How to Write Activist Literature – Five – Fill in the Gaps
By Andy Heath
Congratulations if you have gotten through the free writing exercise. You might want to take a day or two off to recover from that, as that is by far the most difficult part of the process. Now that you have done that, you’re ready to go on to the next step, which is to fill in the gaps. Let me explain.
If you used a notebook for your free writing exercise, then you probably want to put a blank sheet in between this step, which is also a free writing exercise. You will want to go back and read your plot you just finished writing and look for things that don’t make sense. Yes, they will be there. There will also be points that are weak. Points that need to be expanded. Points that you left out entirely. I’m sorry, but like I said, writing a novel is messy. You’re not going to do it right the first time. It takes a lot of patience and hard work and planning to get it right. But the fact that we want to get it right is the reason that we’re already and step five and have yet to start writing the manuscript!
“I can’t believe you, Andy!” you’re going to say. But this is the way it is. You have to have everything written out prior. That means, as I said in the last post, that you have to have the ending written out.
But why all this work prior to ever writing the story? The reason is that if you do the planning properly, then the manuscript will practically write itself. That said, you have to fill in the gaps.
As you read the free writing plot exercise that you wrote, be sure to look at it with a critical eye. This is the time to make sure that everything makes sense, that the characters’ actions are for good reason, and that you have set up all the events in the book.
You’re going to want to document all these gaps in another free writing exercise in the same notebook with the plot free writing exercise. Just note all the changes that you need to make, and then make them. This is the time that you think through everything that you want to accomplish in the book. You must spend a lot of time thinking through everything. You have to have the courage to be able to say, “Yes, this does not make sense.” Or “You know, I don’t think this is something that particular character would do.” Or “I believe the character needs a better reason to do this than the one I gave.”
Once you have identified the problems in your plot free writing exercise, you use the Fill in the Gaps free writing exercise to address each of these problems. You must be very clear and you must be ruthless. If you are to write a tight plot, you must make sure that the gaps are filled in.
Step 5 seems a lot easier than it is. I would recommend, as I stated above, that you should put Step 4 aside for a few days so you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Please note that once you have finished Step 5 and done justice to it, you will have a solid plot to work from when you start writing your manuscript. This is critical. It is not advisable to start writing your manuscript until you have a solid, solid, SOLID plot that has no gaps and that all loose ends are tied.
Even when you get to Step 6, you will not start writing the manuscript. There is still one more exercise you must go through before you get to that point. But in two days, I will post the next step, which is make note cards with scenes.
