Question to all you writers

[Calis]

When you plan on writing something, how do you set it out before you write it?

I am doing my first book now (first attempt) and before i begin writing i set it out by:

- Doing scenes. like the chapter selections on a DVD, and i write the major point that happens there and i will work around that.

- I do character descriptions, names how they are, what they look like, clothes, etc. (only of the main characters that i know will be in it)

- Set out the world map, so i know where people are going, and the towns.


how do you set it out before you write it.

 

[Rocket Sheep]

This is a very personal thing, Jimmy the Hand. Every writer does it differently.

I've talked to some writers who make detailed chapter plans. Others write a series of ideas on a whiteboard. Some artistically inclined do maps and pictures of beasties etc.

I plan out the shorts and supershorts but for anything longer I usually speed write flat out for a week or so. Let the brain run wild. I usually end up with about 30k of a story. That to me is like the outline of an oil painting or the bones of a story. 90% of the time I rewrite the end completely. Always, I add subplots, other characters, change characters, add meat and flesh to the bones, layers to the oil painting. Good novels are made up of many levels, they are complex and that is the only way I can make a simple plot idea into a novel idea.

 

[Calis]

lol nice comparison (i cant think of the word that is appropiate, kinda like a similie)

dont let the name fool ya, i aint asking for peoples idea of their own story, nor will i steal them.
i was just curious.

 

[Bardos]

I begin with a hook and see where it leads me. I know the characters of the begining and add more as I go. I always have a large map and, if need be, I use the scaner to enlarge and detail some areas. Hmmmmmm... what else? Oh, I never know exactly how it will end.

But it is indeed a personal business as Rocket Sheep said. No two writers use the same technique. Write a lot, and you'll find out what works best for you.

 

[Dawnstorm]

Ideas just pop into my head and evolve (for years, sometimes), get merged with other ideas, until I've quite a complicated concept in my head. Then, all of a sudden, I either get bored by the idea or I write it down. If I do, I just start writing scenes, don't bother about links (I'll do them later).

This approach, however, doesn't work. I've never finished anything longer than 9 word pages...

 

[Drew]

I am usually inspired by another book or tv show or movie or some medium of entertainment (as I am sure many do). I often pick and choose things that I like from many sources and modify the ideas that seem to me for the better. Rarely, an idea will just pop into my head, that usually comes later as I brainstorm my idea.

I then try and make a chapter outline. Just a few blurbs that give me an idea of what I am writing about in each section. I am a very organized person and this helps me immensely.

I rarely draw or write out a map or character descriptions (although I used to a lot).

After I have an outline and a small summary (usually sounding like something off of the back of a book), I hit MS Word and let the typing begin. I try to just sit back and let if flow and then go back over it later and see what needs to be edited (there is often a lot!).

That's my pretty, unspectaculer prewriting excercise.

 

[Miriamele]

Well I haven't actually written an entire book yet, but I'm in the process of writing a trilogy of fantasy novels right now.

The story just developed in my head over time, mostly while I was sitting at work daydreaming. I kept adding to it and adding to it--not on purpose, the ideas just came to me--until the story became long and complex enough that I figured I'd better write it down.

So, I wrote an outline of about 5 pages for each book in the trilogy. The outline is really sloppy and just for my own use, but it describes all the main events of the story. Even ideas that are incomplete I put in to remind myself about them later. I also wrote some character sketches for the main characters and I drew a rough map so I'd be able to properly describe where characters were going.

Now I'm starting at the beginning and writing a rough draft of the story. I don't think I could do it without the outline to refer to--a novel is a complex thing and I'm much too scatterbrained to remember all of my own ideas!

 

[Calis]

Originally posted by Miriamele
Well I haven't actually written an entire book yet, but I'm in the process of writing a trilogy of fantasy novels right now.

The story just developed in my head over time, mostly while I was sitting at work daydreaming. I kept adding to it and adding to it--not on purpose, the ideas just came to me--until the story became long and complex enough that I figured I'd better write it down.

So, I wrote an outline of about 5 pages for each book in the trilogy. The outline is really sloppy and just for my own use, but it describes all the main events of the story. Even ideas that are incomplete I put in to remind myself about them later. I also wrote some character sketches for the main characters and I drew a rough map so I'd be able to properly describe where characters were going.

