The Cold, Hostile Streets
- At January 19, 2012
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Life, Roxanne Writes On
- 0
On Tuesday, January 24 at around 9:15 am, radio host Joan Cameron will be reading a chapter from my book Great Cat Stories. Appropriately enough at this time of year, the chapter she’s reading is called “The Cold, Hostile Streets.” It’s about the work of a woman named Linda Jean Gubbe, founder of Street Cat Rescue of Saskatoon or, as it’s commonly known, SCAT.
Having spent my childhood in Saskatchewan, I understand a bit about the coldness, if not the hostility, of the streets. I’ve seen my share of cats with frostbitten ears and tails. And the arctic front we’re experiencing in the Fraser Valley this week is a good reminder that, for all my complaining, my loved ones and I – including our four cats and three dogs – are fortunate to be safe and warm. Not everyone is.
Thank you, Linda Jean, for helping the cats.
And thank you, Joan Cameron, for spreading the word.
To tune in, go to Radio 100.9 Canoe FM, on January 24, at 9:15 am. Then go back to SCAT, and hit the Donate button.
You’ll be glad you did.
NaNoWriMo2011 Day 5: My Storyboard
- At November 05, 2011
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Life, NaNoWriMo, Roxanne Writes On
- 6
I passed the 10,000 word mark earlier today, which means I’m well on track to completing the first draft of a 50K-word manuscript. I’m actually aiming for 70-75K, which is a typical length for a work of contemporary commercial fiction.
I’ve been studying plot and structure for the past few years, since that’s the toughest part of the craft for me. Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure. Chris Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey. Screenwriters Michael Hauge and Alexandra Sokoloff. Robin Perini’s Discovering Story Magic. Between these and many others, I’ve patched together a storyboard-and-index-card method that – SO FAR – seems to be working.
Hopefully, I’m not jinxing myself, here.
This is what my writing work-space looks like:
This big newsprint sheet is my “template” of where I need to have certain structural elements, and at what percentage of the story, according to the final word/page count I intend my book to be. It’s all very mathematical and smart. I like it a lot.
Then I lay out my index cards, one for each chapter. I want 20 chapters in total, allotted as follows: five in Act I, 10 in Act II, five in Act III.
The cards marked with red are for Act Climaxes. As I write the actual text, on my laptop, I make notes of the scenes on the appropriate index card. This helps me keep track of what happens when, and where, so that it’s easier to write my synopsis later. This also allows me to write scenes out of order, without getting completely messed up. You might notice that I’ve got a scene written in Chapter 7, even though I haven’t written Chapters 4, 5 or 6 yet.
Isn’t it kewl?
Day 3 NaNoWriMo2011
- At November 03, 2011
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Life, NaNoWriMo, Roxanne Writes On
- 2
6014 words. Need yoga.
Reminder to self: some of these NaNo drafts will end up as published books. Sara Gruen wrote the first draft of Water for Elephants during National Novel Month.
I can do this.