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Snowflake Method

I have looked at the Snowflake Moethod and it works best for those who want to write a plot-driven novel.

However, I prefer a character-driven novel and I write within the same vein as Stephen King, setting up my stories and allowing the characters to guide their destinies through their own behaviors.

As the characters grow closer to the goal, I drop in an obstacle and then allow them to react. If I push them too far away from the goal then I deliver a gift into the story to help the characters back onto the right path.

Regardless, I expect a lot of my characters as they carry the burden of the story upon their backs. As such, I don't create a plot that contains them from exploring themselves, and this allows them make incredible discoveries throughout the story I never foresaw on the first page.

Mm, I don't know, I think it could work for character-driven novels as well. You just have to change some things around. I know for sure that me using it at the moment, I had a lot of fun with the character development sections and they certainly taught me a lot about what should actually be happening in the plot itself and the little details of how things get resolved.

But then, I've had this story I'm working on revolving around inside my head for probably more than five years which is likely to be another reason why this method is working out well for me - it's helping me to fix all the holes .

I have found, however, that the method isn't perfect - like with Step 2 - but the beauty of it is (as I've realised and discovered) is that it's not meant to be a definite, carved in stone approach. It's more of a flexible guide and you can change it to fit best with your own writing style.

I think another benefit of using something like this is that it gives you something to go on from. I mean, instead of opening up your Word document and being faced with a completely blank page and sudden writer's block, you have this guide which kind of nudges you along and gets you going by questioning you about the story. It's easier to answer pre-made questions than to dig something - anything - out of the depths of your mind.

i've never heard of this snowflake method

i write alot (but my memory stick just got stolen) and i don't need any kind of "method" to write, i just write, i don't understand the need for any kind of "method"

making the "finer details" shouldn't "bog you down" if you've got an initial, simple story arc and stick to not changing it, making the "finer details" is the escence of "world-building" and "character development"

I just glanced at it a bit. Not sure I'm too big a fan as of yet

I think that finding your own way is part of the fun. Besides, I don't like following other people's "methods" - though I will steal basic ideas and change them to my liking

everybody just forget this thread exists?

Okay so I found that I totally couldn't be bothered doing step 8 - making a list of all the scenes - and, I guess, the optional step 9 as well.

Possibly because of that, writing the actual story (or in my case, rewriting it ) did not come as easy as I'd hoped after using Steps 1 to 7. I still had to work out the details while I was writing which slowed me down a lot.

But I do think all that Snowflake Method planning was valuable. It helped with the bigger plot details/holes and made things clearer. The character stuff was great too (and fun).


Incidentally, I haven't looked back over all that stuff since.