I'm using the Snowflake Method

A clever fellow named Randy Ingermansen devised a strategy for plotting and planning a novel that, so far, seems quite brilliant. He calls it the Snowflake method. It's based upon the notion of a fractal, a mathematical object which builds upon itself, layer by layer, becoming increasingly more complex with every iteration. A novel, he says, can be built up the same way a fractal is built up.

This evening, I tried putting Mr. Ingermansen's strategy to the test with the novel I'm planning for NaNoWriMo 2010, which I've tentatively named Touch. The Snowflake method is a ten-step procedure, which starts off with a single, brief sentence that describes the story. After Step One, you build up your novel plan by adding more and more detail in each subsequent step. Step Two takes that first sentence and turns it into a full paragraph.

In the space of about 2 hours this evening, I came up with a very satisfactory summary of the novel's plot in a single paragraph (it's harder than it sounds!). Where there had only been a few nebulous ideas and concepts before I sat down, I now have a concrete idea of what my novel will be about. I also started on Step Three: a detailed synopsis of my main character. Step Three includes one of those synopses for each of my other main characters as well. So I'll probably have to do about five all together.

I was quite excited by my results this evening! It's always a thrill when you start to see something you've conceived of actually begin to take form, when you first start to believe that "wow, this might just work!" Whether it's a short story, a novel, a drawing or a brochure layout, those first steps toward making an idea a reality can be quite invigorating. And the Snowflake method has taken the floundering out of what, for me, as a novice novelist, can be a real flounder-fest.