Dawn James

29/10/2016

On Design Thinking: A Reflection On Reworking A Novel

A year ago I began working on a novel with the idea that all I needed was a cast of characters, a

world and a plot that went from A to B. I could not have been more wrong. Around three-fourths of

the way through the novel, I found myself writing without direction, caught in the nitty-gritties of

detail, worldbuilding and characters; unable to extract the story and push it in the direction that I

wanted it to go in. Towards the very end of the writing, the story had spiraled out of control, into

something that had too many motifs and themes to be truly thoughtful. It was directionless and

frequently contradictory – even incoherent, in places, with incomplete character arcs that ended in

the classic rookie writer’s problem: they simply disappeared off the map altogether.

This is, perhaps, an unorthodox example to pick for a design thinking project. But as I listened to the

lectures on design thinking, I was forcibly struck by the similarities between the description of the

process – what is, what if, what wows, what works – and the ways in which this process parallels the

creation of a novel. Early on in the lectures, Diaz picked apart the concept of the Moses

myth of creativity, i.e. that creativity resides purely in genius and is not something which can be

cultivated or organized. This was when I realized that all along I’d been treating the novel as a

mysterious entity which could only be produced through genius, rather than a project which could

be managed systematically – which, dare I say, could even be created by using design thinking

principles.

Selection & Application

So I went back to the drawing board and decided to treat the novel as a project, rather than a

mysterious entity which would spring fully formed from my mind. I selected the Visualization tool

we’d explored over the five weeks for this and began to rebuild my novel from the ground up. The

visualization tool felt like the appropriate choice in that it is a useful way in which to place ideas

which are not necessarily easily verbalized on paper – which gives it a tangible presence that makes

it easier to discern unconscious and latent patterns, needs and desires that would not have been

immediately evident otherwise. The intangible nature of themes and motifs were best matched to

the visualization tool which enables the formulation of the intangible in a way that makes it easier to

grasp and think about. It was also an excellent way of escaping from the tendency to return to

outlines and other collected material – words, in other words – and to force me to take a step back

and think outside the box – outside my preconceived notions and ideas – when examining what I

wanted to do with my novel.

Dawn James

29/10/2016

Rather than turn this process over to a group of people, however, I used the visualization tool in a

more personal and auto-ethnographical sense, to express the various concepts, themes and motifs –

occasionally even moments – I had been exploring in my novel. I did this by creating several collage-

cum-moodboard of images and fragments of thoughts, phrases and ideas that were both academic

and literary or poetical which I had been both unconsciously and consciously examining – which

struck a chord with me whenever I thought about my novel’s plot, various characters and themes. I

then laid it out and tried to trace the patterns and themes which emerged, to be more conscious of

what I had been working with and to see how they all fit together within the context of my novel.

Insights & Approach

By thinking conceptually, rather than falling back on the standard formats of novel outlining, I began

to notice certain themes and ideas which were connecting characters who had existed very

separately on the page before. Where they once crossed each other without ever interacting or even

appearing linked except for the bare necessities of plot, I noticed certain ideas which kept cropping

up and recurring, visually framed, across these different characters. They weren’t necessarily similar

themes so much as motifs; symbolic elements which I had failed to be conscious of while writing,

which had led to the characters meandering all over the page without necessarily going anywhere.

As a tool, the visualization tool forced me to quite literally build from scratch – to stay away from

falling back on ‘safe’ and ‘known’ things like the plot outline and the lists and sheets I’d built up over

the last year – and by doing so, it formed a new framework of thinking about the novel. I had a

‘thesis statement’, now, for the piece: one unifying theme and question I could come back to when I

worked on the various elements of the story. It was being able to reframe these verbal ideas I’d had

and transferring them into another medium, one which was more conceptual – like a Rorschach, as

it was called in one of the video lectures – that made it easier to trace the more subconscious

connections – or the possible subconscious connections at play – and to unify them in patterns and

ideas that could form a thesis statement for my novel.

I’d used this tool a few times before when writing stories, but doing it in light of thinking of it as a

design thinking tool helped me to be a lot more conscious of the process and to treat this less as a

fun or relaxing activity and more as a learning experience. These images and fragments of concepts

weren’t just images but tools which could yield insights into my own unconscious desires and needs

while writing this novel – a way of understanding what I’d wanted to explore and how to be

conscious about it, instead of going about it vaguely as I did before.

Dawn James

29/10/2016

If I continued using design thinking on this novel, I’d add the Mind-Mapping tool to the process. The

idea of the Mind-Mapping tool as a gallery of data which stakeholders could be led through, noting

what seemed could yield potential ideas – the good stuff – and then later, clustering it all together in

a way which could yield connections and insights seems pertinent in particular. This tool seems best

suited for laying out all the disparate concepts, characters and events I’d wanted to write about –

the data, as it were – and distilling them into something coherent and connected I could then

present to my beta-readers and writer friends along with my new ‘thesis’ question, as a means of

figuring out where to dig deeper into what suits my novel – what fits this project best.


