Note: This page is in its infancy. More internal links coming.
©2010 by Jack Remick and Robert J Ray
The ProblemTree
To solve your writing problems, click on the links.
My story feels:
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too big – go to compression; scene list, spine-finder, character grid, Aristotle’s incline
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too disconnected — go to scene list, image and action, spine-finder, sector summary
I can’t get started:
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go to the curve, firsts and lasts, pathways to the novel
I can’t find my voice:
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monologue, dialogue, dialogue, monologue
My writing feels:
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too loose – go to image and action, spine-finder
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too far away – go to operation ratio, nouns-verbs, objects
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too abstract – operation ratio nouns
My character feels:
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silly – go to car action (car accident, near-death experience, incarceration)
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shallow – go to sexual triad, incarceration, intruder
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dull – go to syntactic flex, heavy on the LSR, intruder
What do I write about today?
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go to firsts and last, getting started diagram
My sentences feel:
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too short too long too uniform too formal – go to syntactic flex exercise,
When do I start rewriting?
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go to synopsis for act three
Where do I start rewriting?
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novel: climax, then subplot one, antagonist; short story: climax, then midpoint; memoir: Terrible Parent scene list
Can I have more than one protagonist?
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character grid, core story, read Amsterdam
