Writing tools for complex storytelling

Posted by Daly de Gagne
Feb 24, 2012 at 03:39 PM

Dr Andus, I had assumed you were creating a work of fiction, but you say it is on the social sciences. So…now I am very curious, and wonder if you can say something more about the nature of the project.

I think your diagram is probably central to a way to go about this project.

And so I wonder about creating a time line - not on the computer, but on a large white board from which you can step back to see the whole, and to which you can move in and focus on a small part. Sometimes actual physical movement is helpful in processing ideas and seeing information in a different way.

From my own writing experience I wonder whether it is realistic to think in terms of writing the surface text (by which I take it you mean something close to the finished version, neatly incorporating the five story lines) without doing at least some writing of the story lines. I’ve found that success in working with various story lines is in direct proportion to my familiarity with each story line—and that familiarity sometimes comes from having at least a detailed written synopsis of each story line.

I wonder if you were to create synopses for each of the remaining story lines in broad brush strokes (to avoid the length of the first two) whether you would then feel a greater sense of ease about writing the surface text.

Daly

Dr Andus wrote:
>Just to clarify how I came to visualise the problem (and the writing process), I
>created this
>sketch:
>http://dl.dropbox.com/u/428516/Photo24022012043637.jpg
> >The black
>line in the surface represents the final text, consisting of 3 x 10K word chapters. The
>surface text is made up of bits of 5 storylines, whenever they surface. The challenge
>is to be able to focus and just write the surface text, rather than having to write up all
>of the underlying storylines first, which is too time-consuming.
> >So there are at
>least two issues here:
>1) being able to manage the process (keeping the storylines
>straight in my head). This is where Storybook Pro might be helpful.
>2) being able to
>focus on writing the surface text only, without having to fully write all the
>underlying stories first.
> >The added complication is that this sort of social
>science writing is not simply a writing-up of what I have already figured out before
>the writing. The writing process itself is part of the analysis and the discovery
>process. So I realise the first version of the surface text will not be perfect and it
>will be draft. But I would want to be more productive and efficient with the
>process.
> >@Hugh - thanks for the Flying Logic suggestion. I took a look at it and found
>the Theory of Constraints very interesting. Having just taken a cursory look (I
>haven’t downloaded the software), I did find it very expensive though for what it
>promises to do (considering that VUE or CMAP Tools can do concept-mapping for
>free).
> >@Pavi - I think my main problem is not so much managing the structure (your UR
>solution) but how to manage the tension between surface and depth. It’s about how to
>focus on the surface text, knowing that it is made up of 5 strands, yet not be sucked into
>the depth and start following a single story at the expense of the others and the
>overall word count. But you may be right, Storybook Pro might still be the solution.
>Thanks.