# The most basic question from a beginning writer.



## Plaidman (Aug 13, 2019)

I am a complete beginner at writing.  It's something I've considered doing for several years.  Here is the question that is at the heart of my problem:

_How do you start writing????

_I honestly don't know.  I've tried a few times and ended up with a few paragraphs (or just sentences).  But that's it.  

Can anyone offer some advice on how to start?


----------



## Phil Istine (Aug 13, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I am a complete beginner at writing.  It's something I've considered doing for several years.  Here is the question that is at the heart of my problem:
> 
> _How do you start writing????
> 
> ...



In that case, you have already started.  From what you've posted above, it sounds like you are perfectly capable of turning out a few paragraphs, so why not start with flash fiction?  Or even, dare I suggest it, poetry?
There are monthly challenges on here to write fiction (to a prompt) and poetry (also to a prompt), here and here respectively.  This month's deadlines are looming fast but if this is too soon for you, have a look to get an idea of what they're about and maybe enter one or both next month? *IMPORTANT:* Both challenges are anonymous so if you enter, you _*must*_ send your entry by private message to the relevant challenge host.  If you have already entered, don't say so because it might give away which one is your entry and it might be disqualified.

Good luck.


----------



## Dluuni (Aug 13, 2019)

The first question would probably be "What do you want to write?" That's the most important question, because writing is a bit like architecture or engineering, you need to know what you want to do before you start nailing random boards together.

Start with something short. Learn how to plot and outline. There are good pantsers out there, but most people are much better off outlining.. How to plot isn't something that is taught to most people.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 13, 2019)

Thanks!



> There are monthly challenges on here to write fiction (to a prompt) and poetry (also to a prompt), here and here respectively.



Those challenges may be a great place for me to start.  The topics will hopefully give me enough of a push to get something going and the short format kind of reduces the pressure a bit.  I may not win but, it should be a good learning experience for me.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 13, 2019)

Dluuni said:


> The first question would probably be "What do you want to write?" That's the most important question, because writing is a bit like architecture or engineering, you need to know what you want to do before you start nailing random boards together.
> 
> Start with something short. Learn how to plot and outline. There are good pantsers out there, but most people are much better off outlining.. How to plot isn't something that is taught to most people.



Thanks!

What do I want to write?  That's a good question.  I'm really not sure.  I think I lean toward sci-fi or fantasy.  They seem less intimidating to me because I don't feel like I need to _know _a lot about a location or particular topic.


----------



## Phil Istine (Aug 13, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> Those challenges may be a great place for me to start.  The topics will hopefully give me enough of a push to get something going and the short format kind of reduces the pressure a bit.  I may not win but, it should be a good learning experience for me.



Indeed, it's not about winning, at least not at first: it's about flexing your writing muscles.  I didn't win a challenge for a fair while, but it felt great when it finally happened  .  I even won a non-fiction challenge once, but that doesn't count, because no-one else entered  .
The fiction challenge is 650 words (or fewer) and the poetry challenge has no limit, though it's probably better to stop before the reader falls asleep.


----------



## Dluuni (Aug 13, 2019)

Plaidman said:
			
		

> I lean toward sci-fi or fantasy..because I don't feel like I need to _know _a lot about a location or particular topic.


Oh, trust me, that's a trap. :grin: You start messing with SF/F because you think that it takes less research, you look up and you just devoted a couple of years learning sociology, geology, zoology, military theory, rocket science, and so on. SF in particular is about speculative sociology and society. Fantasy tends to run to the military, and invites a lot of research into history and some very intensive worldbuilding. Don't go into SF/F thinking you can skimp on your worldbuilding research, it will bury you. Go into a genre because you like it.
What kind of movies/shows/books/comics/etc do you like? Can you list a few and see what the trends are?


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 13, 2019)

Dluuni said:


> Oh, trust me, that's a trap. :grin: You start messing with SF/F because you think that it takes less research, you look up and you just devoted a couple of years learning sociology, geology, zoology, military theory, rocket science, and so on. SF in particular is about speculative sociology and society. Fantasy tends to run to the military, and invites a lot of research into history and some very intensive worldbuilding. Don't go into SF/F thinking you can skimp on your worldbuilding research, it will bury you. Go into a genre because you like it.
> What kind of movies/shows/books/comics/etc do you like? Can you list a few and see what the trends are?



