Basically, it should first be mentioned that every writer should of course develop his own methods in order to find out what suits him/her best. But there are also various aids that you can use. I'm going to show you the method that worked best for me, but I'm already telling you that this is only one of about a dozen tools that I use. I am only really efficient in combination with all of them. I have already spoken about one of them (ASMR). But I don't want to withhold the others from you either. I will announce them in due course. So let's start:

The Workboard in detail

In order to always know exactly where I am in the story, the first thing I do is writing down the number of the scene . This helps me in several things:

For example, I can use this later when I write the script version for the books, which I sometimes do in parallel as soon as I can think of special tracking shots or pictures that I would like to see in the films or in the comics.

It also allows me to find the individual scenes more quickly if, for example, I have to move them. Because that's what my workboard is best for -

Moving scenes back and forth as I like to experiment and figure out how to create the greatest tension in the story.

This information is important for me as an author as well as for the later film team and the comic artists so that they can plan the shootings or drawings. Sometimes it can be better to have a scene played outside instead of inside, or vice versa.

Perhaps this gives the drama, the dialogues or the symbolism more depth. Here, too, experimentation is the order of the day. Sometimes I let the scene play through several settings (environments) in my mind and then try out what I like best.

The same (as in point 2) applies to this point, which gives me an important impression of the mood of the scene.

Now you could of course specify many other little things, such as the season of year, or even the daytime temperature, but I think that's a bit exaggerated. In any case, because of my workboard, I have a better view of some things that I don't even want to see here, because the things that I see here are out of my head as soon as I have entered them here.

You won't believe how beneficial it is when you have over a million (and I mean over a million!) Pieces of information about a project in your head.

They have to go somewhere - in a kind of cloud - this cloud is my workboard.

Then my memory in my head is relieved and can be creative again.

The first two questions are probably clear here. But what do I mean by "how". . . ?

Unfortunately, that has to remain my secret at this point. But I will resolve this mystery when the published TIMEWULF books have reached a certain information density.

But I can already reveal this much:

It's not about how a particular character is feeling in the scene right now. This is a matter of course that every author should always know when dealing with his characters.

Actors usually have it a little easier because they are used to empathizing with someone else's emotional world, like i do.

We're finally getting down to business. . . !

I always start with a name and then limit myself to the essentials - the quintessence of the scene. Short keywords to small sentences are sufficient.

But sometimes it has to be a little more - e.g. if a scene has a very strong expressiveness and / or a lot happens in it.

When I've found the bottom line, I move on to the next point - the soul of the action:

Much more important than the scene itself is its significance for the story.

An author should always ask himself:

• Is the planned scene interesting at all, or is it just delaying the story?

• Is the scene really IMPORTANT or may it have no meaning at all?

A good story is no small talk about god and the world, or a leisurely walk in the woods.

With a story we want to pull the reader under the spell of our narrative style (if we have one). Nothing is more boring than a scene that has no meaning, i.e. no justification, to appear in the story.

If you know my writing style, you will have noticed that not only every chapter, every scene, every sentence is justified for me (because it is relevant to the overall story) - but EVERY WORD!

Since this topic is very extensive, I will dedicate a separate page to it in due course, and tell a lot more about it - so, stay tuned☺

In almost all scenes at TIMEWULF there are important facts in the background that the reader cannot - or may not - know at the time when he / she reads the relevant scene or chapter in the corresponding book for the first time.

However, these facts are usually of such essential importance that I always have to keep an eye on them so that I don't lose the thread of stringency within the space-time continuum. So that means that I, as a writer, also go through a similar odyssey (at least mentally) in order to be able to keep up with the characters.

In any case, in a story like this, the characters quickly become independent - which is very good because the story is easier to write down this way.

However, that also means that a character sometimes does things that the writer doesn't really want.

If in the end it is the fictional character who can convince the author of the plausibility of his actions, then the story has achieved a dynamic that is reflected in a tightrope walk between fiction and reality.

I am very happy to say that this is the case with the TIMEWULF saga.

Of course, not everything that I wrote down in the almost 15 years of pre-development of the TIMEWULF saga actually ends up in the final story.

However, I also like to keep an eye on these things and have therefore given them a place on my workboard.

These ready-made thoughts help me to better understand the basic idea of ​​the scene and to be able to decide which message the scene should ultimately have.

This also decides whether a scene is used at all or banned from the story.

If the latter is the case, however, these scenes usually reappear in later books, since their basic message is nevertheless important for the story.

I only need to change a few small things about the scene to give it a new "raison d'être".

What does a speculative reader think while reading the scene?

