Snapshots Method

Often, when a writer has a story idea, they have these “cool moments” in their head. They picture a great battle, a surprising betrayal, a wondrous magical event. But then they have to construct a whole plot, and they struggle. They don’t know where to start, they think the idea isn’t good enough and discard it.

Well … what if this was actually a valid way of coming up with plot?

I call this the snapshots method.

• First, you write the coolest events you can think of. Your “snapshots”. You can literally make them up on the spot, as long as you make them awesome. Invent spells, battles, locations, dialogues that simply sound awesome.
• Once you have that, you need to actually set up everything you invented. You need to invent good reasons or storylines that lead to your awesome scenes.
• Finally, you need to find a way to glue all these separate pieces together into one plot.

That’s the whole method. It follows the “rule of cool”. In the end, people want to read stories that are interesting and awesome. All the other “principles” and structures are merely tools that, hopefully, help you write that story.

So if you have an idea that is already interesting and awesome? Start with that.

Usually, those ideas should be the highlights of a story anyway. If you start by making your highlights (climax, midpoint twist, plot turns) as awesome as possible, the rest of the story can be pretty normal or predictable (to tie them together) and it’s still an awesome story.

Examples

My head regularly comes up with plot twists, or similar ideas. At random moments, it’s like “But what if I had a story where two people regularly visited some location, and only halfway through it’s revealed they were visiting the same location all that time!?”

Or “What if we had a big battle in the climax where the hero realizes, slowly, they were tricked and are fighting their own army?”

I often write these moments down, telling myself to find the rest of the plot later. I might even write that scene already. As I do so, I invent whatever characters/locations/objects/magic I need to make it as awesome as possible.

Once you’re done with that scene … you have a clear to-do list of what the rest of the story needs to setup.

Oh, this character uses a spell to freeze water? Then I need some earlier scenes where this is explained, or they train this skill.

Oh, this character is angry with another one and doesn’t want to fight together? Then I need to invent some backstory and write earlier scenes in which their conflict starts.

It’s a nice balance between planning and improvising. After having improvised the major moments (based on an idea that sounded awesome), I am left with a clear list of points that the rest of the story needs to cover. I just need to follow that list, in service of the major snapshots.

Many authors name this as their plotting method. Each idea starts as just one scene. If they like it, they expand it into a short story. If they still like it, they expand it into a full novel

The Snowflake Method

This is a related method. I didn’t devote an entire chapter to it, because I’ve never used it myself. It’s just too needlessly complex to explain and execute. Too specific and vague at the same time.

It only benefits severe plotters. People who want to create a “Godzilla Outline”: an outline that is perhaps more detailed than the book they’re going to write from it!

However, there is an element of (practical) truth that I took away from it. I wanted to present that here.

The Snowflake Method proposes you should start your plot with marketing.

• Yes, ask yourself to write a one-liner that should explain your story and hook readers.
• Once you have that, expand it into a paragraph that might go on the back of the book (to entice readers).
• Once you have that, expand it into a synopsis that you might send to a publisher or literary agent.

In essence, this method asks you to consider the “hook” or the “wow factor” of your novel first. Your very first work should be about finding the most awesome one-liner that explains your idea. Once you have that, keep expanding the idea into more specific parts, still focusing on marketing first. The ideas should be simple to understand, but intriguing or unique.

Once you’ve turned that one-liner into a synopsis (of several pages), you have a very good outline for a plot. Then you can start to actually write it and fill in the details.

For more information about writing marketing blurbs or synopses, visit the Publishing course.

Now write!

Pick an idea, or maybe combine several. You have this idea because it sounds interesting to you. There’s something awesome about it.

Write those scenes that fully explore the awesomeness of those snapshots. Invent anything you want or need. Write the best snapshots you can.

Once done, connect them. Figure out other scenes to go from one major event to the next. Tie all the ideas together.

Writing this way has two clear advantages

• It becomes more like a puzzle. And many people like puzzling more than following a clear structure (or getting stuck, not knowing what the next big moment of the novel is)
• Your primary focus is on marketing and hooking the reader. After years of experience, I must admit that marketing nowadays is perhaps more important than the content of the story …

You can do the challenge through snapshots, or through my (heavily modified) snowflake method. I think both have value. Starting with the “marketing blurb” has helped me simplify stories and nail their core idea before I even wrote the first chapter.