Top all-time · #6729
Randy Ingermanson
Personal blog · advancedfictionwriting.com/articleswriting
Randy Ingermanson writes Advanced Fiction Writing, a personal blog at advancedfictionwriting.com about writing. Since 2009, 12 different Hacker News readers have linked it 14 times, most often “How to write a novel using the snowflake method (2013)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-29, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (8) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method, a step-by-step approach to planning a novel by starting from a one-sentence summary and expanding it. Commenters also say it suits non-fiction.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 8 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson is America's Mad Professor of Fiction Writing. Discover why everyone's talking about Randy's methods for how to write a novel.
Most-linked posts?
- How to write a novel using the snowflake method (2013)5 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2018-05-23
- How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2009-07-24
- /articles/snowflake-method/2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2013-06-05
What Hacker News says?
https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-me...
Comment linking /articles/snowflake-method/
on “Dungeons and Dragons taught me how to write alt text”Submitted How to write a novel using the snowflake method (2013) as a story · 125 points
HN discussionWhy stop at essays or technical articles? As an engineer, I've always been fascinated by the structure and inner mechanics of stories - what makes them work. As a hobby I've done a lot of reading around this; I've written three feature-length screenplays, and a novel you can find in Amazon[1], using very structure-centric approaches (as a result, my characters tend to be too flat). Take a look at The Snowflake Metho…
Comment linking /articles/snowflake-method/
on “Software engineers should write”Submitted How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method as a story · 6 points
HN discussionI like the snowflake method [0]. It gives you a very strict plan. Disclaimer: I have not written a novel yet. [0] http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-met...
Comment linking /articles/snowflake-method/
on “How to Write a Novel”Submitted The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel as a story · 2 points
HN discussionLooks like a good argument for the Snowflake method [0]. This method is basically to "develop" a novel, by starting with a single sentence and gradually expanding it into the novel. In contrast, the other method (pansing) is to start writing the first chapter immediately. For either approach you find great writers using them. It seems to be a question of personality. [0] http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/sno…
Comment linking /art/snowflake.php
on “How I went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words a day”Submitted How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method as a story · 2 points
HN discussionMaybe relevant to those interested: The Snowflake Method https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-me... The gist (might work better for fiction, unsure): write a single sentence summary, then, three sentences to describe what major things happen, then fractal it out - keep expanding. This way, from the start, you have a cohesive story with a planned-out arc.
Comment linking /articles/snowflake-method/
on “The Tools I Use to Write Books (2018)”Submitted How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method as a story · 2 points
HN discussionBasic writing advice: http://apostate.com/how-to-say-nothing-in-500-words Macro structure: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php Though it inclines towards fiction, I find it useful with non-fiction as well.
Comment linking /art/snowflake.php
on “Ask HN: How do you write great sentences, paragraphs, or articles?”Submitted A software engineers approach to fiction as a story · 1 points
HN discussionHave a look at this guideline, very useful for starting https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-me...
Comment linking /articles/snowflake-method/
on “Ask HN: Writing a book?”You should at least follow some process like the snowflake method [0] to maintain consistency. [0] http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-met...
Comment linking /articles/snowflake-method/
on “Open source your novel”
