So far I'm basing it on dementia(not the title though). I have an idea about a man in a special unit of some type of military branch. The u.s. government is a little bit more advanced so they now do a scan of the world for any new accounts of nuclear/radioactive activity. Now the u.s. sees that chernobyl(already radioactive) is getting a more direct source of energy in a certain area. They believe, since the area is abandoned, that maybe terrorists have found a way to use the area as a nuclear bomb facility. So the u.s. sends this unit to check it out and yeah they don't find terrorists. What the do find is based on the man I mentioned earlier. I want to make it as unique as possible and definitely not make it sound like anything else out there in anyway. Right now I'm doing research(checking for similar books or stories to see if there are any and for the book in general-like helicopter types and guns and info on dementia). This should be fun and hopefully it all works out. And if I spelled dementia wrong I'm sorry but I believe that is how you spell it
If you're serious with this, don't write the plot first. Start writing the end first, the last chapter. Then work your way through the story. Maybe Scott can give you an advice, too.
Yeah that's a really interesting way of writing, I never thought of that. Anyway I'm very serious, and I'll try it out.
Well - if you want to write seriously, you'll need to learn a lot of writing techniques. You cannot know what your story is about - you can't even begin to write it - if you don't know how it ends. Yes. That's right. You must know how it ends. If you don't know how it ends before you write your story, how can you know what events are needed to get to that end? How will your story make sense? Your story must have a logic to it. Even if it's science fiction or fantasy, it must follow the rules of the world you create. But maybe the most important question is: How will you know what to foreshadow? Foreshadowing is one of the most effective techniques for creating suspense. Without suspense, your story will fall flat. Conclusion: most bestseller authors write the end first. You don't need to write the whole chapter... just a page where you summarize everything. Next, design your characters, their personalities. Give them strong, interesting names. After that, sketch out some of the places and scenes where the story will happen. That will make you busy for a while. The plot comes much later. The introduction at last. Professional writers write their stories from the end to the beginning. That's also the easiest way to check the logic of your story without a lot of effort.
First, don't worry so much about making it unique, as making it a well written story that keep the reader interested. I highly recommend doing your research as you've stated, but also be careful not to bog down your story with all the details you find. Sometimes it's simply enough to know the info yourself so your comfortable writing about dementia, guns, etc. Less is more, sometimes. As for Vovin's suggestion of writing the ending first: that works for some, but not for me. I find if I know the ending first everything that comes before it tends to be predictable. In my novella due out next year all I started with was the idea of brothers who were serial killers. I had no idea where they would go or what they would do. I certainly had no idea how it would end and that's what helped sell it-it kept my publisher reading to see how it turned out. The most important part of your book will be the first page: people are going to judge the rest of the book by that. If possible start in the middle of some action. If that's not possible, make sure you have some kind of hook that will make the reader want to turn that page. Don't be afraid to let yourself go wild, always knowing things can-and will-be taken out. Example: I'm currently editing a novel by Eric Red (screenwriter for The Hitcher and Near dark), and as awesome as it is, there's stuff that just doesn't belong. Don't be afraid to cut things when you edit. Somewhat related to this is get some beta readers! Let others read it as you go along (or wait until it's finished) to get an idea if how others will react to it. Do you have to listen to everything they say? No, but the input will be invaluable. Discipline! Write every day. Even if it's a couple of hundred words, make sure you get in the habit of setting pen to paper on a regular basis. Myself, I tend to write around 1500-2000 words a day before i start getting sloppy. Know your limitations as well. Unless you're on a hot streak and just have to finish a scene it's always helpful to set a goal and stop once you reach it. The story isn't going anywhere. I highly recommend reading Stephen King's book "On Writing". for me it has some of the best info on writing I've come across. Finally: don't get discouraged. There's going to come a point where you look at what you have and doubts are going to creep in. I've never met a writer yet who hasn't had that happen. Keep plugging and don't give up. Much luck! If you need any advice feel free to PM me, I'll be glad to help you out.
what you're referring to is outlining, and it's not something I recommend personally. Part of the process of writing for me, is discovery. It's allowing the characters to go and do what they want and not have the story be "on rails" so to speak. There's nothing wrong with having an idea of where you're going to go, but let the characters get there on their own. They will anyway. Anytime I've tried to follow an outline it's never gone the way I planned. If you know what will happen in advance, so will the reader: guaranteed.
Thank you! Most of it is advice passed on to me by my mentor (for lack of a better word), T.M. Wright. He's published 30 books over four decades so I tend to trust what he says.
