Unpacking Secrets: How Classic Storytelling Reveals Hidden Truths in Suburban Memoirs
I approached the draft like an architect studying a building. Using a spreadsheet, I gave each of O’Brien’s vignettes its own tab and broke them down into foundational story components: summary, characters and thematic and structural components to transfer.
Once I had the blueprint created, I started listening to the audiobook. Brought back to the jungle, I stored ideas for possible story adaptation and titles on the spreadsheet. I brainstormed, and when ideas for specific chapters came to me at random times, I used my phone to access the spreadsheet and typed them up quickly into the corresponding chapter tab. The spreadsheet allowed me to see the book as a series of small projects instead of a cathedral to build by hand.
