How to start? :S

Post Reply New Topic

Basically, for ages and ages I have wanted to write a book, or at least get some form of fiction into the world, since my ideas have been driving me mad, being stuck in my head and not out there onto the paper / the screen.

I just really don't know how to start. I want to start a fantasy book with an action packed prologue, something way back in time, warriors, wizards, dragons etc (things that are way cooler than real life). I'm not asking for ideas, just, I don't know, how I go about putting it into place. Ahh, I have confuddled myself even more...

I have been told by several people I have a talent with writing, from small stories I have written in the past, but I do actually find it difficult, so I don't know how that works.

Hello! I too am writing something that could possibly be called a novel. It's more like a pile of ideas.
This site helped me. It's called the "Snowflake method" and it's based off the idea of fractals.
Maybe it will help you get your story started.
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

-Taking a few keyword like dragon, warriors and wizards.
-hussle them
-then pick one after another
-lay them in picking order
-let your fantasy go rampant on the sequence.
-No luck? rehussle and/or add some new keywords.

It works for musicians, so it might work for writers too

I've used mind maps to help develop ideas, plots, and in-depth analysis of characters and how they are related to the story. Just start throwing stuff out on the mind map, and that'll help your creative juices flow. I use an online one:

https://bubbl.us/

but there are free mindmapping apps you can download as well. Hope that helps.

1- Just do it.
2.- Seriusly, just f* start, anywhere, it doesn't have to be at the beginning. thank God we now have computers!

This.

I've often found that the best way, for me, at least, to start writing is to just take a scene that's been in my head and write it down. After I have that down on the page, I usually start thinking about what came after it, and then what came after that., and so on and so forth. Or I'll get that initial scene down, and then work backwards; what happened to lead up to that point. While I'm writing the scene, I usually have time tho think stuff up as I go, so by the time I move on to the next scene to work on, I already have a pretty good idea of what I want to happen in it. I( never really write anything exactly in chronological order in the story, anyway; I jump around a lot, especially when I get a new idea that want to include somewhere, but I don't know where, yet.

Daydream. Keep a journal/file of your daydreams. Expand on that. What would happen next if your daydreams came true? Who else is in the daydream?

Write down an outline, to string it together. Create scenes from the daydreams, string 'em together. Decide on names and places.

Once you have the bare bones, start filling in; descriptions, details (check sentences to make sure you define what's going on; sometimes it's easy to forget explanatory words, etc)

One thing to try; many of the books in ages past (19th Century) were actually meant to be read out loud; for a long time, people actually read that way.

Spell check, reread for things spelling misses (yew no that two many people don't catch things that weigh..., grammar check, have someone else (they're called editors) read it. Continuity; make sure that people don't get events out of sequence.

Not much, but that's sorta how I write...

I often feel exactly the same way you do. I come up with ideas for settings, characters, or scenes all the time, but I find it difficult to string them together into a coherent plot, especially if I'm trying to plot the entire story before actually writing it.



This was how I completed my most recent short story, The Redemption of Buikhu (which is on my Scribd account if anyone's interested). I started out with just the very first scene in mind, but after I wrote that scene, the rest of the plot unfolded in my head.

The best way to learn is to just do it, start and keep going, the farther you get, the better you get, and you can go back to your initial work and redo it on 2nd draft (never just do one draft, at least 3-4 but dont over-do it).
I like to start with concept art/plot bare bones/outlines etc, get major openings and endings in line, think of major plot twists, etc. Basically I write the whole story in 5 pages or so, only big items. Then I go back, separate it into chapters, add in the fine details, and write each chapter. Once I have all chapters, combind, read, redraft for concept completness (look for logic loopholes, if possible patch them up), redraft for grammar/spelling, put away for one month, read and redraft once, send to publisher.