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.

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