Me is a Newbie...

just go with it

“"Begin at the beginning,", the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop”

. .

[font=Tahoma][b]In all honesty.. start with an anecdote[/b], at which time write several more, writing out a character then another separate character, and then write out several plot anecdotes. then, when you have that art perfected, write a very short story and follow that with several more, using mainly plot on some and mainly character motivations on others. then when how to do so is clear to you, write a long story adding layers of textural story telling using both characterization and heavy plotting. when you have made a long story easy to do, then work on a first chapter. then go on to the next chapter and keep going until the end. when you have perfected all of the chapters, write it again and keep doing so until you get the full story right. by that time, you should know and feel whether your first book should hold characterization paramount or if plot is most important. it's a long process, especially when starting out, but really just work in steps. and read every chance you get, every type of book out there; learning to see the world in narrative is not something you wake up one day and decide to just do it and with that declaration find that you have it down. you will find that as you begin your writing journey, the books you read will hold more value to you and you'll understand them on a very different level.

it takes work and mistakes and then a lot more of both. so why not start with small goals. most people could not write a novel, no matter what. Because they don’t start with immediate goals but rather jump right in and conjure words that they’ll never be able to sell..

im currently on the chapters part, writing one chapter then the other and im on chapter seven. I know there are several more feats and mistakes to go, but even with all of the work, it is a fun ride..

good luck with your studies and welcome to the cult.
-kabol[/font]

__________________

[QUOTE=JKabol;972958]. .

[font=Tahoma][b]In all honesty.. start with an anecdote[/b], at which time write several more, writing out a character then another separate character, and then write out several plot anecdotes. then, when you have that art perfected, write a very short story and follow that with several more, using mainly plot on some and mainly character motivations on others. then when how to do so is clear to you, write a long story adding layers of textural story telling using both characterization and heavy plotting. when you have made a long story easy to do, then work on a first chapter. then go on to the next chapter and keep going until the end. when you have perfected all of the chapters, write it again and keep doing so until you get the full story right. by that time, you should know and feel whether your first book should hold characterization paramount or if plot is most important. it's a long process, especially when starting out, but really just work in steps. and read every chance you get, every type of book out there; learning to see the world in narrative is not something you wake up one day and decide to just do it and with that declaration find that you have it down. you will find that as you begin your writing journey, the books you read will hold more value to you and you'll understand them on a very different level.

it takes work and mistakes and then a lot more of both. so why not start with small goals. most people could not write a novel, no matter what. Because they don’t start with immediate goals but rather jump right in and conjure words that they’ll never be able to sell..

im currently on the chapters part, writing one chapter then the other and im on chapter seven. I know there are several more feats and mistakes to go, but even with all of the work, it is a fun ride..

good luck with your studies and welcome to the cult.
-kabol[/font]

__________________[/QUOTE]

this is great advice and should be taken to heart. i've got two novels done now and i'm working on my third. my first was 160 thousand words (waaaaay too long) and the second is 50 thousand words. i found that writing anectdotes and shorts or even rants attached to random characters can always be used later to help develop and round out a story. find a way to work good bits of writing into the story, because it also helps give your story focus and something to aim for.

let the story evolve on its own....

good luck and keep writing!

[QUOTE=trenton welles]this is great advice and should be taken to heart. i've got two novels done now and i'm working on my third. my first was 160 thousand words (waaaaay too long) and the second is 50 thousand words. i found that writing anecdotes and shorts or even rants attached to random characters can always be used later to help develop and round out a story. find a way to work good bits of writing into the story, because it also helps give your story focus and something to aim for.

let the story evolve on its own....

good luck and keep writing![/QUOTE]
^^^words to be taken seriously..

outlining.

Clevenger, while writing Dermaphoria, proclaimed to have worked all of the chapters as separate short stories. When he had each perfect and following his intent for the novel chronologically, based on his diagrams and structural outlining, he connected them.

I think this is a great way for a novelist to make certain that change is going on, that there is an event happening with each chapter, to keep momentum going.

When Baer first began writing Kiss Me, Judas, the start was a short story. That first chapter, pretty much, remained unchanged at publication. He then wrote the second chapter to see how the characters would develop. After a while, as Baer says, a novel is a mess and a headache and it’s hard to keep momentum moving with later chapters. He worked them one at a time and when he finally found his story, he burned with it, writing passed the point of exhaustion, tossing out thousands of words and starting several chapters over from scratch. you just gotta--as trenton says above--keep writing..

[QUOTE=JKabol;979207]^^^words to be taken seriously..

outlining.

Clevenger, while writing Dermaphoria, proclaimed to have worked all of the chapters as separate short stories. When he had each perfect and following his intent for the novel chronologically, based on his diagrams and structural outlining, he connected them.

I think this is a great way for a novelist to make certain that change is going on, that there is an event happening with each chapter, to keep momentum going.

When Baer first began writing Kiss Me, Judas, the start was a short story. That first chapter, pretty much, remained unchanged at publication. He then wrote the second chapter to see how the characters would develop. After a while, as Baer says, a novel is a mess and a headache and it’s hard to keep momentum moving with later chapters. He worked them one at a time and when he finally found his story, he burned with it, writing passed the point of exhaustion, tossing out thousands of words and starting several chapters over from scratch. you just gotta--as trenton says above--keep writing..[/QUOTE]

i'm not sure about everyone else, but if you're the type of writer who lets a story evolve you may try writing when you're not entirely sure whats going to happen next. which is exciting and makes for great surprises even to yourself.

the problem may be getting through that next elusive chapter. so for sure writing chapters as little shorts helps. i find i burn through the first few chapters because its a fresh exciting idea and then the lag may come when the novelty wears thin a little (and my a.d.d. takes over and i get distracted by another storyline....or a shiny object). so approaching each new chapter as a short of its own makes for a new exciting chapter as well as a well rounded one.

as well i find that surprising yourself by writing your character into tortuously difficult or complicated situations forces you to think of something brilliant and original to get them out of that predicament or though it.

I'd like to offer anyone that does the short story into a novel route. The first short story you write and decide you want to take it somewhere. Have that be the middle portion of the book. Write backwards and forwards from there. The middle is where it tends to bog down as it is, but if your middle is what first drew you into writing the story, you'll have a leg up.
Not something that would always work, but something to keep in mind.

[QUOTE=nathaniel parker;981047]I'd like to offer anyone that does the short story into a novel route. The first short story you write and decide you want to take it somewhere. Have that be the middle portion of the book. Write backwards and forwards from there. The middle is where it tends to bog down as it is, but if your middle is what first drew you into writing the story, you'll have a leg up.
Not something that would always work, but something to keep in mind.[/QUOTE]

true words. and an interesting approach. i've yet to actually do this myself, but i've wondered if it might work, since a writer can get a whole new focus on a storyline while writing it.

good idea. and a good challenge.

another tip, when you think of a smart idea or quip or character quirk or any cool and original story idea, write it down immediately in a notebook or at the bottom of your writing file on your computer...even if its one simple line. these little "tags" are great writing fodder later on and again give you something to write about, and towards, when you hit a wall.

peace

Yeah, anyone that's wanting to be a writer should [i]always[/i] carry around a little notebook for stuff like that. Especially right there by the bed for when you wake up with something good to write down.

alright dude, do what i do and think of something like a name, bob, then take bob and put him into an odd situation. and keep throwing him into odd situations until the end of the story. thats what i do, it may not work for folk, but it works for me, and broda thats what it's all about.

[QUOTE=nathaniel parker;981542]Yeah, anyone that's wanting to be a writer should [i]always[/i] carry around a little notebook for stuff like that. Especially right there by the bed for when you wake up with something good to write down.[/QUOTE]

i have two, one for the book I'm currently working on which i generally work on during the train ride to work or when i get spare time... i gather all my ideas and characters, plot diagrams and drawings......

the other one is for any ideas that i might have for other stories that come to me during the day... i find my mind tends to wander a lot!