Blending Lean's Sequence with the Snowflake Method

Why Sequences Beat Acts for Novels

David Lean, director of Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, said "Every work can be divided into between eight and twelve major sequences." This principle works beautifully for novels because readers consume books over days or weeks, not in one sitting. The three-act structure feels constraining when your audience takes natural breaks every few chapters.

Each sequence functions as a mini-story with its own dramatic question, rising tension, and climactic turning point. Think of sequences as major story movements. The Fellowship of the Ring has the Shire-to-Bree journey, the flight to Rivendell, the Council, Moria, Lothlórien and the breaking of the Fellowship. Each could almost stand alone while building toward the larger epic.

Integrating Sequences with the Snowflake Method

Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method traditionally uses four-act structure: Setup, three disasters, and ending. Replace this with Lean sequences at Step 4.

Modified Step 4: Instead of five paragraphs covering acts, write one paragraph per sequence (8-12 total). Each paragraph should answer:

• What dramatic question drives this sequence?
• What turning point ends it and propels into the next?
• Which disaster, revelation or complication occurs?

Everything else in Snowflake remains unchanged: character work, scene lists, iterative expansion all function identically. You're simply organizing around concrete dramatic movements rather than abstract act divisions.

Step 8 Enhancement: Add a "Sequence" column to your scene spreadsheet, grouping scenes by their sequence number. This ensures each sequence has sufficient scenes to develop its question and reach its climax.

Building Sequence Questions

Every sequence question must complicate your story's central dramatic question without resolving it until your climax.

Work backward from your ending:

• Final sequence: What remains after the choice is made?
• Previous sequence: What immediate crisis forces the choice?
• Continue backward until you reach your opening

Work forward from your beginning:

• First sequence: What's the protagonist's initial capability/goal?
• Each answer creates the next question through cause-and-effect
• Pattern: Achievement → Complication → New Question

The Three-Phase Pattern

Early Sequences (3-4): Establish capability and gather resources

• Questions: Can protagonist do X? What tools/knowledge/allies do they need?
• Purpose: Build protagonist's capacity to engage with central conflict
• Pattern: Each success introduces new complication

Middle Sequences (3-5): Escalate stakes and complicate values

• Questions: What happens when pursuing the goal creates new problems?
• Purpose: Force protagonist to refine approach or reconsider assumptions
• Variations: Moral dilemmas, hidden costs, shifting understanding, escalating opposition, internal conflicts
• Your story's theme emerges here through complications

Late Sequences (2-4): Force resolution and deal with consequences

• Questions: Can protagonist achieve/fix/save? What does resolution cost?
• Purpose: Answer central question and show what that answer means
• Pattern: Decisive action → Immediate consequences → Long-term impact

Testing Your Structure

Each sequence question should:

1. Arise from the previous sequence's answer (causality)
2. Complicate the central question without resolving it
3. Force a choice or revelation at its turning point
4. Escalate stakes beyond the previous sequence

If a sequence feels weak, check whether its question directly connects to your central dramatic question. If not, either strengthen the connection or consider whether that sequence belongs in this story.