Hey guys,
So I have read a few novels and have decided that I want to also give it a try. I have an idea for a story, im currently brainstorming characters and relationships whilst also trying to visualise a believable map. All in all I think I want to start writing a few chapters soon. But I want to ask if anyone who reads this post has any tips for me? Any pointers would be appreciated :)
Pre-Writing is key. You need to know a few things before you start pounding away on your keyboard. (In no particular order)
Just FYI I'm an English teacher IRL.
Who your characters are and why motivates them. There are a crap ton of character question sheets on the web. Go download a couple and fill them out. The better you know your characters, the more realistic they become.
Figure out what themes you're going to explore. That will depend many times on what the book is about and the genre. The one I have started here has the following: Honor and overcoming obsticles.
You need to have a rough idea of how your story will go. I have a list of the events in my book from beginning to end and I basically connect the dots. Here are my first few.
Danae must escape cabin, door is wedged tight
Danae must treat wound from shipwreck (blue birch flower)
Danae salvages items from ship such as hatchet, boarding pike, canvas, ect
She meets Shiv who was on ship & doesn’t trust him, they explore and find Bria (who is sick) & they argue about saving her.
I'm in the middle of the last one right now. That's just the 1st four of about 15 events.
Do some research. Go look up the hero's journey, Learn about plot curves. That sort of thing.
Grammar counts, so learn it.
Get in a critique group in your area, this is important. There may be some here, I have not gotten that far.
Try to write every day, even if its just a few words.
Don't compare you book to others, everyone is in a different spot in their journey.
Make sure you use the right point of view POV. If you don't know what that is, go look it up!
READ BOOKS! You must be a reader if you want to be a good writer.
Teacherman... out
NuttyDinosaur Hi! I would start with thinking about what you want your story to accomplish. Think about what you want the theme to be and go from there. I have found that if you have a theme and a mental outline of a plot, the ideas for characters and chapters flow smoother. Good luck! I’m sure you’ll do great!
LVTeacherman Lmaoo I can't agree with number 5 enough. Like there's so many stories on here that I'm turned away from just because they have a grammar mistake literally in the first sentence ;-;
Umm... basically, listen to teacherman. The advise he is giving is amazing.
One thing I would add, pick one story and try to write it start to finish. It feel better to write one book than half write two.
Thank you so much for your input guys! I have an idea, a few characters and an outline for it. I knew I would have to dive in deeper but I wasn't sure which direction to go so I cannot thank you enough!
Teacherman, I applaud you sir
shadowdrake27 You are 100% correct on that. I would also add that writing is a process, so don't start revising until AFTER you finish your draft. Otherwise you will get caught up in a feedback loop and never make any progress.
NuttyDinosaur Keep in mind that your first draft is going to be and supposed to be a hot mess. In my writing classes that's the term we use. I have a friend who is an author (Maxwell Alexander Drake) and he tells people that great books aren't written, they're re-written.
More great advise. I’ve lost interest in finishing a few stories because of that. Oops. Thank you for spreading great advise outside of the classroom so we can benefit.
LVTeacherman you're the best... I can sleep now because of u
jeweled_rose Glad I could help lol. There are a couple of books you might want to purchase or get as a Christmas present.
Dynamic Story Creation by Maxwell Alexander Drake. This goes over all the behind the scenes work authors need to do in order to create a great story. I think it's $25 USD on Amazon. I've read it like 5 times in three years
The Emotion Thesuarus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. This book will show you how to properly write emotions. They have a bunch of books in the series, and I have like 5 of them, but this is one that most published authors swear by, and who am I to argue?
shadowdrake27 I can't take credit for all of this information. It's what I have learned from writing classes and critque groups and talking to authors. I'm glad you find it useful.
LVTeacherman sadly so many writer/author/novelist in WN neglect, ignore even, number 9, THE POV.
I'm a person who can't immerse in a story if the pov is messed up, jumping around from 3rd to 1st back to 3rd and then to 2nd and list keep going.
So i point it out and remind them, but the reply i got? most gave me rude comment, its like they feel insulted.
Its even more apparent when the said writer already have book/s and many people like it, even though it has messy pov.
There's even a person replied to me "oh yeah? How many books you write? If you manage to get to top 10 then come back again and talk to me", or "write a story first then you can comment on what pov i should use".
WTF?!
Its like, according to their logic, i need to become a chef before i can say the food taste bad. Or i need to become a tailor before i can say the clothes do not fit me. Or i need to become a mathematician before i can say 1+1=7 is wrong. wtf
sigh
sorry for my rant, i need to get it out my system.
Boobaslurper I feel the same way. I also point it out when I see it. I don't mind multiple focal characters, but it's a sure sign of lazy writing when I see an announcement as to who the focal character is. I'm like whyyyyyyy....
I think it's because they see other people do it, so they think it's okay to do so...
This site in particular causes rants. I had a few awhile ago. POV was one of them, so I’m glad you notice it as well. Another big thing around here is messy grammar.
I get that grammar is not as important as a good plot, but I want to be able to understand what an author wrote. At some point, the grammar starts messing with the enjoyability of a novel.
Good grammar is satisfying to see and also makes a story easier to understand, I find. Also, I agree with you on POV switches. The whole point of comments is surely to be able to give feedback as well as express your opinion on the story so far
I have a backlog of books to burn through too so I am hoping to learn more from those. I am a massive fan of fantasy themed books so The Rainwild Chronicles, Farseer Trilogy, The Painted Man series and even the Sword of Truth have influenced ideas and shaped my story telling prowess. That is what I would like to put to the test and hone against the whetstone that is WN
shadowdrake27
sorry for the late reply. I wanted to reply after i push the "like button", but you know, work and family and stuff. So again, im sorry.
Yes i can notice. It feels like the writer give me a wake-up slap in the middle of my immersion of the story in a world they build, then give me a mocking smirk. That is why i sometimes feel irritated by the jumping pov.
Some people said that to make the reader immerse in stories is to use the 1st pov not the 3rd.
I disagree.
Because im sure, 100% sure, there are many people out there that similar to me. People that can immerse themselves in stories with whatever pov as long as it is not messy.
If its about grammar, well... Im sure that you can figure it out from my rant above that im not a native english speakers. That's why i never comment about grammar.
What i do is look it up, either reading in certain website or grammar book then read the story again with proper grammar.
Since so many writers in this site gave me rude comment when i point out their mistake in pov, what i do now is just delete the book from my library list and never care about them.
Let them rot in hell
Never apologize for delaying an online response for real life things. Real life always wins.
I agree with you though. The POV can be anything as long as it stays the same. Grammar, in my opinion, is pretty important to get right. I do understand that everyone makes mistakes, and that not everyone speaks English as a first language though.
That’s a good approach. If they break your immersion and don’t care, then find an author who writes better. Haha.