Now I'm starting at the beginning and writing a rough draft of the story. I don't think I could do it without the outline to refer to--a novel is a complex thing and I'm much too scatterbrained to remember all of my own ideas!

pretty much the same as me.

 

[wordsarepoison]

I may have a loose idea of the plot and probably lots of notes on the world and characters, but I'm more productive with a story if I start at the beginning and keep ploughing through, in sequence. Worked with the NaNo and my pirates story. Though I admit I have a thing for pirates, so that could be why this one's working.

When I get absolutely stuck with the sequence, I move onto a scene further ahead. I also have a notebook of random jottings and ideas that I leaf through occaisionally and uncover litte details that I slot in.

 

[Hellsfire]

You should always write an outline because there's nothing worse than writing a 100 pages and then figuring out that what you wrote was garbage. It doesn't have to be a detailed outline and you're probably going to add things, but if you can figure out the beginning, middle, and end you're wasting your time.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Originally posted by Hellsfire
You should always write an outline because there's nothing worse than writing a 100 pages and then figuring out that what you wrote was garbage. It doesn't have to be a detailed outline and you're probably going to add things, but if you can figure out the beginning, middle, and end you're wasting your time.

Disagree with this, idea yes, know roughly where you are going. But, the beginning, middle and end can change from day to day as you write and create.

And writing anything is not a waste of time, it teaches you how to handle or not handle something as the case may be.

Besides the garbage can be recycled, a passage, a way of using the words in the garbage can often spark an idea that can lead you to write a whole book... (been there and done it.)

 

[Hellsfire]

Originally posted by Holbrook



Disagree with this, idea yes, know roughly where you are going. But, the beginning, middle and end can change from day to day as you write and create.

And writing anything is not a waste of time, it teaches you how to handle or not handle something as the case may be.

Besides the garbage can be recycled, a passage, a way of using the words in the garbage can often spark an idea that can lead you to write a whole book... (been there and done it.)

Maybe it's just sematics that we disagree on. I believe that knowing where you're going and putting it on paper is an outline, no matter how vague or general it is. I also think that everyone needs it.

Did I say writing was a waste a time? I should have went into a little more detail. You learn more things the longer you write, but I meant it was a waste of time in trying to get said thing published unless you plan on going back to it.

For the majority of published writers, they've said that they had to scrap their first manuscript and laugh when they think about what they tried to get published. I prefer being like some of the others where they continue working and reworking on an idea. I meant it's a waste of time if you're never going to get said item published and throw it in a drawer. I see the flip side because it does turn you into the writer you are. Oh the gray! The gray!

 

[aftermath]

Before I start, I plan out what it is that's going to happen. Then I create a history for all my characters. Though this history may never entire the text, it helps me build on the character. ANd what is that the characters wants to gain out of things (If they want to gain anything). Then I create names. God I find that to be insanely hard. I don't like using real names so I make them all up. Only once did I use a real name, and that was just to prove a point. Atfter that I just sit in front of my computer until I start typing.

 

[Calis]

the worst is thinking of a name and then forgetting it, like i did before

 

[ubersoft]

I take notes as I write, change my mind halfway through the story, and somehow make it all work out in the end.

 

[pcarney]

After trying several methods, I realize I can get the farthest by first working up an outline. This allows me to (obviously) plan ahead and such, but I have no problem deviating from the course if my writing takes me elsewhere.

 

[Heretic]

The last novella I wrote I broke up into three seperate pieces. Within each part I decided what actions would be necessary to allow the plot to move foward.

From there it was just a matter of writing in the blanks.

My best advice is not to stress over the little things, they all come together when you get writing. Just figure out the story you want to tell, figure out how you are going to tell it, and then start writing.

 

[Corvus]

I'm so blessedly chaotic that I can't outline to save my own life. What I do is give myself toys to play with -- characters, places, concepts, interesting plot twist ideas, then I start to play, like a kid with his action figures and playsets. I find things come to life a lot more easily then. When things get rolling I can start to direct them, but until then it's all about creating the pieces first for me.

 

[user123]

I get the idea for a story, where they come from I don't know, and then just start writing. I guess I just like to let the whole thing come out organically, let the novel grow in its own way as I go along. As for outlines, I have a harder time writing them then I do a book.

 

[Calis]

does anyone just write and not think of the story, just write on a spur?