This question always resonates under the floor of a setting and represents (for me) the foundation of a scene, so to speak.

If I don't know what the reader is thinking, I don't know how the scene looks at all.

• Does the scene have what it takes to evoke real emotion?

• Is it able to stimulate a thought in the reader?

• Should the reader think in certain things - or not?

• How do I influence that?

• In the end, did I achieve what I wanted to trigger?

It is all these questions that stand in my way when creating EVERY scene and keep standing in front of me until I have justifiably put them to run.

So for me every scene is a little struggle with the story itself.

Fortunately, the characters in the story stand by my side, who, thanks to their autonomous behavior, do exactly what needs to be done.

I then "just" have to put it into words . . .

This is where I write down when I've made radical changes to a scene that give it a whole new sense of purpose.

These comments are important in case I have to work on this scene again later, because one of the first ideas was perhaps more important or correct.

This field in my workboard is, so to speak, the chronicle of each individual scene, and shows me the various stages of development up to the finished book.

Here it goes to the nitty-gritty: I have noted various attributes on this bar, which I can activate or deactivate depending on the volume.

So I can always see very quickly at a glance whether I am still in the desired dramaturgical sequence with this scene (i.e. the plot of the story prepared by me).

At TIMEWULF, violence and blood play a central role, which has great symbolic power.

This is not (only) about mere horror and / or splatter effects, but rather a whole series of metaphors, analogies and cataclysms that are intended to convey the philosophy of the story, which is located between the lines of the text.

This is exactly where one of the next points comes into play:

Imagination is the tool that helps me to transport the philosophical content directly into the mind of the reader.

Without this stylistic device, a story like the TIMEWULF saga would not be possible at all.

However, the proportion of fantastic content varies greatly from scene to scene. It often happens that the balancing act between fantasy and reality is often dwindling.

This tab helps me (in relation to the other tabs, next to him) to see whether the content of this scene fits the context of the other scenes and is as logical as possible.

As in point 12, these clues serve to orientate which genre(s) I serve in the scene in question.

Accordingly, not only the overall story itself can be attributed to one or more genres, but also each scene in itself - because that changes with each scene.

Sometimes science fiction or history predominate. Sometimes they balance each other out.

By switching on and off the respective tabs I set further clues for my mind to get a quicker overview.

Now you may ask, why do I go to all this trouble? The answer is simple: Try as a layman to find a certain place in the Bible. Or in the complete works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

It can be very helpful if you have a good system that takes you by the hand and leads to quick results.

The size and complexity of the TIMEWULF tricycle forced me to create this system. I could not manage it any other way.

At this point I insert plotting symbols (developed by myself) that I also have physically (as magnets) on my whiteboard.

These symbols help me to find the most important plotting stages of the tricycle at a glance.

They serve as reference points, so to speak, in the infinite vastness of the tricycle and give me great confidence in keeping track of the overall story.

Scenes in a new story should ideally stand out from what readers and viewers already know. That's one of the biggest challenges for a writer.

Point 15 is one of the last important checkpoints I make after I've invented a scene.

So I ask myself: Is this scene truly unique, or does it at least fit into the narrative flow well enough that it acquires some uniqueness factor along with the other scenes in the current sequence?

If that's the case, I activate this tab. This way I can see at a glance how big the uniqueness factor of the overall story is.

Only when a scene is finished being designed and ideally also finished being written, does it get a heading.

The scene heading, is another orientation aid that works like a link in my brain.

By writing the scene, I have spent a long time thinking about this situation and my brain already associates the scene with distinct visual stimuli that I have already consciously placed during the creation of the scene.

Like a catchy song, the scene has now taken up a permanent place in my brain and through the scene heading it is recalled like a memorized melody.

So I have programmed my brain.

If there is dialogue or monologue in the scene, I choose the most memorable text to use it as an anchor point.

This is important to trigger a feeling that goes along with the scene heading.

The impulse programmed into the mind is reinforced by this saying.

If there is no dialogue or monologue, I think of a funny or shocking description of the scene that I can associate with the scene heading.

If the scene is complete, it gets a green check mark, so that I know that I don't have to work on this scene anymore.

However, it often happens that I have to turn this check mark off again because the scene in question has to be rewritten due to important changes in the overall story.

So again, I have a point of reference for myself to see how far along I am overall with finishing the scenes and the overall story.

So that's it, the overall description of my writing system.

As you can see, it is not so easy to write a story on such a scale as TIMEWULF. But it is doable.

Of course, every author has to develop his/her own system that works best for him/her.

Maybe I could give you some ideas to create your own system.

I am happy about any feedback.

Best regards,

A.A.Lucas