I hadn't really thought of it that way.  But, you're right.  There's going to be a certain amount of research involved with any genre.

As far as what kind of books I like, it depends on my mood.  Sometimes I have the hardest time trying to figure out what I want to read next.  For example, right now I'm reading _Farewell, My Lovely_, a Raymond Chandler mystery.  But, during my commute, I'm listening to _Strangers_, by Dean Koontz.  It's what I would call an Urban Fantasy.  I'm approaching the end of both books and I have no idea what's going to be next.

My book tastes are all over the place.

Movies are significantly different.  I tend to have the attitude that I get enough reality in every day life.  So, I tend toward comedies, fantasy, sci-fi, etc.

That has really been part of my problem.  I can't decide what I want to write, because I don't really have a favorite genre.


----------



## Dluuni (Aug 13, 2019)

Okay, here's my suggestion:
Freewrite some shorts and flash fiction until some detail starts exploding in your head into greater detail.
You probably won't publish your first piece. I rage at past me daily right now for how she wrote the piece I'm editing right now, and it will be my second publish. So go ahead and write stuff like fanfic or whatever, it will be a practice piece.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 14, 2019)

Dluuni said:


> Okay, here's my suggestion:
> Freewrite some shorts and flash fiction until some detail starts exploding in your head into greater detail.
> You probably won't publish your first piece. I rage at past me daily right now for how she wrote the piece I'm editing right now, and it will be my second publish. So go ahead and write stuff like fanfic or whatever, it will be a practice piece.



Thanks!  Sounds like a good way to get in some practice until things start flowing a little better.


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 14, 2019)

If you really don't like research, try romance and keep everything to the modern era. For really short stories and flash fiction, you can do anything you want because you've only got so much room. There's only so much research you can pack into 500 words. 

Another thing you can do is read. Read a lot. Dissect what you read. What works? What didn't? Could you employ this technique or that concept? A nice thing about reading on these boards is that you're learning about your craft and helping others on theirs. Look through comments that any given work has received in the workshop areas. Everyone's at different stages in their writing game, but all perspectives are worthwhile, and you can learn something from all of them. 

Also, while it's better for your career in writing to stick to one genre, you can blend 'em all or possibly make your own subgenre. There's a lot of gray area and overlap between genres.


----------



## JustRob (Aug 14, 2019)

To my mind the most basic question to ask a beginning writer is _why_ they want to write. What is it that you want your writing to achieve? Having a clear idea of your motives will help you to decide how to achieve your objectives. A stock piece of advice is to write what you know, but do you feel that you know anything worth writing about? If not then in her book _The No Rules Handbook for Writers_ Lisa Goldman suggested as an alternative to "Write to discover what you don't know yet." In other words by researching a subject that is unfamiliar to you you may see it in a new light and write about it in an original way. Stories must come from somewhere, so where will yours come from?

I started writing because I had a story in my mind but couldn't understand where it had come from. Despite my being elderly it didn't seem to have been inspired by my past experiences or even by the stories that I had read or other fiction media. I had no ambition to be a fiction writer, so why did I have this story circulating pointlessly in my mind and demanding to be written? In fact it turned out to be a psychic experience. Unless you also feel some weird psychic motivation to start fiction writing you should ask yourself exactly what it is that you want to achieve and the means may then become evident. Don't ask me though; I'm not psychic ... not now anyway.

Stories usually use combinations of stock motifs which gently massage readers' preconceptions. These stories no doubt sell many copies, if that is the writer's ambition. Some writers seek genuine originality and instead try to violate readers' expectations by "perverting the form" with mixed results in terms of popularity. Many such attempts may in themselves simply be more complex standard motifs because so many variations have been conceived before. My own novel involved a time machine that didn't actually travel through time and the fairies at the bottom of the garden in the story sometimes wore body armour and carried semi-automatic weapons, but I've no idea how unusual those details are. Anyway the real story was the apparent psychic inspiration for the novel and not the fiction that I wrote at all.

_



			How do you start writing????
		
Click to expand...

