story mapping

When we were in Sayulita recently, I did a workshop with the secundaria students at Costa Verde International School, and part of what talked about was story mapping. I never map a story. Whenever I’ve tried to outline a book or a story, the characters kick my ass and do what they want anyway, and then I get anxious that I’ve betrayed my outline. And while I know that outlines can be flexible, I still get anxious and weird when they don’t work out. And because they never (ever) have worked for me before, I’ve never use them as a tool.

I’ve always been curious about how it works though and–more importantly–if  it works. So I’m trying it with one of the projects that I’m working on. It’s a big story, with lots of moving parts, and characters that I love very much and who have been very patient over the last decade while I’ve worked on every other story except the one they’re in.

I’ll let you know how it goes.