Dawn James 29/10/2016 On Design Thinking : A Reflection On Reworking A Novel A year ago I began working on a novel with the idea that all I needed was a cast of characters , a world and a plot that went from A to B. I could not have been more wrong . Around three - fourths of the way through the novel , I found myself writing without direction , caught in the nitty - gritties of detail , worldbuilding and characters ; unable to extract the story and push it in the direction that I wanted it to go in . Towards the very end of the writing , the story had spiraled out of control , into something that had too many motifs and themes to be truly thoughtful . It was directionless and frequently contradictory – even incoherent , in places , with incomplete character arcs that ended in the classic rookie writer ’s problem : they simply disappeared off the map altogether . This is , perhaps , an unorthodox example to pick for a design thinking project . But as I listened to the lectures on design thinking , I was forcibly struck by the similarities between the description of the process – what is , what if , what wows , what works – and the ways in which this process parallels the creation of a novel . Early on in the lectures , Diaz picked apart the concept of the Moses myth of creativity , i.e. that creativity resides purely in genius and is not something which can be cultivated or organized . This was when I realized that all along I ’d been treating the novel as a mysterious entity which could only be produced through genius , rather than a project which could be managed systematically – which , dare I say , could even be created by using design thinking principles . Selection & Application So I went back to the drawing board and decided to treat the novel as a project , rather than a mysterious entity which would spring fully formed from my mind . I selected the Visualization tool we ’d explored over the five weeks for this and began to rebuild my novel from the ground up . The visualization tool felt like the appropriate choice in that it is a useful way in which to place ideas which are not necessarily easily verbalized on paper – which gives it a tangible presence that makes it easier to discern unconscious and latent patterns , needs and desires that would not have been immediately evident otherwise . The intangible nature of themes and motifs were best matched to the visualization tool which enables the formulation of the intangible in a way that makes it easier to grasp and think about . It was also an excellent way of escaping from the tendency to return to outlines and other collected material – words , in other words – and to force me to take a step back and think outside the box – outside my preconceived notions and ideas – when examining what I wanted to do with my novel . Dawn James 29/10/2016 Rather than turn this process over to a group of people , however , I used the visualization tool in a more personal and auto - ethnographical sense , to express the various concepts , themes and motifs – occasionally even moments – I had been exploring in my novel . I did this by creating several collage- cum - moodboard of images and fragments of thoughts , phrases and ideas that were both academic and literary or poetical which I had been both unconsciously and consciously examining – which struck a chord with me whenever I thought about my novel ’s plot , various characters and themes . I then laid it out and tried to trace the patterns and themes which emerged , to be more conscious of what I had been working with and to see how they all fit together within the context of my novel . Insights & Approach By thinking conceptually , rather than falling back on the standard formats of novel outlining , I began to notice certain themes and ideas which were connecting characters who had existed very separately on the page before . Where they once crossed each other without ever interacting or even appearing linked except for the bare necessities of plot , I noticed certain ideas which kept cropping up and recurring , visually framed , across these different characters . They were n’t necessarily similar themes so much as motifs ; symbolic elements which I had failed to be conscious of while writing , which had led to the characters meandering all over the page without necessarily going anywhere . As a tool , the visualization tool forced me to quite literally build from scratch – to stay away from falling back on ‘ safe ’ and ‘ known ’ things like the plot outline and the lists and sheets I ’d built up over the last year – and by doing so , it formed a new framework of thinking about the novel . I had a ‘ thesis statement ’ , now , for the piece : one unifying theme and question I could come back to when I worked on the various elements of the story . It was being able to reframe these verbal ideas I ’d had and transferring them into another medium , one which was more conceptual – like a Rorschach , as it was called in one of the video lectures – that made it easier to trace the more subconscious connections – or the possible subconscious connections at play – and to unify them in patterns and ideas that could form a thesis statement for my novel . I ’d used this tool a few times before when writing stories , but doing it in light of thinking of it as a design thinking tool helped me to be a lot more conscious of the process and to treat this less as a fun or relaxing activity and more as a learning experience . These images and fragments of concepts were n’t just images but tools which could yield insights into my own unconscious desires and needs while writing this novel – a way of understanding what I ’d wanted to explore and how to be conscious about it , instead of going about it vaguely as I did before . Dawn James 29/10/2016 If I continued using design thinking on this novel , I ’d add the Mind - Mapping tool to the process . The idea of the Mind - Mapping tool as a gallery of data which stakeholders could be led through , noting what seemed could yield potential ideas – the good stuff – and then later , clustering it all together in a way which could yield connections and insights seems pertinent in particular . This tool seems best suited for laying out all the disparate concepts , characters and events I ’d wanted to write about – the data , as it were – and distilling them into something coherent and connected I could then present to my beta - readers and writer friends along with my new ‘ thesis ’ question , as a means of figuring out where to dig deeper into what suits my novel – what fits this project best .