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ADVICE FOR ANYONE WHO CANT THINK OF PLOT
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That's interesting. I like reading how people do things and that's the utter opposite of my method. I've never once created a character trait list like that at any stage of a story. That's not to say either way is better or worse, it's just what works for you. Your method is good if you can create characters in your mind beforehand, which I can't do. And your method is great if you write character driven stories. You define the people and then work to find out what their story is.Personally I tend to write plot-driven stories and the people come later. So to me a plot is essentially about solving a problem. So I'll come up with an interesting problem. I'll write a scene or two introducing that problem. That requires me to create people who have that problem. At first they are nothing more than names but the more I write the more I learn about them and so by the time I wind them up to solve the problem the people exist in my mind and I know how they'll react to the situation. By then I'm into the story and writing away happily.
Two ways essentially to get to the same point, which'll work either well or not depending on your mindset.
thats really interesting, thanks for posting. i just know that one of the most commonly asked questions on goodreads is 'i love to write but i dont know how to start' and i thought making this thread could be so people could share their methods. thanks!
I write character-driven romances. For my god-Princes of Tigron (Space Snark) series, I started with a family tree going back 4 generations.My advice for anyone wishing to write and not knowing where to start would be to read 2 books.
"Characterization and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card
"Twenty Master Plots" by Ronald Tobias.
There are 4 types of book. Orson Scott Card used M.I.C.E. as a memnemonic.
M is for Milieu, or worldbuilding. Sometimes, the place or the planet really is the star of your story. (Groan at my pun!). If that's what you are writing, you definitely start with either a big bang, or with that planet's sun.
I is for Idea. It may be an impossible conundrum to solve, or a particularly devious and hard to detect way of killing people. I'd call Greg Iles's "True Evil" a novel of idea. Also, Asimov's "The Gods Themselves" which features an impossible equation.
C is for Character-driven stories, in which case, everything that happens is a result of a logical choice (good or bad) made by the hero/heroine, and the way he is determines how he gets into trouble, and how he gets out of it. Pantsers tend to write character-driven stories.
E is for Event, or plot. That's where the series of spectacular doings are more important to the author than who is doing the blowing up, chasing, etc etc. Plot-driven stories make the best movies! Arguably, they are also the fastest to write.
The most important 3 pages you will write are the first three. Sometimes you have to rewrite your entire book several times in order to start the book in the right place.
The right starting place is the moment that either the hero's or the heroine's life is changed.
The first line has to be "a stopper" or a hook. Emily Bryan had a good one in "Distracting the Duchess" when the heroine announces: "I'm going to have to shorten his willy."
Makes you want to know what happens next, doesn't it? Is the Duchess a Regency lorena bobbit? Actually, no.
You need M+I+C+E in every book, but you won't have the word count (usually 90,000 words) to do full justice to all 4.
The Tobias book shows you how the great classic plots are structured and developed. Every story is a version of a story that has already been done.
I like to take two of Tobias's plots and mix them, for instance (this was my starting premise for Insufficient Mating Material )Green Acres type underdog hero meets Taming of the Shrew heroine on deserted sub-tropical alien island.
Wordy. Hollywood loves "Story Type V meets Story Type Y with lots of XXX". Check out the movie synopses on the cable tv guides.
With a Romance, the plot goes: boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl back and they live happily ever after.
For Knight's Fork (a very snarky story) the plot went:
queen sees young god. Queen asks young god to be sperm donor. Young god says no. Queen asks again in badly chosen location and is seen.
However, the best advice is to get something down on paper, and then keep writing. You can fix drivel later, you cannot edit a blank page.
Rowena Cherry
Djinn Family Tree
Rowena - that's an interesting post. Penelope - that's a detailed character list, what with phone number and and skills and salary and all.
the purpose of the "resume" is to give depth to your characters and make them more believable. :)
lol i usually know about half that stuff before i start to write.
For what it's worth, I do none of the above.I start with an idea. Not an idea for a story, but an abstract idea. For example, with my book Mindset I had the idea that telepathic societies would logically be extremely reactionary, rather than advanced and enlightened as usually portrayed (think about it).
Then I just start writing. No plot notes, character bios, nothing. I also don't read anything I've written until the story is finished.
Seems to work for me, and it prevents all the agonising that people seem to go through trying to get started.
Pat - do you sometimes lose track of your character? not the main one, because i am thinking you will know all that and don't need a character sheet for the main character, but other minor characters?
