but I’m getting rather tired and want to get to bed earlier today, so I’m stopping here. I hope it won’t be too hard to pick things up again on Monday to finish the spiritual and romantic arcs of volume 3.
Time spent writing: 5 hours, 54 minutes
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour 35 minutes
My takeaway for today: For me, lists that summarize each character’s spiritual and romantic arc as it moves across volumes in the series has been very helpful to see the progression of each character’s spiritual changes and also the progression of the romance between characters.
Back on Day 3 when I was talking about my book creation process, I mentioned that Stage 2 for me is doing the Snowflake steps 2 (1-paragraph summary), 4 (one-page synopsis), and 6 (expanded synopsis), and then Stage 3 for me is doing the internal/spiritual and romantic arcs. But today I realized that while Stage 3 is a separate step for me, it could conceivably be included in Snowflake step 6. However, when I make it a separate step for me, it reminds me to do it, whereas if I lump it in with Snowflake step 6, I might forget to do it.
Since this is a series, I have a file that lists each character’s spiritual arc and romantic arc as they progress through the series. It’s a bit sparse right now, but I’ll fill it in as I finish Snowflake step 6 on each volume in the series.
For a character’s spiritual arc, I have a bullet list. Each item starts with the volume number, then has a few sentences about their spiritual struggle in the volume and how it’s resolved (if it is). This way, I can see the progression of their spiritual arc throughout the series, all in a handy bullet list. Then I type a page divider and do the same for the character’s romantic arc (in the same file).
Each character has a file, so after I’ve finished Snowflake step 6, I take a look at the file for each character and add to/revise the list for their spiritual arc and romantic arc according to what happened in the volume. Then I insert those things (or make sure they’re already inserted) in the Snowflake step 6 file for the volume.
This is the first time I’m writing a multi-character series with several volumes in an overarching storyline, so this system of separate files summarizing each character’s spiritual and romantic arc has been very helpful for me. I can clearly see the progression of each character’s spiritual changes and also the progression of the romance between characters.
But also, because I have so many characters, doing the spiritual and romantic arcs takes a lot longer than I’m used to for a single book. I got through most of the characters’ spiritual arcs, although it took even longer because I ended up revising their spiritual arcs in the previous two volumes of the series (yes, even in the volume I’ve finished writing—I’ll have to do some revisions on it).
I still need to do the spiritual arcs for two characters who are rather minor in this book, but I want to include at least a little about their spiritual arcs because I think it makes the characters more three-dimensional. Also, they’ll have larger roles in the series later, so I want them to become more fully fleshed out early, before they start doing more in the overarching plot.
I also did romantic arcs for three out of eight characters. While the romance arcs move slowly for all the characters, I want to include at least a little progression in each volume in the series, so I still have to write at least a little about the romantic arcs for the remaining five characters.
I didn’t want to stop in the middle of doing the spiritual and romantic arcs, especially because tomorrow is my writing Sabbath so I’m not supposed to do work on my story, but I’m getting rather tired and want to get to bed earlier today, so I’m stopping here. I hope it won’t be too hard to pick things up again on Monday to finish the spiritual and romantic arcs of volume 3.
Time spent writing: 5 hours, 54 minutes
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour 35 minutes
My takeaway for today: For me, lists that summarize each character’s spiritual and romantic arc as it moves across volumes in the series has been very helpful to see the progression of each character’s spiritual changes and also the progression of the romance between characters.
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