NEW PARIS BOOK: LET’S GET STARTED IN 2024 – Blog # 1.
Suggested and encouraged by friends, I have decided to commence writing another fictional book; this one a semi-biographical novel of my Parisian life.
To begin, I asked myself why I should write another novel, and how I would build my story. The steps in my go or no-go decision-making process are outlined below:
Concept: Do you know why you need a story? The need stems from a demand. It also needs to reflect the epic adventure of my life in Paris.
Exploration: Do you know where to find your story? I live in Paris where there is a story on every street. The map to my story will navigate the confusing, unknown, and changing situations during the confluence of three major events: the pandemic (global), the British exit from the European Union (regional), and la mort de ma mère (personal). More than three really, if I include a lifestyle transformation in romance, study, and work.
Character: Do you know your role in the story? It is semi-biographical – sad stuff happened, bad stuff happened, and miracles happened too.
Function: Do you know what your story needs to do? Apart from fulfilling the need from my readers, it needs to entertain, inform, and inspire.
Structure: Do you know how to plan your story? I do, and unlike my other eight books, I’ll be using and adapting Pip Decks, a practical step-by-step business and productivity toolkit, to build my story. Pip Decks is not a sponsor, nor am I affiliated with them – I’m taking a tried-and-true approach to see if it works for me. Readers will be able to follow along with my writing process, from beginning to end, to see exactly how the story unfolds. Readers will see its progress, including the highs and lows, the blocks, and the flows.
Style: Do you know how to tell your story? As Federico Fellini, the Italian filmmaker (1920-1993) said, “Art is all about craftsmanship. Others can interpret craftmanship as style if they wish. Style is what unites memory or recollection, ideology, sentiment, nostalgia, presentiment, to the way we express all that. It’s not what we say but how we say it that matters.”
Organization: Do you know how to share your story? This is the first step.
So, the New Paris Book is ready to begin the long planning process.
PIP DECKS, the fun and engaging how-to guides for business.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls