A sanctuary for weary writers, inky wretches, and aspiring professional novelists. |
I think my new writers weakness was committing. I had a story to tell and I was infatuated with the story, but I let life get in the way, as it does a lot of people. It took 5 years, and a lot of courage, but I do believe I am off and running. 30 pages in and I am feeling rather confident...so this is what I did; maybe it will help you out. First, give a general story. Nothing uber-concrete, and definately not anything that has a lot of detail from the get go. Detail is good when you get down into it and really start, but you have to have a map to get to the destination. Next, figure out your main character(s). Who are they? What do they look like? What is their function in life? If you get the basics down, then you can start on their history. I also find that when I am bored, I will stick a character in a situation and do a fast write to see what will come up. By fast write, I mean that you just let the ideas pour out of your head. They don't have to necessarily make sense, but it allows you to see what your mind set is with that character. Next, after I have fleshed out main characters, I start a storyline. A loose one that has very high points, but leaves a lot of room on how they get to those points. Lastly, if this is happening on another world or something, I would make a map so that I know where everyone is at all times. Just fill in the holes after that. As someone else said, if you burn out on one area, just write something else, and tie it in later. Good luck, I hope this helps |