_If I told you that my solution was to start writing, or at least doing the research, six years after I finished writing the story then it wouldn't help you at all, but that's my personal story. Certainly there are some who advocate just writing anything that comes into your head to begin with because it will probably be worthless anyway. You will either discover that you are a natural pantser or that proper planning has its rewards, depending on your own aptitude. I suspect that fiction writing, especially pantser writing, may partly involve a phenomenon that the American parapsychologist Rex G. Stanford called "psi-mediated instrumental response" (PMIR) No, I haven't a clue what he meant by that phrase either but it basically means that people may use psychic powers in their everyday activities without realising it. A characteristic of this phenomenon appears to be that one can gain some control over it simply by believing that it is possible, so perhaps you should just try self-confidently writing a masterpiece and then pick up the many pieces later if it all falls apart. You won't be the first to try that approach. A familiar more general term covering PMIR is "luck" and there's probably a lot of that involved in fiction writing, so I wish you good PMIR with your writing.


----------



## bdcharles (Aug 14, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I am a complete beginner at writing.  It's something I've considered doing for several years.  Here is the question that is at the heart of my problem:
> 
> _How do you start writing????
> 
> ...



Why do you want to write? What is it about the process, craft, etc. that appeals to you?

I was the same, when I started. Wrote a few bits and bobs, thought they were garbage which they probably were, thought it wasn't for me, and gave up. But some things kept coming back - a line, an phrase, a name, a mental picture - which seemed so alluring that I didn't want to give up. I wanted to create something that encapsulated the sense of ... whatever it was ... that those thoughts seemed to embody. So I did that. Started with the first line, and tried to make it such a line that I didn't want to leave it at that. Nothing else would have sufficed. So you might try that. Do the same with the second line. Then on to the third, and so on. Be excited in your writing journey knowing you'll stumble on many such gems as those early words.

Good luck  With writing, you can create whole worlds and entire lives.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 14, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> If you really don't like research, try romance and keep everything to the modern era. For really short stories and flash fiction, you can do anything you want because you've only got so much room. There's only so much research you can pack into 500 words.



I don't think that I dislike research, I'm constantly looking things up.  I just find it intimidating.  For example, let's say that I want to write a story and the setting is modern day Chicago.  I can look up all matter of information about the city and it's people.  But it's tough to capture the _feel_ of being in the city unless you go there and spend a significant amount of time there.  I certainly wouldn't mind doing that, but my wallet says otherwise.

There is a difference between hard facts of a person, place, event, etc. and the direct experience of those facts.

I think right now the idea of flash fiction is very appealing.  It should be a good way of cutting my teeth in the art.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 14, 2019)

JustRob said:


> To my mind the most basic question to ask a beginning writer is _why_ they want to write.



I think it's the feeling of a need to create.  It's like I really want to make something that other people can appreciate, but I don't know what.  Yet.


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 14, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I don't think that I dislike research, I'm constantly looking things up.  I just find it intimidating.  For example, let's say that I want to write a story and the setting is modern day Chicago.  I can look up all matter of information about the city and it's people.  But it's tough to capture the _feel_ of being in the city unless you go there and spend a significant amount of time there.  I certainly wouldn't mind doing that, but my wallet says otherwise.
> 
> There is a difference between hard facts of a person, place, event, etc. and the direct experience of those facts.
> 
> I think right now the idea of flash fiction is very appealing.  It should be a good way of cutting my teeth in the art.


Watch documentaries and read up then. Much cheaper than going there. Most works aren't going to capture the _feel_ of a place all that well anyway, so have at it regardless. Look up reviews and travel guides, too, because these sorts of things are chock full of what a place really feels like. Look up crime maps of an area, find the place on Google Maps street view. You can get a lot of how a place feels that way. 

Better still perhaps: write about stuff you're intimately familiar with already--your job, where you live, stuff like that. The closer to your life the work is, the more "research" you've already done. 

Flash and poetry are great places to start out. I started in shorts stories and poetry for school projects before turning to novels. There's always a prompt running here, so dig in and get writing.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 14, 2019)

bdcharles said:


> Why do you want to write? What is it about the process, craft, etc. that appeals to you?



I think it's about creation.  It's being able to create people, places, events, etc. and for other people to gain enjoyment from it.

