Sprinting Across Alligators: How to Use Vignettes as Stepping Stones to Build a Novel
When I was a kid I played a game on Atari called Pitfall. In one part, the hero had to quickly step across a bridge of snapping alligators. These little islands of alligator heads provided a moment of footing, one to the next, to get the hero safely to the goal of the other side. Novel writing can feel precarious, even dangerous. There are a million moments to concern ourselves with.
(The Dos and Don’ts of Novel Endings.)
Each beat of the novel is a vignette—an alligator—a moment of action steeped in tension that moves the narrative forward and is part of the broader story. But each vignette is also an individual moment to be navigated.
While finishing a novel can be considered a marathon, I often think of starting a novel as a sprint—perhaps a sprint across alligators. You have to move quickly in order to build a story that feels cohesive.
I developed this system when I wrote my first novel, Alligator Zoo-Park Magic. What I didn’t realize was that the system was scalable. I began by writing the scenes as they came to mind—not necessarily in order. These scenes held my characters in conversations or situations that forced them to act, to reveal who they were. But how to organize all of these individual vignettes? And what do you do with them once you have the pieces?
Writing what I call the “core” of a novel, the essence of all of the basic elements of a book, is done in a series of short bursts over a very condensed period of time. I try to write the core of a new novel draft in six weeks, and I find that this is doable through a series of steps.
1. Make a Reasonable Goal
First, I believe that having a target in mind is paramount. Set a goal for yourself. How much free time do you have? With two kids at home and a full teaching load, I find that I have very little to spare. If I know that I want to have the draft written in six weeks, then I know I am going to have to give up some sleep for those weeks. We all have trade-offs; this is the time I’m willing to give up.
2. List What You Know
Jot down a quick list of everything you know about your new project. Don’t worry about order, just get the basics of each character, and situations or scenes you know you want to occur, any important settings. Try to get 25 or 30 of these.
3. Grab Moments
When I am writing a new book, I always carry a pocket notebook. I know that to some this may seem dated, and your iPhone notes probably work just as well; this is just one of many personal preferences that are individual to each writer’s process. The most important thing to me as I consider writing a novel is grabbing notes of situations that jump into my head throughout the day. This could potentially take some time to build up these scenarios, or as they sometimes do, they could come in a flood. When this happens, know that lightning has struck. It’s time to get writing. But first—
4. Get Organized
Create a new file on the desktop of your computer just for this project. A title for your project, even if it doesn’t stick as the final name, makes it real. For each situation or scene, create a new document (Word, Pages, Google doc, etc.…) and save it with the title of the scene in the new folder for your project. I save these each with a number in front of the scene title to start to put them in a basic order. Don’t forget to save often—and to a flash drive as well.
Check out C.H. Hooks’ Can’t Shake the Dust here:
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5. Start Small
Write into each of these vignettes. Try for one per day. Write as much as you can into your characters. Look around inside your settings to get to know the space. I think of each of these as vignettes to be written as small hurdles in the sprint. But why is it important to write a novel quickly? Remember the goal here—you aren’t trying to knock out the whole thing: a revised, edited, polished piece of work. You are attempting to capture the essence of your novel. The voices and emotions of your characters are clearest when kept fresh in your mind. I believe that if I can capture enough of this, bottle it in the first condensed draft, then I can expand on this with consistency in the second draft.
6. Track Your Progress
Track your progress and know that your sessions add up! From tracking each day, I know that my pace is in the range of 1,500-2,000 words per day. If you have less time, aim for 500-750 words in your sessions. For students in my undergraduate “Writing the Novel” class, the word count per day is lower and the length of time is extended to 15 weeks. Use a calendar and make sure you keep track of these daily word counts. This is progress toward your goal—and it matters.
7. Reward Yourself
Set rewards for yourself as you hit milestones at intervals that feel significant to you. I always have a minor celebration when I hit 40,000 words. This is the moment that my manuscript feels like it has hit the classic definition of novel-length.
Following these basic steps will greatly increase your odds of success in achieving your goal—and surviving your sprint with no teeth marks. Write each vignette, step from gator-to-gator, and get to the goal. A month-and-a-half goes so quickly. You will have your first draft in your hands before you know it.
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