Structure in my Writing

Structure in my writing.  I tried to write an outline for one of my stories once.  I used the Hero’s Journey by the late great Joseph Campbell.  I then shuffled a Tarot deck and drew cards to help me structure the plot.  But I didn’t WANT to outline.  What I wanted to do was write the story.  I’ve read a slew of books about writing, and the basic premise is to ask two questions:  What does my character want?  What or who is keeping hir from getting it?  So I guess my books grow organically from this premise.  I have it in mind when I start and it’s the overarching story, and all the other characters have goals they want to reach, but something or someone is keeping those characters from attaining it.  In a trilogy of novels which is coming out sometime, one of the characters, Master Sergeant Gorsuch wants his men to reach their enemies’ nest and destroy it, but there are many obstacles they must overcome.  The Empress wants the people of her realm to be prosperous and happy.  What will she have to do in order to attain her goal?  

Another structural element I use is the chapter.  I use it because very often the story I’m writing is for either NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) or one of the Camp NaNoWriMos, I use the division of the chapter to help me keep track of my word count, which is very important when you are trying for a word goal for the day.  My word goal is usually 2000.  It’s easier for me to count if I round up.   This enables me to almost have a little short story within the novel.This time though, I got too stressed out, so had to drop out of Camp NaNo.   I readied several manuscripts for submission, then returned to writing my WIP with renewed vigor.  Now that I was no longer writing it for the competition, I could relax and write until the words for that way ran out.  I have a tee shirt that reads:”The voices are back.  Excellent.”  That’s how I write.  A voice in my head tells me what to write.  Actually, I dictate, because I have a Dragon, which is voice recognition software.  I’d been dreaming of it for decades, so when the opportunity came along to nab one, I took it.  It cuts my actual typing time down by at least a half.  It doesn’t eliminate it completely, because I must have a strange accent or something, because it renders a lot of my speech as gobbledygook.  I was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is one of the centers for broadcast journalism, because we have no regional accent.  We speak perfect American Standard English, and this is how I was taught to speak my native language.  

Some of the words I must type are exotic, either because they are terms of art, or I made them up out of whole cloth because they are the names of aliens.  But back to structure.  We have the basic premise, which is what does the character want and what will keep hir from getting it, and the story within a story.  

Rita