For example, I do a bit of cooking.  I'm particularly good at chili.  And, I roast turkeys for Thanksgiving.  I know how to do these things.  I can go from start to finish and usually turn out something that my family enjoys.  I can't say that about writing.  I want to produce something enjoyable, but I don't know how to do it.  Yet.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 14, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Watch documentaries and read up then. Much cheaper than going there. Most works aren't going to capture the _feel_ of a place all that well anyway, so have at it regardless. Look up reviews and travel guides, too, because these sorts of things are chock full of what a place really feels like. Look up crime maps of an area, find the place on Google Maps street view. You can get a lot of how a place feels that way.
> 
> Better still perhaps: write about stuff you're intimately familiar with already--your job, where you live, stuff like that. The closer to your life the work is, the more "research" you've already done.
> 
> Flash and poetry are great places to start out. I started in shorts stories and poetry for school projects before turning to novels. There's always a prompt running here, so dig in and get writing.



I do enjoy a good documentary.  I hadn't considered reviews, travel guides, etc.  It's like using someone else's experiences.

I'm not too thrilled with the idea of writing about my job or life.  I read and watch movies as a method of escaping these things.  Not that their all that bad.  It just seems rather mundane.


----------



## Annoying kid (Aug 14, 2019)

You should probably try to join a writing group and look up creative writing  lectures online. Most say to do alot of reading on the side. Ideas aren't the important thing,  it's technique and voice you need to develop. So start off with a basic prompt, or find one online and just dive in. See where your imagination takes you.


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Aug 14, 2019)

How do you start writing?

Just write, and write some more, and keep writing every chance you get.
The first 200,000 words are just practice.
Write, write, write. Short stories, blurbs, page-long stabs, bits of stories that go nowhere...just write.
At first you'll suck balz, but eventually you'll either dry up, or flow like a river.
Writers write a lot.


----------



## Dluuni (Aug 15, 2019)

Both my WIP are in fictional towns that are similar to towns I am familiar with in broad strokes.


----------



## Aquilo (Aug 15, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I'm listening to _Strangers_, by Dean Koontz.



_Strangers _is a fantastic read. I read it over 20 years ago and still remember the plotline and characters. That's always a good indicator of a good story. _Lightning_ is also another memorable one of Koontz's. If you get into_ Lightning_ (time travel), then I'd recommend _Dark _on Netflix. That's really stunning to watch.

I wouldn't think about genre at this point, just focus on what you feel you want to write, what you'd like to see out there as reading material. Sometimes it's best just to run with your instinct and enjoy looking into your head.


----------



## Ken11 (Aug 15, 2019)

I think the following question would be useful here: What's this month's prompt?


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 15, 2019)

Dluuni said:


> Both my WIP are in fictional towns that are similar to towns I am familiar with in broad strokes.



I've had it locked into my head that I needed to set my stories in existing places.  I have no idea why something like this never entered my mind.  Thanks!


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 15, 2019)

Aquilo said:


> _Strangers _is a fantastic read. I read it over 20 years ago and still remember the plotline and characters. That's always a good indicator of a good story. _Lightning_ is also another memorable one of Koontz's. If you get into_ Lightning_ (time travel), then I'd recommend _Dark _on Netflix. That's really stunning to watch.



Thanks!  I'll have to give those a try.



Aquilo said:


> I wouldn't think about genre at this point, just focus on what you feel you want to write, what you'd like to see out there as reading material. Sometimes it's best just to run with your instinct and enjoy looking into your head.



Looking into my head may be a dangerous thing to do.  :icon_cheesygrin:


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 15, 2019)

Ken11 said:


> I think the following question would be useful here: What's this month's prompt?



Do you mean for the Literary Maneuvers?  It's "Dead and Dreaming"


----------



## Ken11 (Aug 15, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> Do you mean for the Literary Maneuvers?  It's "Dead and Dreaming"



LM, yes. Thank you.


----------



## Sam (Aug 16, 2019)

First, you need to find out a few things: what genre(s) will you work in, what style, in what period, and ultimately what do you want to write? 

Once you've found the answers to those questions, you start with a general idea. My idea for the first novel I ever wrote was: what would two ordinary civilians do when faced with extraordinary circumstances? From that, I knew I wanted to write a novel about how heroes are not born; they're forged by the situations they find themselves in and how they react to them. 

When you have your idea, it becomes a matter of creating a story around it. What characters do you want, who are your protagonists and antagonists, what POV are you writing it from, and will you have multiple POVs and multiple characters? 

The idea is step one. Most of the story spirals outwards from it, and though the story can evolve during the process, it's generally the case that everything logically follows from the initial idea, which is why publishers often ask people to condense their story into a one- or two-sentence tagline. You should be able to precis it back into the initial idea, i.e. two ordinary men face extraordinary situations. 

You'll find that once you answer those questions and figure out your idea, the rest will fall into place.


----------



## Megan Pearson (Aug 16, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I am a complete beginner at writing. It's something I've considered doing for several years. Here is the question that is at the heart of my problem:
> 
> _How do you start writing????
> 
> ...


 

Welcome aboard, *Plaidman*! 

I absolutely love your question. I love it because all writers start out where you are and... like it or leave it, everytime we begin a new piece it's rather like learning how to start writing all over again! 

My advice is going to be a little different than what's already been offered. (And that's the great thing about the internet--you get a lot of advice to pick & choose from!) I'm going to offer three questions. 

The first question is simply, what's important to you? This first question might take different forms, such as:  
What matters most in life? What one thing (or person) would be difficult to live without? Where is your passion in life? 

The second question follows the first: What if something happened to that thing you are passionate about? 
Other questions like it might be, What would happen if this one thing were suddenly taken away? Or, what if it had never existed? Or, what if it were all that existed?

The third (and final!) question is a combo: What would it matter to you & what would you do about it?


My fault is in being long-winded. Let me condense this: 

1. What are you passionate about? 
2. What tragic thing could happen to that which you are passionate about? 
3. What would you do about it? 


All stories are based on the idea that _something_ _happened_. The fun part is finding out what that something is and writing about it.

Hope to see you in the short fiction challenge!


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Aug 16, 2019)

The beauty of writing is you can make the world anything you damned well please!
Tis why I love writing post-apocalyptic stories: they are a blank slate where anything is possible.

If you write a crime drama, it'll need to be anchored in some level of realism.
But the apocalypse can be anything. I mean, think of stories like *Blood of the Heroes.*
They played wicked-violent football using a dog's skull for a ball.
How far out was that?
That was writing outside of the box.


----------



## Megan Pearson (Aug 16, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> They played wicked-violent football using a dog's skull for a ball.



My point exactly.

_Something_ _happened_.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 18, 2019)

Sam said:


> First, you need to find out a few things: what genre(s) will you work in, what style, in what period, and ultimately what do you want to write?
> 
> Once you've found the answers to those questions, you start with a general idea. My idea for the first novel I ever wrote was: what would two ordinary civilians do when faced with extraordinary circumstances? From that, I knew I wanted to write a novel about how heroes are not born; they're forged by the situations they find themselves in and how they react to them.
> 
> ...



I had an idea.  But, it was really only a character that had came into mind.  The character itself kind of dictated the genre, style, etc.  My problem with it is that I don't know what to do with the character.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 18, 2019)

Megan Pearson said:


> Welcome aboard, *Plaidman*!
> 
> I absolutely love your question. I love it because all writers start out where you are and... like it or leave it, everytime we begin a new piece it's rather like learning how to start writing all over again!
> 
> ...



Thank you!
This seems like some pretty good advice.  It's also going to require some thought for me. I'm not a person with a lot of passions in my life.  But, i'm sure I can come up with something.

I've seen the Literary Maneuvers challenge.  Are there other short fiction challenges that I'm missing?


----------



## RLBeers (Aug 18, 2019)

I began my first in what became a ten-volume series by writing a sentence, "She had legs that went all the way to my libido." That sentence never made the cut, but it did get the ball rolling. After I got a paragraph, I began jotting down single word or a short phrase of what I thought would fit further along. Those thoughts became my outline and I just wrote to reach that goal, one thought at a time.


----------



## qwertyman (Aug 19, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I had an idea.  But, it was really only a character that had came into mind.  The character itself kind of dictated the genre, style, etc.  My problem with it is that I don't know what to do with the character.



You have the best tool in you kitbag once you have your main character (MC). There is no better place to start telling a story than comprehensively knowing/understanding your MC.

 Plotlines are about an event driven by conflict and how the MC deals with it and fails and tries again and how it effects him/her. Once you know the vulnerabilities of your MC, and decide where and when it's going to happen the 'conflict events' may well suggest themselves.

From what you say above I think you are nearly there. 

Hint: to begin with I suggest writing in first person, you can always change it later.


----------



## KenTR (Aug 19, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I am a complete beginner at writing.  It's something I've considered doing for several years.  Here is the question that is at the heart of my problem:
> 
> _How do you start writing????
> 
> ...



Open question: To what extent do emotions come into play when a writer is creating?

I've found that once I get a story rolling, I'll notice that certain aspects of the plot or characters end up relating to things I am emotionally passionate about. I'll get an idea for something I'm working on and think _that would be good.._without realizing the emotional significance it has to me. By the time I realize this, I've already developed the idea and incorporated it into the story. These are the ideas that always seem to work well for the story and are honest to boot. They rarely end up on the chopping block. Hmmm...actually, they sometimes do, particularly if they involve some unresolved issue that I struggle with. 

I'm not sure if works work the other way around. I think the subconscious has a lot to do with what we put into our stories.

Nevertheless, ask yourself; what riles you up? What makes you angry? What frightens you? Or, conversely, what makes you happy? What is something you feel a need to protect? 

Asking yourself these questions may not generate a solid idea, but they may put you in a frame of mind where one may pop up out unexpectedly.


----------



## Theglasshouse (Aug 19, 2019)

KenTR said:


> Open question: To what extent do emotions come into play when a writer is creating?
> 
> I've found that once I get a story rolling, I'll notice that certain aspects of the plot or characters end up relating to things I am emotionally passionate about. I'll get an idea for something I'm working on and think _that would be good.._without realizing the emotional significance it has to me. By the time I realize this, I've already developed the idea and incorporated it into the story. These are the ideas that always seem to work well for the story and are honest to boot. They rarely end up on the chopping block. Hmmm...actually, they sometimes do, particularly if they involve some unresolved issue that I struggle with.
> 
> ...



To me reading is a interesting way to expose one writer to other people's passions. Let's say I read poetry once in a while, an a idea pops inside my head as inspiration. That's what happened when I was reading a book outloud. I see myself as exposing myself to the themes I like the most. That is what I am getting at. 

I want to get acquainted with naturalist writing. The kind leec likes to read, and I realize there are many genres, in different art forms. Let's consider fiction, and non-fiction an art form. It may be a lot of work searching for this material. But it triggers the subconscious. And by the same effect if I can find one on another theme I like, which stands for beliefs and values. I will read that as well.

That's regardless of fiction genre: science fiction, and fantasy. Even music helps.

Or even horror and literary fiction. That way I can explore more what the author believes and maybe I can disagree and make their work genuine.

The common theme in songs seems to be love. That has an infinite number of themes. Such as love hurts by roy orbinson.

Shakespeare's many takes: undying love, love conquers all.

There are many artists, even movies. 

This is just an opinion. But it makes sense maybe to me and others.

Theme is the emotional significance of the work, and is one we can develop and can be nurtured. The other imagination will come eventually with whatever someone does in the week. The subconcious must be fed. That's what ray bradbury was suggesting I beleive in the zen of writing. It's read or perish or witness or perish.I propose myself this plan. I was thinking about it but never actually took it seriously. But perspiration comes from somewhere. I have heard creative writing mayors read a lot. It's no different for other mayors.

This is what I mean by frame of mind.

Those questions help, but I tie them to the theme. What is the moral significance of what I am writing? Why do I write it?

So poetry grave me an idea on the last one. I hope since a different story was triggered by a poem for my other story, I can do this. Imagine reading all the genres of poetry on a single subject? Can you read them all? There's inspiration there by the power of empathy.

But I needed to keep working on it. Progress halted because I am trying to use technologies to teach me things in an easier way.

My grammar is flawed for storytelling.

So this is me talking about my inspiration process.

Emotions are the theme to me explored, exposed, and that you learn. By getting acquainted with other works.

Themes, if you can't find them you can always listen to music and pick up on the feelings of people who wrote the song.


----------



## Plaidman (Aug 20, 2019)

qwertyman said:


> From what you say above I think you are nearly there.



I sat down this evening to work with the character.  I was writing as you might start a story, with the MC in a certain situation and introduce him through that situation.  That's when I realized, I didn't have a MC.  I had a loose idea for a MC.  Big difference.  I'm not going to give up on the character, I think He has potential.  But, I do need to develop him more.


