How can I master the snowflake method?

[Writer’s_Magic]

Do you know the snowflake method? Yeah. Of course, you know it. It’s one of the most famous techniques for writers. And I want to use it. I have tried it already. But I sucked. So, could you help me to master this technique, please? It would be very nice.

 

[Ban]

By practising it. I'm sorry writer's_magic, but there is no shortcut to mastery, no matter how many threads you open. You just have to practise day in and day out for years by actually writing.

 

[Heliotrope]

Mastery takes practice and trial and error. You have to actually write, mess up, do it again.

This site has a section where you can post what you are working on. Maybe try posting some loglines or synopsis for feedback? Maybe try posting a few paragraphs and asking for thoughts?

 

[Mythopoet]

Keep in mind that the snowflake method is only a method, one out of many. It doesn't work for every writer. If it truly gives you trouble, try practicing other methods, either one recommended by other authors or whatever method comes most naturally to you.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Mythopoet Which for example?

 

[Yora]

What snowflake method?

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Yora How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method

 

[Penpilot]

Mythopoet Which for example?

There's the three act structure and 7 point story structure.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Penpilot You can plan them with the snowflake method, too? Those are story structure,

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Do you know the snowflake method? Yeah. Of course, you know it. It’s one of the most famous techniques for writers. And I want to use it. I have tried it already. But I sucked. So, could you help me to master this technique, please? It would be very nice.

It's not necessarily the method that will work for you. There's no one right way to write a book.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Snowflake method? It impressed me so much I promptly melted it out of my memory. But whatever trips a person’s trigger, I guess.

I would never recommend getting sucked into a method for anything unless it seems to be working for you. If it doesn’t have you writing, forget it. It has the feel of a heavy “planner’s” style, which can appeal to a portion of the brain, but that portion can often be wrong, LOL.

 

[Penpilot]

Penpilot You can plan them with the snowflake method, too? Those are story structure,

Yes, they're story structure, but you use structure to plan out your story. You plan out what your inciting incident is. You plan out what your break in the second act is, your midpoint climax, etc. Take all that and you have a big picture view of your story using the three act structure. Then if you use the 7 point structure to plan out your character and plot arcs.

If these things don't work for you, then they don't work for you, but it's another way of doing things.

 

[Heliotrope]

Yeah, the Snowflake method is helpful, and I have used it, but it is not the only method and it is certainly not one of the most famous techniques for writers. In fact, many very famous authors (and not so famous authors) do not use it or have only vaguely heard of it. It is one tool in a very vast toolbox.

 

[Devor]

I don't like the snowflake method because it begins with the 1-line description, which to me is a flawed way to design a novel. It's like designing a novel based on its final stage marketing. It's backwards. It expects you to have this brilliant idea all set up from the beginning and to immediately go from one-liner to a full structure in the second step.

To me that seems unrealistic.

Again, I would say the first step is:

1) I have a "thing" I want to write about
2) Brain dump all of the stuff that has to happen to support that "thing"
3) Take the big mess of ideas you developed in step 2 and start to clean it up

 

[Heliotrope]

Yeah, it's a bit like a diving board. It is a very narrow strip of an idea that you can use to get yourself into the pool. But once you are in the pool you still have to navigate the entire pool. You still need to figure out how to do some front crawl, or butterfly, or breaststroke and get to the other side.

Spending a ton of time on the diving board is not going to help you. Mastering the diving board is not going to make you a better swimmer. Take a week or two if you want to, to play around on log lines and synopsis... think of it as another way of "brainstorming". But the snowflake method is not going to write your story for you. You still have to dive in and do that part yourself.

 

[Rkcapps]

I'm not a fan of the Snowflake method. I have tried it. But Randy's latest book here, is useful. Again, not every scene but the principals are worth going over for each scene.

 

[Orior]

I think that this method can only be used when you're looking for inspiration, just like brainstorming.