That's such good advice. Shame I was never taught this at school. The amount of times I've tried to write something, but just given up. This makes so much more sense now!
I tried writing once, but school really killed me in that area. Now I can only pump out 5 paragraph essays. Real useful... I guess the only advice I can give is to use your own writing style that works.
School is good for learning the mechanics, grammar, spelling etc, but is awful at fostering creativity-esp. if you write genre stories.
Maybe you misunderstood me, Scott. Of course should the end be at the end. Only the author should know how the story finishes. The reader should be kept in not knowing what will happen at the end. I also know that Terry Pratchett writes in this way - and the end of his stories are never predictable. I am writing song texts, lyrics... did around 200 in the last 15 years. It's not much different from writing stories. And I always start with the last strophes. But you know, the are hundreds of different screwdrivers for the same task. Just use the one which fits your style of working best.
Thanks everyone for advice still working on research and getting the whole bit started and making my first couple of pages really strong. One question though, and hopefully none of you think I'm second guessing myself, but what about the idea of 2012, right, but instead of the world ending, America uses the fear of the people to take over. And Scott, what you are saying is well appreciated and I do plan to moderate on the details. But I also want it to be professional as well, if you undestand what I'm saying. Oh, and Scott I was thinking of your: brothers that are serial killers. Its genius, I honestly want to ask myself so many questions as a reader and you as well as the author, like one being do they know that the other one is a serial killer, or are the partners, is there jealousy or double crossing? Wow that's amazing.
I have to agree on this point. I start with the germ of an idea, then start writing the beginning and let the story grow organically from there. Part of the fun I have in writing stories is "discovering" where the plot and the characters are going; thinking of new ideas on the go, staying maybe only one or two steps ahead of what I've already written. However the issue with this style of this writing is that if you start getting into multiple plot arches, complex characters and interactions, global travel and descriptions of each place, and so on, you either have to have a good memory to remember how you described it, or create the outline as you go so you have something to refer back to when revisiting plots, places and people to ensure continuity. This becomes even more important if you plan on extending it across multiple books. Much of this can be done organically as well, however. David Eddings, Piers Anthony, Robert Jordan, Douglas Adams, and many other such authors didn't create their worlds fully formed before they started writing. They created chunks as they went, alternately writing and charting, adding pieces to their world as they went. Piers Anthony was famous for writing personal, pre-Internet blog-style entries at the end of each of his novels, and he would often talk about how he created the book, the series, the characters, and so on. As long as you have a way of keeping everything straight, there's really no need to outline absolutely everything first, or even write the ending of your book first. As long as you have an idea of what it's about and where, generally, you want it go, you can deal with issues of destination and tying up loose ends when you come to them -- when you feel it's appropriate to visit them. And don't worry about style. Working off some canned manual of style like the AP guide will only guarantee that your style will be very generic. Everyone has their own style of speaking and writing, and as long as it is clear and coherent, just write as you'd like to write. Your own style will come through and you will leave your own personal mark on the story that people will be able to identify in the long term.
I would avoid a 2012 tie-in. Sure there's probably a bunch coming out but I think it's better to avoid limiting yourself. After 2012 no one will be interested. As for my book, thank you for that. I'll have a blog piece up this weekend actually about its origins and the process I used.
This point is the one thing I hate about certain scifi movies that pin their plot to a specific year. I never understood why the writer wouldn't just state that it happens in the future rather than 2020 ect., ect. It really limits me from fully imagining the world that is trying to be portrayed.
Alright I wasn't going to base it on 2012 but as a backdrop- well maybe I'm using the wrong word; as a sort of crutch to push off for the main story of America taking over the world because of the 2012 scare making it unique(sorry if this is confusing but hopefully you can make sense out of it). But for right now I'll stick with the dementia.
Well said! What I do is write down my characters as they come into the story on index cards, write some bio materials and put down the settings I use. In spite of it's short length (under 200 pages) and only three locations, I found myself getting confused (due to the back and forth nature of the locations) and found the index cards invaluable. It also helped when I kept calling one character by a different name! As for style, yours will come in time. Don't be surprised if it takes on the flavor of what you're reading at the time. In an ancient interview with Stephen King (back from the early 80s I believe) he referred to it as a container of milk in the fridge that takes on the taste of whatever surrounds it. In my case, I was watching Deadwood and since my story is a Western, it took on aspects of Deadwood (mostly the cussing). Also keep a copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style around simply for the grammatical information; it's a working writers best friend.
