The Snowflake Method

I recently came across the snowflake method http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php. This is what I have so far, and I'll probably change some of it in the story.

Step one-Hook-“Ha! Ha! Ha! Yes! I finally did it! They said it couldn't be done, but here it is!” the ingenious professor exclaimed and ran immediately outside to test his device.

Step two-Story Setup and Summary-The ingenious professor took a bus to a university to wake up the respected scientist. He had invented a tool for humans to read animal's thoughts. No one had believed he could do it. When he got the professor to finally believe him, they drove to the warehouse where the professor worked to find that the machine had been stolen. The respected scientist no longer believed an inch of the professor's tale and drove back to the university. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger lurked in the woods behind the warehouse, retreating further and further. He wounded up in Florida where he sold the machine for 5 thousand dollars to an inspiring veterinarian who had no idea that the machine was stolen. She uses it to hear what's going on in her patients' minds and to decide what's best for their health.

Step three-Character Summaries-

• The character's name �" Alonzo Alfalfa,the professor

• A one-sentence summary of the character's storyline - In his trek to find his stolen device, Alonzo is mocked by scientists at a near university, encounters a mysterious stranger, and journeys to Florida to confront a local veterinarian who wants to keep his device to help helpless creatures.

• The character's motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?) - That as soon as he gets his machine back he will be popular among the smartest people, a watch that his father gave him and told him that he'll be great some day

• The character's goal (what does he/she want concretely?) - To get his device back

• The character's conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?) - A mysterious stranger, a veterinarian

• The character's epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?) - He'll realize that being famous doesn't matter, but what he does with his fame does. He'll want to make a difference in the world.

• A one-paragraph summary of the character's storyline

• The character's name �" Marguerite Sanchez, the veterinarian

• A one-sentence summary of the character's storyline - Marguerite comes into contact with

  a man who wants to sell her a cool device that lets her hear animal's thoughts, and being that she is a veterinarian, she pays a fair amount of money for it and tells the seller that if he builds more she'll pay him for them, too.

• The character's motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?) - Her patients

• The character's goal (what does he/she want concretely?) - To help as many animals as possible

• The character's conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?) - The police, they find out that the machine is stolen and takes her in for questioning

• The character's epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?) - She becomes more responsible and conscious on what she buys and the people she buys it from

• A one-paragraph summary of the character's storyline

• The character's name �" Vincent Hawkins

• A one-sentence summary of the character's storyline �" For months he's been spying outside of Alonzo's warehouse, waiting for the moment the invention would be completed, and once it is, he takes it and sells it to a veterinarian in Florida where she asks him to make more, so he journeys back to Alabama and threatens Alonzo to make more.

• The character's motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?) - His greed for money

• The character's goal (what does he/she want concretely?) - to make as much money as soon as possible, to pay off his debt he owes to gambling companies

• The character's conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?) - Alonzo, the police

• The character's epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?) - He'll realize that he can't get everything he wants

Author's Note

I just wanted to know if you think that this would be a good story. Thanks.

Reviews

[Raaf]

Hey Tasha, Yeah this sounds like a really cool story of adventure and intrigue! Great start! I looove the snowflake method and have been using it for about a year now ever since I found that exact same web page (probably doing some similar Google searches as you, eh? hehe).

A couple bits of advice: Step One should be more of a summary and evoke the "feel" of the story. I think you got the "feel" part correct in your sentence, but it really provides no summary. It's more of a pivotal moment. Look at his example on the web page and think of all the implications of that little ol' sentence that he wrote. Your sentence has some implications, but it could be much better.

Step Two: Seems like you're writing more 'notes' here rather than constructing the novel for yourself. Really take to heart his advice when he says you should write "three disasters plus an ending". I, personally, am a strong believer in the "three act structure" and find that it's a great way for beginning writers (such as myself) to really practice the craft of story telling until we get expert enough to start riffing on the structure. This would be similar to the way a musician doesn't start playing jazz when they're young - they start with basics: note reading, tempo, crescendos, etc. And it's not until they've been playing for years that they are skillful enough to being experimenting with the structure of music in a way that is provocative and exciting (if you like jazz, that is - ha).

Finally: Keep in mind that the power of the snowflake method is the way in which it forces you to go back and update AAAALL the steps. You have some terrific ideas here for a great story, but how do you piece it all together? How do you sow the rags together to make a quilt? The snowflake method help you make the mental roadmap between points of interest. Good luck and work HARD!!! :)