How to Improvise? Tempo

What is your Time Frame?

• How much time do you have to finish this Story?
• Do you have a Month?
• Do you have 2 Months?
• Do you have 2 Weeks?
• Is it self-imposed?
• Are you writing for someone else?

• What’s your schedule?
• How much time per Day do you have to Write?
• How much time per Week do you have to Write?
• How Fast are you?
• What’s your pace for a 30′ time frame?
• How many pages can you write in an hour?

Characters

• Which Characters do you need?
• What are the Essential Roles in the Story?
• Which roles do the Main characters play?
• Do they evolve as a team?
• Do they evolve into a team?
• Are their goals related?

• When to present the Goals?
• What is the scale of the Goal?
• If the scale is large enough your characters may need to 1st unveil the world they evolve in.
• Do you display the Characters Goals in the 1st chapters?
• Do you display their Goal in the chapter they are introduced?
• Do you present their Goal after they went through a crisis?
• After which Crisis?
  • After chapter 3?
  • After chapter 6?

• Use Archetypes.
• They define your preliminary frame.
• You’ll write more Efficiently.
• Your dialogue will be more consistent.

Which part of the Story is Essential?

• Can you summarize your Story in a 5 lines Paragraph?
• Can you summarize it in a phrase?
• Can you describe the interaction between the Protagonist & Antagonist in 1 phrase?
• Can you describe the main principle of this World in 1 phrase?
• Can you describe the consequences of the Antagonist Goal in 1 phrase?
• Can you describe each Character & Setting with 3 words?

• Do you need more than 10 chapters?
• Do you need Research chapters?
• Do your characters need to Investigate?
• Do you need Preparation chapters?
• Do your characters need to gather Resources?
• How many Crisis do you need?
• How much time do your characters need to Rest?
• How much Comfort do they need?
• Do you need Rest chapters?
  • No Rest can be beneficial to the intensity of the story.
• Do you need Pondering chapters?

• Do you need more than 3 parts per chapter?
• Every chapter has 3 parts:
  • Initialization.
  • Conflict.
  • Outcome/Aftermath

• Do you need more than 4 words per sentence?
• How long are your Phrases?
• Do certain characters need long phrases?
• Are certain characters silent?
• Are certain characters quiet?
• Do they balance each other?
• How short should be your Short sentences?
• How long should be your Short sentences?

• Where do I use the unused ideas?
• In Another chapter.
• In a Sequel.
• In Another part of the Series.
• In Another story.

Using the Environment

• Tempo, Rhythm & Conflicts
• How will the Crisis be displayed?
• How will the Crisis occur?
• Was it avoidable?
• Was it predictable?
• Was there a preliminary element alerting the characters?

• Seeding
• When should you seed an Element?
• 2 chapters before the event.
• It is a reasonable Time frame if you do not know when to introduce the element/clue.
• It leaves enough room for both the Characters & the Public to identify the element.
• It leaves enough time for everyone (Characters, Public & You) to remember the element.

• Development
• What is the size of your world?
• What are the Focal points of a setting?
• What attracts the characters?
• Which elements are disruptive?
• What is undesirable?
• What should be avoided?
• Should you mention useless elements?

• Ending
• The story should end As Soon As Possible.
• How long should the Epilogue be?
• How many endings have you written?
• Have did you hierarchize them?

Do you write with Music?

• Music is your Timer.
• Limit the length of a scene to 1 song.
• Try to write 2-3 pages every 20′.
• Music can help you to focus.
• As do short time limits.

• Rhythm & Atmosphere
• The music will accompany the Scene.
• What are the noises around you?
• How’s the weather?
• How does it affect your pace?
• How do music influence your tempo?
• How do music influence your pacing?
• How do music influence the Colors you use?

• Prepare a Playlist before starting
• Would you use an Album?
• Would you use an premade Playlist?
• Playlists with different song lengths will allow you to experiment different Rhythms.