How do you decide...? - Writers Forum

Olivia · 11-22-2005, 11:53 AM

Help! How do you guys decide on how to start your stories? I keep getting ideas and then thinking I will put the idea in a different chapter! I'll write one page, or even two, but then I think it will be going off to some weird direction or doesn't fit in right. One idea is a guy in a castle, one is an elves in a forest another is an elf and ranger camp... how do you guys decide?!?

SeattleGhostWriter · 11-22-2005, 12:25 PM

Just keep writing. Keep a record of all your thoughts, ideas. Carry a journal with you. Notebook.

Start with one thought and see where it goes. That is the best suggestion I can get.

Me, personally, I usually just write out what comes to mind. Sometimes it is a sentence, a paragraph, even thirty pages. But all in all, I keep it, log it, and refer to it if I have something similar. The page is a writers playground

Nickie · 11-22-2005, 03:36 PM

What I do is work out the entire plot in my head. Afterwards it's easy to start. Most of the time this is something unusual, from where the plot evolves.

Nickie

Kimahri · 11-22-2005, 03:44 PM

I'm with Nickie on this one. For my current story, I worked out the beginning and the end of the entire story and several key scenes that I saw fit. After that I have been writing the story for almost three years and I am still not done. As you write you will continue to develope the story, the characters, and the themes.

kimahri

ravravrav · 11-22-2005, 06:38 PM

I made a program call FilmFilerPlay free on my website.

What I prefer to do is think about the important parts of the plot first and then fill in the gaps. As I develop it, the story can change or include multiple sub-plots. But the idea is to get the first thread decided in my mind. FilmFilerPlay is used to do this, I thought of the major plot points like the Inciting Incident, Climax etc.

Check it out and let me know what you think...

Olivia · 11-23-2005, 12:38 AM

Thanks for your suggestions, guys. I have been working on my fantasy story (the characters mainly) for about a year now and I think I should start doing what you guys are suggesting!

Hand · 11-23-2005, 02:31 AM

I plot out the entire story in my head. That way, I know which general direction to steer my characters in, and the overall writing process is much neater as a result.

richie · 11-23-2005, 04:12 AM

I do something like that.
After I have a general picture about the story, and how I want to tell it, I decide how it's going to start. I not always decide how it's gonna end, so it gives me freedom and a bit of uncertainty I find very pleasant.
Then I picture some key images about the story, like the main events and scenes. From this point, the story should flow nicely.

mammamaia · 11-23-2005, 09:43 AM

back in my old life, when i was writing 'stories' and novels, all i did was sit down and write 'em... the ideas were in my head [usually almost full-born] and just flowed naturally, from the first line, till the last... first lines almost always were 'flashes' that sort of popped up unbidden... once i got that on paper, the rest of the story just more or less 'told itself'...

it's the same now, though i'm writing essays and poetry instead of fiction...

from what you say, it sounds like you're trying to write a novel, not a story... if so, that takes some serious planning, so as was advised above, get all your ideas written down, and as you develop the outline for your novel, you should be able to see where the various pieces will fit best...

sorry i can't be any more help... hugs, maia