Write Guide

DEVELOPING OUR WAY OF WRITING AND WORKING TOGETHER

In order to make our writing easier and more efficient we have built ourselves an evolving set of guidelines to follow.
Here are some of our ideas outlined in a series of three articles.

1.  Writing Method

2.  Inspiration & Flexibility
3.  Going 'In-Scene' When Writing

 1- WRITING METHOD

1) We begin discussing and developing ideas from subjects we love and which inspire us. We then work alone before coming together to compare and debate afterwards.

2) We build from these notes and write an outline for the book.
3) We concentrate on writing scenes. This has become the most important part of our process. We write our books like a screenplay. It is an easier and more efficient way to write a short scene of five pages than it is to write a whole chapter.
4) We then begin to create chapters using the scenes we have written.
5) We add details to our scenes as we write and rewrite to develop our story and its principle characters.
6) When the first draft has been written we check for errors and add more details to give the characters and story life and purpose.
7) The second draft is more intense and we discuss our goals and needs for the understanding of the manuscript.
8) Our story is then revised and read again from beginning to end.
9) There may be as many as five or six rewrites before going to the editor who without a doubt will suggest more.
10) Our fiction is a labor of love as we both try to understand the world around us.
11) We design our book cover, blog, website and publicity with the same passion and excitement we have for our writing.

Two Spirits/ Deux Esprits was born and created from this synergy.

Annie Gosselin and Ron Mahedy.

2-INSPIRATION & FLEXIBILITY

How many times has your work ground down to a halt because of the blank page! Our solutions may not be miracles nor are they unique but it keeps us writing page after page.

It has always been standard practice to create a plan, follow a routine and start at the beginning. We like to make our outline as flexible as possible. A living structure for our ideas, our dreams and a way to make our imagination and images come to life.

Starting with our premise, we build upon it without restraint. All our ideas at this point are good so we write them down, record them and sometimes film our conversations.

We are not in a writing mode at this point; we are creating.

We begin unraveling our ideas. The excitement and magic that writers feel when something powerful is beginning to take form. There begins a vague idea of the beginning, the middle and of the end. We write a summary of our story listing its strong points of about one page.

The pleasure of creating our main characters with the unique attributes and characteristics necessary for our story begins. We also create secondary characters for our worlds, sometimes too many, however they allow us to breathe life into our work.

Our outline is ready, our characters are ready and we begin to write scenes. We write the scenes we would like in our story. We add drama, sad, funny or scenes of transition and description. Some characters gain in importance as we write the scenes and others we eliminate. This propels our imagination forward and we add scenes with spice and adventure.

Now with a good quantity of scenes to place throughout our story and the book moves at a rapid pace. The real work begins when we edit but there is enormous pleasure in seeing the first draft written.

Whatever your method of writing, linear, without an outline or using our method of scene creation and a flexible outline. It is important that you write the way you feel most comfortable with. We like to jump from the middle to the beginning or wherever our imagination takes us within our story.

If, like us, you collaborate with another writer, imagine mixing all those ideas together to create your masterpiece!

Annie Gosselin Ron Mahedy

 3-GOING 'IN-SCENE'

WHEN WRITING!

Do you remember those great scenes from movies or exciting passages from books that kept you up late at night discussing and debating with your friends.

We would like to present to you our method of writing those scenes.

After Murdering His Wife.He stood in the shower rubbing his body making sure that all traces of his act had been erased. He got out when the water in the bathtub had run clear. Sitting on the toilet bowl he saw to his horror that there was a spot of blood on the floor that may have run underneath the base of the tub. He pushed at the edge of the tub and to his surprise it moved. He pushed harder and underneath he saw there was a deep space cut out into the floor. He would hide her body under the bathtub, he said talking to himself.

After you have written your scene, you realize that what you have written needs work. Here is a tool we use to improve our scenes.

Scene Elements:

The characters: What are they doing?
 

Descriptions: Physical appearance, clothes, emotions, thoughts, their work, their voice etc.

The place/location: Details and descriptions.

Time: season, hour, year...

Other useful elements: colors, scents, sounds, textures, tastes etc.

Imagine that you have written the scene above. What can you use from the list above to improve your text? Add elements with more details and add emotions to your characters that will bring realism and truth to your story.

Examples:

When he looks in the mirror, water dripping from the shower head, time of the day, sounds, what he is feeling at the moment...?

Let your imagination be your guide.
You don't have to write scenes that follow each other and they can be placed anywhere in your story. Write your most inspiring and exciting scenes. This is how we build our books, scene by scene! 

Annie Gosselin & Ron Mahedy