Iterative and Incremental (Narrative) Development

A few weeks ago, I promised that I'd draw a connection between software development and writing, which forms the logical basis behind how I've been writing (or attempting to write) in recent months. However, I'm not going to draw this unsurprising connection without first boring you with a little personal background.

The 5 years that I spent in college chasing my first bachelors degree were not spent studying writing (as this blog might lead you to believe), but rather the supposedly lucrative field of "Computer and Information Technology".

One of the topics that I found particularly interesting were the agile software development methodologies, most of which were generally associated with iterative and incremental development, which is based on the idea that software can be broken into logical increments that can be developed in cyclic iterations.

You might be wondering how this applies in any reasonable way to writing. To be honest, it's not as complicated as you might think. Let's demystify:

1. Initial Planning: This is the first step of the process, in which a software development team would define the software they mean to develop in the simplest terms.
   
   Do that. Write a paragraph to summarize your idea. You can even think of said paragraph as a teaser you might read on the back of the hypothetical book you're writing.
   
2. Planning and Requirements: This is where the development team would define in the first logical increment in their project and document the technology that would be required to make it work.
   
   What you should do at this point is consider what you want to accomplish with the segment of the narrative that you're working with. What should happen? What characters need to be involved? Where should it take place?
   
   
3. Analysis/Design and Implementation: At this point the development team would define in much greater detail the logical workings of the functional increment they are working on. This is immediately followed by implementation, during which they build the increment.
   
   Likewise, you'll be writing the part of your narrative that you've decided to tackle. This is seemingly the most straightforward step in each iteration, but it should prove to be the most time consuming part.
   
   
4. Testing: During this phase, software development teams test the software they've written to make sure that works as expected.
   
   Proofread your work. Does it make sense? Does it accomplish what you decided that it should accomplish a few phases ago?
   
   
5. Evaluation: This phase is incredibly important for iterative and incremental development. The development team tests the functional element that they've been working on to make sure that it works within the context of the rest of the system.
   
   At this point you should examine what you've writing to make sure that it doesn't break the story or contradict other parts of your story. This is absolutely critical to the cohesiveness of your narrative.
   
   
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until...
   Deployment: The development team delivers a completed software project.
   
   And you're done!

The good news about this method as it applies to writing is that it can be as formal or informal as you want it to be. You can write short iterations of a few paragraphs at a time or pages at a time with fewer iterative cycles. You can even build the writing in any order you like... just as long as you pay attention during the evaluation phase. The key to this method as with any creative process is to find what works for you.

Imperative

It's been several months since I've posted anything, and in that time I've been fighting it out with a pretty mean writers block.  I might just be winning the battle right now.

What follows is a writing exercise from Brian Kiteley's The 3 A.M. Epiphany:

An Execution — Write a fragment of a story that is made up entirely of imperative commands: Do this; do that; contemplate the rear end of the woman who is walking out of your life. This exercise will be a sort of second-person narration (a you is implied in the imperative).

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     Pull on a black mask and step out of the van. Run to the door. Swiftly enter the bank. Lift your gun-holding hand into the air and your voice along with it.

     “Get on the ground!” Grab the burlap sack from your accomplice. Throw it at a teller. Order her not to do anything stupid. “Don’t panic! Just give us the money!” Shake the gun at the scared patrons. “Don’t even think about moving if you want to live!” Walk to the women crying in the corner. Ask her if she’s got any children. “Get up! Go tell your children you love them.” Smile as the woman scurries through the glass doors and out onto the street. Hear the sirens begin to wail in the distance. “Hurry up, Kennedy! Grab the money!” Take the sack from the accomplice. “Get the van.” Hear the sirens growing louder. Point to man in the expensive suit. “Get up! Come with me.” Nod toward the van as it pulls up to the doors. “Get in.” Follow the man through the glass doors. Hear the sirens growing louder still. Open the door. Push the man into the van. “Step on it, Kennedy.” Feel the van’s tires screech underneath you. Look back at the man. “Move and you die.” Lurch forward as one of the van’s rear tires is blown out.

     “Pull the vehicle over now!”

     “Don’t stop, Kennedy.” Feel the van swerve as another tire is blown out, causing the van leave the road. Brace yourself as the van tumbles down the embankment. Slam into the windshield as the van enters a retention pond. Push on the door. Kick against the door. Give up on the door. Think frantically of a way to escape the van. “Help me, Kennedy!” Kick the windshield. Try to remain calm as the remains of the windshield give way and water begins to rush in. Hold your breath as the water fills the van. Swim to the back of the van, and push it open. Barely make it to the surface before passing out. Swim to the shore.

     “Don’t move!” Drop to your knees when the police officers approach you, guns bared. Allow yourself to be handcuffed and dragged to a police car. Exhale deeply as the door is closed on your life.