----------



## Sir-KP (Aug 21, 2019)

Plaidman said:


> I had an idea.  But, it was really only a character that had came into mind.  The character itself kind of dictated the genre, style, etc.  My problem with it is that I don't know what to do with the character.



I think that seals it. You can't write not because you don't have the skill. It's just that your idea is still way too much of a fetus to be written yet.

Your first step is to develop the whole story in your mind until you know who your characters are, what they look like, their manner and behavior, what's going on with them and the story from beginning to end.


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Aug 21, 2019)

KenTR said:


> I've found that once I get a story rolling, I'll notice that certain aspects of the plot or characters end up relating to things I am emotionally passionate about.



That is the very definition of "*write what you know*."
People often misunderstand the adage.
But no, you do not need to have been to the moon to be able to write about the grueling, uphill climb to get there. You simply use parallels from your own life.

Imagine the story, but *write* the passion you truly feel inside.


----------



## luckyscars (Aug 21, 2019)

RLBeers said:


> I began my first in what became a ten-volume series by writing a sentence, "She had legs that went all the way to my libido." That sentence never made the cut, but it did get the ball rolling. After I got a paragraph, I began jotting down single word or a short phrase of what I thought would fit further along. Those thoughts became my outline and I just wrote to reach that goal, one thought at a time.



Interesting technique, sounds almost like free writing except in fragments. I don't think this would work for me, but it's interesting. What kind of single words/short phrases are we talking? Dialogue? Descriptions? Character thoughts? Plot pieces?


----------



## REBtexas (Jan 16, 2020)

I once met this fellow who had just graduated with a degree in English from Boulder, Colorado.  I asked him what books he had written.  He told me none because he didn't have a story to tell.  Seems to me that this is the starting point.  Without a story or specific subject, _"How do you start writing"_ is just opinion. So have a story and just tell it as if you're writing a long letter to an old friend and telling him.


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Jan 16, 2020)

To be a writer, you need to be someone who is bursting with stories to tell.


----------



## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (Jan 16, 2020)

My starting point was playing pretend. As a kid I needed toys or props as "avatars" for the story; now I just do it in my head. A few stories are inspired by dreams. 

So maybe think back to what you used to play as a kid, and start playing again. Writing is just playing pretend with words.


----------



## Amnesiac (Jan 16, 2020)

I found myself always and constantly asking, "What if?" 

What if a kid just graduating college, decided to visit his grandfather? What if the grandfather was the family black sheep? I like lighthouses, so... what if Grandfather lived in a lighthouse? Why does he live in a lighthouse? Why is he the family black sheep? What happened to his wife? What is special about the lighthouse? I like clocks a lot, so maybe I can incorporate a huge pendulum clock into the story. Oh, and what if inside the clock, it's the entryway to a secret passage? What is the Grandfather doing? And on and on...

Once I had my main characters kind of "drawn" in my mind, and I had a general aim of where I wanted the plot to go, the story began to drive itself, and became my story,  "Ghost Light."


----------



## BornForBurning (Jan 17, 2020)

I've been reading the _Starcraft _novelizations, and I've been finding them really inspiring. That's interesting, because they are hardly high literature. They aren't even competent pulp. The sentence-by-sentence prose is oftentimes stale. The characters are often two-dimensional. Hell, there's an abundance of typos and grammar mistakes. But here's what they do have that I always have trouble finding in contemporary sci-fi: a sense of genuine wonder. That childish pre-teen joy of reading about psychic bug monsters and gritty space marines are going: "Wow, that's just so _cool. _I want to write stuff like that!" It puts you back in that mindset of when you first read _Dune _or watched _Star Wars _​for the first time.


----------



## Cephus (Jan 17, 2020)

Ralph Rotten said:


> To be a writer, you need to be someone who is bursting with stories to tell.



That's it exactly. At its core, being a writer is being a storyteller. If you can't tell stories, you can't be a writer, at least not a writer of fiction. I see people all the time saying they don't know what to write. Then maybe this isn't the field for them. I have at least the next 16 novels lined up, with ideas for hundreds of others that I will never get to.


----------



## Amnesiac (Jan 17, 2020)

What if......


----------

