Hey Grasscity! How are you all? On a side note, just found out HBC is taking a break so she can raise her offspring with her boyfriend Tim Burton. So sad.. Hope she comes back into the scene soon. Anyway, on to what I made this thread for. I've been writing poetry and rap music for a while now and I have always wanted to try writing a fiction novel. I woke up from an amazing dream this morning and decided this is what I want to turn into a book. Just.. I have no idea where to start. Writing a a fiction story seems like such a daunting task, any advice?
Just write. You can overwhelm yourself thinking about everything. Write one page at a time and forget about the ending. It will come when it's ready.
yep. You just got to write it. Jot down the basic plot of the dream, or whatever premise or detail about it you think would make it such a great book so that you won't forget it (or post it here, cause you made me curious). Then just start writing. It's both much easier than it sounds and harder than it sounds, but the one thing it isn't is complicated. Start writing now, while the idea is new, before the charachters have time to crystalize in your mind like old honey and it becomes impossible to make them move in the story and be who they're supposed to be. Write, because if you don't nothing gets written. Don't worry about advice, or is this good enough? At least not yet. It's first draft time. it's about having something to build on, getting something down on the page. The more you think about it ahead of time, the less interesting the writing will be.
I'm most concerned with how I'm going to bring these characters to life. Because right now, I can picture them from the image left in me from my dream but they seem very.. I don't know, two dimensional. Know what I mean? Thanks for the response! I can picture an entire "scene" as clearly as it happened in my dream. I suppose that's where I'll start. I'll post some of it up on here once I've got a bit done. Yes.. Real-life stories section. Where real life stories are posted. However, i'm talking about writing a fictional story. Thanks for the input.. I guess.
Yeah, and that's can be for the better. It's better when the charachters grow and take on life as you're writing. I find it really helps me to feel them out and make them more real. When I know 100% who they're supposed to be before writing, they never come out just right. I like to be able to learn a little bit about my charachters as I write. Yeah, no need to go in chronological order. Start at whatever moment feels right.
That sounds logical. The starting point of these characters for me would be that the two of them have a strong pull towards each other. The male however isn't in the situation for good, but the girl, is. Thanks a bunch Zera! This thread is already helping.
Go check out "Stephen King - On Writing". That book will answer all your doubts and how the game works.
Oh yeah, check out "The Writer's Journey - Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler". The Mythic structure has been tested by Hollywood and still holds true today. The Mythic structure is a must have for a writer.
Organic character development can be a good thing. Find themes in what you've already written and strengthen them. Some of the best ways to see where you want to go with a character is post hoc.
Hey city! So I'm dropping in to give you all an update on how things are going. I've written about two pages of basically just compiled information for the characters and story. It starts out with two men investigating a cruise ship after something went horribly wrong. One of the men descends to the sleeping area. The man encounters a women on the brink of insanity and who is very volitile. I'm having difficult with dialogue. I know what this scene shows and I know what emotions are there but displaying all of this to the reader through character dialogue is baffling me. Any suggestions?
just write what it seems like the charachters would say. It's ok if it isn't entirely clear what emotions the charachters are having right away--it will become clear as the story progresses if you make them behave in a way that makes sense. You writing in first person, third-limited, or near-omnicient? Cause that will dictate what you can just put into narration and what you can't, whose thoughts are clearer than others. And of course, you don't have to rely ONLY on the words the characters say to demonstrate their meaning. Describe expressions, physical movements, thoughts (where apropriate) and the like as well to get your point across. Don't overdo it (nobody cares about every movement the characters make) but you can use body language to make a character's meaning more clear to the audience. Don't worry about it too much though. Writing the scene is most important now. I mean, you can always change stuff if you don't like the way it turned out, right?
Get in front of a mirror and become the character. Dont judge yourself and over analyze everything, just roll with what comes out your mouth. Works for me.
not a bad idea. I've never tried it with dialouge, but I see how it could be helpfull if I get stuck. Usually if I do this, it's for fight scenes, or scenes where there's some kind of bizzare logistics going on. It helps me to describe things better if I've gone through the movements.