Sunday, December 12, 2010

The Lester Dent Master Fiction Plot Test Drive

After I read over Lester Dent’s story formula, I wanted to try it out.

I developed a spreadsheet that I could use to organize the outline. I added some modifications of my own that I thought would help me write. This week I did an outline. I wanted to leave the project until later because I want to finish my Bright Freedom script first.

However, last night I decided to take a stab at it. The formula is supposed to produce a 6,000-word story. The formula is set up in four parts, each 1,500 words long. The longest short story I’ve done, Distraction is 2,700 words, so this would be considerably longer than any of the stories I’ve done so far.

It took me only an hour and a half to get the first part done. It came in at 1,703 words. That is a little longer than 1,500 words, but it needs some editing and that should shorten it down. I am a little unsure if I should finish this story or the Bright Freedom script first. I’m kind of on a roll with the formula story, so I think I will finish it first.

Links

The Master Fiction Plot: http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html 

Bright Freedom: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog/?cat=14

Distraction: http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/distraction.php

Comment (2011 February 22): I published this story here:  http://authspot.com/short-stories/the-abattoir-project-a-ken-walker-adventure/

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

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