How to?

L

LJonesy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
86
Ok, so, basically, my question is, how do you plan out a story? That is, how do you plan out writing the story, whether it be by storyboards, summaries etc.?

I've been working on a novel for a little while now and i know it won't go far without good planning and preparation put into it. What are some techniques you can use to plan and how are those things done?

Thanks for your time :)

PS: If this is in the wrong place i'll put the thread where it needs to be
 
This is something I have taken to heart and it has been helping me -> Jim's Livejournal. (Jim Butcher)

I really love his Dresden series and am eagerly awaiting the upcoming one, plus what he says makes sense to me and has helped me focus a bit. :)
 
Hey LJonesy, don't mention the rugby, :mad: although I could claim Welsh heritage.... Actually, you sound Welsh.... Nah, unfortunately, (in rugby terms, anyway) I'm English. Saeltari's link is great, Here's how I do it, not sure if it'll help, but you never know:

I start with a 'whatif' file, and I just keep jotting down ideas as they occur to me, so I always have a pad with me (actually sometimes my phone notebook will do) If I don't do it at the time the muse fairy takes the idea out of my brain after 5 minutes. The more I think and write down the ideas, the more they come, so I end up with a complete mish mash of ideas that are in no semblance of order, just as they've occured to me. When the ideas slowdown I start editing all my ideas into whatever order I feel is best (usually chronologically). Then, and only then, I start musing on character pictures - what's the colour of their skin, eyes, the clothes they wear, where they went to school, their favourite music, food, their friends, their parents, their pets, their likes, dislikes and so on, ad infinitum. I will never use 90% of what I know about them, but they are so fixed in my mind that they always act in character (unless I need to jolt them out to make them do something), and I personally find that my story flows so much easier - I don't have to stop to keep thinking 'Ooh what would he do/think/say etc?'

Of course periodically an even better idea occurs to me, so I go back to my edited summary and insert it. Sometimes I have to edit my edited summary, and then edit the edited, edited.....you get the idea. The best advice I was ever given which cleared my mind when I was really struggling to write was: "Know where your story starts, and where it ends. The rest is just hard work...." ie we can all work hard, but if we don't know where to start and finish that hard work will be for nothing.

Good luck.
 
I just noodle along. I rarely have anything plotted but whilst writing, something that happens in the story will spark something that happens further along or, like the B-man (or is that B to the M?) something will occur that should have begun several pages back.

I'd say that you don't need The End to work towards (because that confines your characters freedom) but it's a good idea to have something to write towards, whether that's the end of the chapter, the paragraph or just the sentence because usually (for me) something useful generally crops up out of what you are writing at the moment.
 
I had a feeling it was as simple as 'just doing it' Sometimes i tend to overthink things and in essence kill what i'm doing.

This stuff is helping guys :) Thanks
 
Paperback Writer: Ten Things to Help With Novel Plotting has some articles that will help and show different approaches to writing, it's the most useful resource I found to help with planning a novel.

Different people do it in different ways and I have found that what works for me, currently, is a mixture of writing and planning. I know how the introduction goes, and have written that. Leading up to the first setback point I have sat down and acted out in my mind how the story could go, brainstormed ideas, and come up with a decent sequence of events that must take place, written out in note form. These can be placed into chapters and you have the basic outline for that third of the book. The next third is planned just very roughly, as is the final third. The reason for this is that while writing the first third, I am still learning about my characters, and about my world. I am laying down threads and themes I wish to pick up at later points in the book, and in future books I cannot plan it out in extensive detail, because that seems unnatural. At the same time I cannot just write without having some good idea of where I am going.

Once I have written a few chapters, I review any subplots I wish to expand and make a note to change certain sections of the story I have already written to reflect this. Sometimes it is a minor point. For example, a character will be gifted with the ability to conjure beings and creatures magically. However, he is limited by his knowledge of these beings and while he can create their likeness, he cannot always create their function. As such, he dedicates his life to the study of these beings, so as better to understand and recreate them. This means that when he's explaining this in the fourth chapter, I have to make a note to go back to the second chapter where people are sneaking through his house and add in rooms of books, scultures of creatures, and so forth. Each rewrite adds a layer of detail.

But that's just me ;-)
 
I don't plot my story out very much either. I do have a general idea of where I want to go, but how I get there depends on the characters. These people react to events, which cause other things to happen and the story develops that way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top