Fantasy story using snowflake technique

-KayJuran- · 2006-05-08T20:58:05Z

NB. Please bear in mind that there is no story to critique yet, but this will appear soon... I figure the reason none of my stories seem to be working is because my outlining isn't quite up to scratch, so.. that's why I recently tried the snowflake technique. However, the last time I tried this, I failed again. Now I'm pretty sure this snowflake technique works, so I don't want to give up on it. I'm guessing I made the one-sentence summary too vague last time, so this time I'm going to post mine here, and ask advice, such as whether it should be more specific etc. before moving on to the next part of the process, and posting it here. I know a lot of other people use this technique and others, so I hope I can get some help with this. Okay, here was my one-sentence summary for my last story.. " A young man’s curiosity leads him and others into trouble when he decides to follow up wild rumours. " I mean, seriously, how vague is that! That could be anything ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is my NEW one-sentence summary:: " A group of alchemists use their new skills to slowly 'replace' the old monarchy. " The idea I've got in my head is this:: There's a world where alchemy is common. Pure magic itself doesn't exist however. Alchemy is used in conjunction with science - though science seems to be a new thing, sort of medieval - and is popular among the rich as well as the middle class, though not the poor or working class as the materials are too expensive. The story starts when a group of alchemists accidently find a potion that will make you look like someone else - think polyjuice potion - but requires a few drops of that person's blood, aside from the other secret ingredients. At first the group aren't sure what to use this for, and hide the discovery. Later, a young nobleman/woman (the main character or one of them), is knocked unconscious and dragged to a room, where they are locked in. They awaken alone and frightened.. and with bandages wrapped around a cut from a knife between the hand and the wrist... Please tell me how it sounds so far, and what I can do to improve. I especially need comments on my one-sentence summary, so any help would be very much appreciated. :P Thanks, ~Kay PS. Mods, if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it..

I definitely like the sounds of things so far. I've never heard of the snowflake technique myself (research time!!!). Normally I just whip open a Microsoft Word document and begin filling it as quicly as possible with every mundane thing that pops into my head in the most methodical manner I can conjure up. Of course, I only have one novel in the fantasy genre for a moment, and the only reason I deem it any good is because it has been an ongoing six year project (Version 7.0!!!) because I keep improving.

As for other novel ideas I've had that are outside of the fantasy genre, I normally write a brief summary and significant character info. down so that if I ever get finished with this fantasy thing, I can go back to it. So, yeah, I'm not a notetaker, but I'm starting to think that due to the complexity of my book, I should probably start. ^____^' And this idea: you MUST use it!!! Redundant, yes, but also very encouraging. I hope I helped!

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