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Honestly, I think the first and most important step is just to write. Everything else is secondary.If you find it easier to start out with short stories, that's fine. I enjoy writing short fiction to the point where it consumes most of the time I should be working on my novel :)
I got a degree in IT and I write all the time. There's always time to nurture and explore your creativity. Always.That being said, no two people's journey through the creative process is exactly the same. You just have to do what works best for you. I have no organization system whatsoever. I just write something and save it in a writing folder. When I need it, it's there. If you need a super complex method of organization, then only you can really determine what you need. But the most important part is that you're exercising that creative muscle.
We have enough in common that I think I can help you with a few things. I'm originally a physicist, but been working in the IT sector for a very long time. I have also been constantly full of ideas. I'm only about to publish my second book and preparing the third and that won't make me a veteran, but at least a few steps ahead where you currently are.As mentioned I always have ideas and read as much as I can beside work. One of the challenges in becoming an author for me was to find the right language. People with scientific background are used to say things in a short, clear way. To the point. When you write stories, you have too loosen up. Most readers will not be scientists or engineers and reading a fiction book is about having a good time and get thoughts to chew on. You have to find your way to express your thoughts in a new form. Along the way you will find the possibility to add more and more content.
My view is that you should start to write short stories. Leave behind the stress of publishing them right away and simply have fun with writing them. Show them to friends and beta readers. If you have some nurtured favourite stories you really want to publish, you may put them on hold for a while. Writing should become like riding a bike. At first you concentrate on staying upright and try to reach the end. Later you plan a route and enjoy the ride.
Well... these were some of the important experiences I gathered along the way until now. Goodreads is a fine place to find people to get feedback. Depending on my time I try to do a lot of reviews and beta reads myself here.
The most important things: 1) Do it! 2) Have fun.
All of this is good advice, but in addition to writing, you should join local or online writing workshops so that you can team with like-minded people and get critiques of what you've written. The main thing to remember is that you shouldn't feel discouraged by criticism; you learn from it and get better.
I agree with Ken. Constructive critique is one of the most valuable things you can get. Even if at first they may hurt, these are the ones that will help you to improve.
All good advices here :-) I have a notebook in my car that I scribble in once some ideas come in. Have a 40 minute drive to work each way, so audiobooks of various forms and genres are running wild in my speakers also :-)
Easy with writing while driving!! :)Better to use a dictaphone and transcribe it during coffee break...
Stein, you are getting great advice here. It sounds simple but it's the truth. Write... then write some more. I use my phone's recorder when driving and have notes/ideas to write. And yes, get some one to critique your work so you have a clue on what you need to work on, waiting wise :)Nice to meet you, Stein!
India
Hey Stien. One great piece of advice is to write what you know, so try incorporating your knowledge into your story if you can. It can add depth.
The other thing I'll say is to write. Remembering that not everything you write has to be published. Most writers have stories and novels that never get read, but you learn by doing.
Always have someone read it. Some one honest.
Read books about how to plot.
And when you do write a story that you think is publish worthy, get it professionally edited.
Have fun.
Mod
Read some books. Read books about how to write - and take the advice with a grain of salt. Try stuff, see what works for you, reject the stuff that does not.
Read some other books. Read lots of books in the genres you like, old and new. (Try to make some of them Indie... go Indies).
Read some other books. Read a lot of books outside the genres you like. Seriously.
Meanwhile, keep writing. Write. Then write. And then do some writing. Have some fun with it. LOTS of fun.
SteinI think you've already received the best advice, and that is, first and foremost, to write. More importantly, focus, get to the end of what you are writing, and finish it. Your first draft will be rough, full of plot holes, almost certainly too much exposition, and possibly big chunks of white space dialogue, but the important thing is to get it down. Your ideas will develop while you are writing, because you're forcing yourself to think about the details.
Once you have done, you can re-draft and clean it up, then find people to critique, then re-draft and clean again. Keep going until you know you have something good.
In terms of what to write, it all depends on the story you are telling. An idea might be able to be told in a short story, or it might develop into a novella, or even a novel.
There are a lot of books out there on the technical side of writing, which deal with structure, pacing, character arcs, ect. These are all things you will need to think about, but for where you are now, it's important to just get some ideas down and let them grow.
Having said that, don't spend eight years writing a 250K word trilogy, and then start to read up on the best way to structure a story. You'll get in a mess.
I certainly did.
Matt
Truly overwhelmed for the response here :-) All good advices to take into consideration. Glad I Turned to this place for advice :-) Thank you all :-)
Mod
As Ray Bradbury would always say...Don't think. Feel.
