The Helen Dunmore Method From Interview no. 12 • An idea that has been growing in your mind for around 20 years starts to surface. Start thinking about it, looking at it from all angles. • Write a two-page narrative outline, sketching out the trajectory of the plot. Don’t plan in detail. You want to leave room for development. If you feel you are just joining up the dots, you’ll be bored. • Ensure there is scope for at least two of the following: frequent references to the natural world, a change in the seasons, intense cold, a strong female character, an immoral sexual act, a philosophical issue. • Test the outline with some sample chapters - three is a good number. If they don’t work, throw them away. Do this firmly and without regret. You may have to do this several times. You may have to reject the whole outline. The ability to recognise the dross and get rid of it is the hallmark of the good writer. • If the chapters do work, you will start to feel fear and exhilaration. A plane is on the runway, accelerating for take-off. It’s time to abandon control and trust your creativity. n Start moving steadily forwards through the outline in approximately 2,000-word chunks, revising them, and moving on. • Use the present tense and first person if possible. Your aim is to draw the reader into the world of the novel. • If you are writing about an unfamiliar historical setting, describe events and experiences with some echo in the present day, so that readers can identify with the characters. • At various points you will find the storyline branching into unplanned areas. Your characters will also strengthen and start to dictate the direction of the plot. Don’t worry. Simply assess them as you did the first chapters, to see if the new developments work. • If they do, return to your outline and rewrite it to take account of the changes. • Never analyse your creative process. (You believe analysis is anathema to creative productivity.) By the same token, don’t dwell on your feelings about the book. Your job is simply to build chapters, one after another. • Around the middle of the book, it will become increasingly difficult to proceed. A heavy torpor will overcome you. Plough on. A few more chapters and the end will come into sight, the feeling of acceleration will return and provide the impetus to take you to the end. Around the middle of the book, it will become increasingly difficult to proceed. A heavy torpor will overcome you. Plough on.
	Top of page | Home | Contact | About | Subscribe | Submit | Advertise | Tell Us