No, not really. I once had a moment of confusion when proofing a finished work, but it turned out I'd simply changed a character's name half-way through.I also had a story with two characters, Sarah and Susan, and I found I'd occasionally used the wrong name - but all easily fixed.
Sometimes I need to tweek the time-lines a bit, where I haven't allowed a realist period between events (once a journalist started writing a book and took it to his publisher three days later - oh! don't you just wish!)
lucky you! sometimes i do. sometimes i forget how i described someone and need to look it up, either in the text or in character sheets.
I guess this is because I don't have any idea of who the characters are or what they are like when I start. With a technique like mine they just appear when needed (and sometimes when they're most definitely not needed) and their characters develop of their own accord as the story progresses.My writing style is such that there is little detailed description, other than required by the plot. I work on the basis that, put simply, if a character enters a forest, I don't need to describe it - the reader will automatically form an image of it in their own minds. The fact that three readers might imagine three different forests is of no matter, nor do they need to imagine the same forest I do.
It is only when there is something specific about the forest, some detail, that is pertinent to the story, will I put the reader on course by describing it.
yeah but what happens if a character appears in chapter 1 and doesn't show up again until 50 pages later?
I can't really answer that. I don't seem to lose them (or I've lost them so thoroughly I don't know they're gone). It's odd really, because I don't have a tidy mind.Then I suppose if I did, I'd make all the notes and lists others seem to do. I guess I don't simply because I can't. As I said before, I don't know where the story is going or who will be involved.
All that said, I've nearly finished my sixth novel and so far it's worked, but that is not to say I won't come crashing down in a heap on number seven.
If you wake up one day to the (very) distant sound of sobbing, you'll know what's happened.
okay. i wish i had the trick of that. :p
Rowena wrote: "I write character-driven romances. For my god-Princes of Tigron (Space Snark) series, I started with a family tree going back 4 generations.Hi Rowena,
I also love the book by Orson Scott Card. One of my fav authors and one of the few whose books on writing are as interesting and informative as his actual fiction.
I start with the plot or idea and then write myself a 1-3 page outline of the general story arc. Then I describe my characters and pick their names (very important IMO.) And then I'm ready to write.
Hi, Evangeline,Since there's a note by your name saying you are new, Welcome to GoodReads!
Best wishes,
Rowena
Rowena wrote: "Hi, Evangeline,Since there's a note by your name saying you are new, Welcome to GoodReads!
Best wishes,
Rowena"
Thanks Rowena,
I just stumbled upon it and it looks like a great site. But then how can you go wrong with a site dedicated to books and reading. : ) E
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Books mentioned in this topic
Knight's Fork (other topics)Insufficient Mating Material (other topics)
sorry, i had to get that off first thing, because no one will respect you as a writer if you write a knock-off vampire romance.
I do one of the following things to create a story.
1) i write junk. Junk is whatevers on the top of your head. Literally. anything. Just keep writing until your creative juices start to trickle out.
2) i make up one strong, deep character with a family and tons of quirks. heres the 'charater resume' i use when doing this:
Name:
Age:
Address & Phone Number:
Date & Place of Birth:
Height/Weight/Physical Description:
Citizenship/Ethnic Origin:
Parents' Names & Occupations:
Other Family Members:
Spouse or Lover:
Friends' Names & Occupations:
Social Class:
Education:
Occupation/Employer:
Salary:
Community Status:
Job-Related Skills:
Political Beliefs/Affiliations:
Hobbies/Recreations:
Personal Qualities (imagination, taste, etc.):
Ambitions:
Fears/Anxieties/Hang-ups:
Intelligence:
Sense of Humor:
Most Painful Setback/Disappointment:
Most Instructive/Meaningful Experience:
Health/Physical Condition/Distinguishing Marks/Disabilities:
Sexual Orientation/Experience/Values:
Tastes in food, drink, art, music, literature, decor, clothing:
Attitude toward Life:
Attitude toward Death:
Philosophy of Life (in a phrase):
Handwriting:
3) i just start writing. I know it sounds painfully obvious and dull, but it works. Just use the first name on the top of your head (sometimes i use a name i hate, so then later i grow attached to it) and write. write write write. Write five pages. And no cheating by changing the font or margins. You'll never be a successful writer if you dont push yourself the first time.
good luck with your writing! :)