So use your imagination and don't put any restrictions on it. Just loosen up and flex your creativity. If the passion is within you, you'll certainly deliver something that you (and possibly a whole world of readers) can be proud of and build off of for the future.
It doesn't matter what your background is. Don't get caught up in that. I went to college and my major was music. I wound up being a cop. I also have two published books and I'm working on my third. Just do it! Start out small and work your way up to big projects. This is a beautiful time to be an author. Self publishing is not that difficult. I remember trying to get a deal through a traditional publisher and that was horrible. Just publish yourself. Make sure you have a good cover, blurb and editor. Good luck to you!
Hi Stein,Science and writing make a great background! Check out Hannu Rajaniemi, math/physics. His book The Quantum Thief is one of the most imaginative I've read. Good luck!
My organizing ranges depending on what my goal is. Sometimes I'll just write to write and then go back and rearrange stuff later, other times I will write out important ideas on paper or whiteboard and start figuring out how I want them to go together to give myself direction.I'm a visual person, so having information on paper or whiteboard to look at while I'm writing can help keep me motivated to keep moving to that next plot point I want to hit.
I'm going repeat what many have said already. What works best for us is write first and ask questions later. My education background is also in physics & engineering, so I understand the organization impulse. But I believe there is no wrong way to write, except not doing it. Trying to organize and plan out writing first distracts me from the creative impulse and saps my creativity. So I write and keep writing. At some future point, I pause and decide what shape my writing has taken. I generally find my output has "self-organized" organically without much conscious effort on my part.
Have fun!
Ken wrote: "All of this is good advice, but in addition to writing, you should join local or online writing workshops so that you can team with like-minded people and get critiques of what you've written. The ..."If you need an idea of a group to join, I highly recommend scribophile.com. It's a quid pro quo critique site, so you'd be able to get some feedback on your first few stories for free as long as you give others feedback first. In your case, it might be good to post your first short story, even if it's not in the beginning of an overarching narrative. Then you can ask for specific feedback on whether people think it is better as a short story or as a piece of a larger project.
Stein wrote: ". . . but my ideas is a mess and mix and need some organizing!! short many novels or one long novel, creative encouragement and/or other. Question: does someone with this same feeling, tell me what to do to take the steps to organizing, create and realize this to come into being?"Have you considered a writing partner who is really good at organizing?
Stein,Release the hounds! Spill the words, then make sense out of them. If you have a vague plan in your mind, it will germinate along the journey of your story.
Sure, there are writing groups to offer meaningful suggestions and feedback, but by and large, I'm in the camp with those who consider writing a personal journey without outside interference that might undermine my confidence. Be your own staunchest supporter and toughest critic. And, true - make sure your final work is edited by a professional if you don't feel confident in doing this yourself.
Happy writing!
I think my journey started the same. I had so many different ideas running through my head, but they were not very organized. Finally there was one idea that brought them all together, and I was able to envision a story. That's when I started writing down all of my ideas, and then organized them into a story. I suggest writing ideas when you have them. The main thing for me was knowing my story's ending. Because I knew the ending, I knew where I wanted to go. I might not have known how to get there, but it gave me a goal that I wanted to reach. I finally finished, and hope to have my work published soon.
Eva wrote: "I'm in the camp with those who consider writing a personal journey without outside interference that might undermine my confidence.."It is true that receiving constructive criticism can be hard, but it is an important part of the writing process if you want to improve as a writer. If you are just setting out on your writing journey then, yes, write for yourself, practice your voice, and get to a point where you are happy and confident with what you have created.
If you want other people read it though, it's better to do that before you go to all the trouble of paying for an editor, and publishing in the real world. Some of the harshest critiques I have received have actually been the most useful, and my writing has improved because of them.
On the other hand (And this is equally important) Don't take every bit or critical feedback as law. Don't change your writing in an attempt to make every reader happy. At the end of the day, it's your writing, and only you know what you are trying to do with it.
Take every comment on board, and decide for yourself what you want to do with it.
I will try to be short in this:
I have been struggling with this feeling for several years to write to nurture my more creative side. its this itching feeling that does not go completely away. my education is in science/engineering from Norway so faaaaar away from writing novels! I feel i have an extremely good fantasy and crative side since i was a kid, and could use and create this into something in writing.
but my ideas is a mess and mix and need some organizing!! short many novels or one long novel, creative encouragement and/or other.
question: does someone with this same feeling, tell me what to do to take the steps to organizing, create and realize this to come into being?