Chapter 1: In Which You Choose Writing-Craft!
About the Video Author
People also ask:
What is Ruby Granger doing now?
I am currently looking to connect with people committed to literacy advocacy. I hope to use my online reach (1m+ followers across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok) to support childhood literacy.
Did Ruby Granger get into Oxford?
I recently finished my Masters at Oxford University, and am now working on what I hope will be my debut novel.
Outline a Story or Fly by the Seat of Your Pants?
How you start writing a story makes all the difference. Authors take one of two routes at this point in drafting a first round of a story:
Outlining plot points, timelines and character activities
Stream of consciousness writing where you sit down and start writing whatever comes to mind
Stephen King, horror author guru in the USA, is all about stream of consciousness style writing, as discussed in his writing memoir, “On Writing.” Own it, read it, and recommend that book to anyone who either loves Stephen King like I do or wants to be an author one day.
The Snowflake Method, however, is also great for learning how to write a book outline. Using the Goldilocks and the Three Bears, author and scientist Randy Ingermanson teaches writers and readers how to outline. Yes, while using a fictional fairy tale—it works!
I was on the newsletter email list he was sending out for decades that had the best marketing info for writers. Now let me share you his method, which is freely available online (I have tried using this method and prefer this for outlining stories of all lengths).
How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method
The Snowflake Method is a novel-writing technique that starts with a single sentence and iteratively expands it into a full story, building detail layer by layer, like a snowflake growing from a single point.
It involves starting with a one-sentence summary, expanding it to a paragraph, developing main characters, fleshing out the plot paragraph by paragraph, creating scene lists, and finally writing the first draft, with each step building on the last.
10-Step Snowflake Method
One-Sentence Summary: Write a single sentence that captures the core of your story (e.g., "A young wizard discovers his magical heritage and must defeat the dark lord who killed his parents”).
Paragraph Summary: Expand the sentence into a five-sentence paragraph, covering the setup, major turning points, and ending.
Character Summaries: Write a one-paragraph summary for each main character, focusing on their goals, conflicts, and what they'll learn (their epiphany).
Expand the Plot Paragraph: Take each sentence from your paragraph summary (Step 2) and expand it into a full paragraph, creating a one-page story outline.
Expand the Character Summaries: Expand the character paragraphs (Step 3) into full pages, adding backstories, motivations, and details.
Write a Four-Page Synopsis: Expand the plot outline from Step 4 into a four-page synopsis, adding more detail to the sequence of events.
Create Character Charts: Develop detailed character charts with information like physical appearance, birthdates, and more.
List Your Scenes: Create a list of all the scenes needed to tell the story, moving from one major plot point to the next.
Write Scene Descriptions: Write a one-paragraph description for each scene on your list.
Write the First Draft: Begin writing the novel, using your detailed outline and scene descriptions as a guide.
Back to Streaming Your Consciousness
I like writing stream-of-conscious style for a number of reasons:
The writing style works for Stephen F. King.
If you journal, or do Morning Pages, then you are using this style of writing.
By writing whatever comes to mind, you free up yourself from dwelling on ideas, thus journaling.
This style is easy to do—just sit down and write whatever you think of.
The problem with stream-of-consciousness writing is that sometimes your mind is not in the right place. You start writing curse words or negative thoughts that will not let you go—about your mom making you mad or having a bad day.
This is not what you want, you think, so you are not sure how to proceed. Do you use that kind of writing in a shareable story? Maybe, but probably not. Most of the rants and raves of writers are just that and we all know it, and most of the time people reading choose other material.
Therefore, only if you are in a super creative zone and have done a lot of research on a subject should you consider stream-of-consciousness style drafting.
What Do You Want to Write Today?
I have published a literary magazine that is available for free to download to share some of my stories with you. The magazine, “Elite Glossies,” will be published twice annually—in summer and autumn, when I write the best and most.
In the first Volume 01 2026 Summer edition you will see there are 4 chapters written to stimulate the creative fiction writing process. The first chapter, The Constraint-Based Chapter, starts with the following instructions each volume:
Require stories to include three specific words, a photographic prompt, or write in a specific format (micro-fiction under 100 words or Hemingway-style 6-word stories).
Then I have three more chapters titled:
The Genre-Bending Sage Chapter
The Place-Based Area Chapter
The Structural Challenger Chapter
I am sharing this free literary magazine—just featuring my own fiction—in order to show you how you too can start a literary journal or magazine for yourself. There are thousands, literally, of print journals and magazines that you can submit literary fiction to for publication. However, the satisfaction of filling a small journal or magazine with just your fiction is priceless—and worth it, in my opinion.
This is a practice in getting something published, even if it is for yourself and only available digitally. Of course, you will want to handwrite your stories or print these out on paper for prosperity, even if you never plan to share or sell them.
You can download a free copy of “Elite Glossies” on the Course Available Downloads tabs, as well as here on AuthorinSession.blog.
‘Til the next chapter, happy writing!
Miranda Yearwood