Thread: Writing Questions

I have been hoping to begin writing more however I have 2 main questions.

1) Is there a "formula" to begin a story, such as planning stages or just beginning to write?

2) Also I am trying to mold together my interests in order to make a story which I will be passionate about enough to keep me going. I'm wondering how you all decide what you write about, but mroe importantly why?

I think it's safe to say we can draw on anything from inspiration. So it really comes down to what you want to say and how you want to say it. Write often and you'll improve naturally.

You might find experimenting with some arbitrary rules helps your creativity (a major reason I don't write free-verse poetry). I know there's lots of formulas for writing stories but you won't be a good writer really until you have one that works for you. Especially at first, I would try to avoid shortcuts and cliches in your writing. Without them you'll end up a stronger writer because they're very addictive. Using them sparingly will be refreshing to the reader and give your work a sense of balance. But you have to be the one to define those shortcuts, since you certainly know yourself best. Think about how you would distinguish between quality and kitsch, and avoid whatever makes something kitsch. If you really want to challenge yourself, avoid quality as well.

There's really only one hard and fast rule in writing, and that's to know your audience. Practice letting others see inside your head rather than trying to get inside theirs. You will generally find others to be more generous critics of your work than you are on yourself. This allows for estimation for the sake of time, but if you're not careful you may find you have lowered your standards and that is the fastest way to lose the creative drive.

By the way, knowing your audience doesn't always mean doing what they expect. People generally like to be surprised and are more open than they'll admit. I once ghost-wrote an essay for my friend's writing class and I was happy to indulge myself in all the subversive themes I could find. Could have written it with another motive in mind. That's just the hippie way to do it. Freak out the squares, man!

1. The planning stage usually takes place in my head. I know this is not so for everyone, but most of the things I write are fairly short, I think it might be more important to produce a written plan for a non-fiction thing , an autobiography for example, however if I am producing something longer I tend to write a synopsis and fill it out later.

2 Most shorts start off with some little thing that catches my fancy, for example a recent one started when my phone was ringing and I did not answer it, my ex-pat Aussie mate asked why and I showed him the name said "ignore", he said "You English are so polite, I 've got one like that says 'f*** off' ". We had just had a sex pest on the forum so the caller became a sex pest and the two people women. Here it is http://www.writingforums.com/writers...4694-call.html I have edited the ending since to have the phone stsrt ringing again and the two women screaming down it, things often "grow" a little like that when you start putting it down

Originally Posted by saxguitar

1) Is there a "formula" to begin a story, such as planning stages or just beginning to write?

The only formula you need is "ass on seat, fingers on keyboard, and start typing".

2) Also I am trying to mold together my interests in order to make a story which I will be passionate about enough to keep me going. I'm wondering how you all decide what you write about, but mroe importantly why?

I write what I love reading: thrillers. I also love reading horror, and occasionally I'll take a stab at writing it. Basically it's whatever you feel the most comfortable writing. It's takes a bit of experimentation to find out.

Is there a "formula" to begin a story, such as planning stages or just beginning to write?

Not to me. I find something I want to write about, and BOOM! It displays itself on the page.
I do ocasionly do a little planning ahead. I just think for long periods of time. Why? I think alot. (haha)

Also I am trying to mold together my interests in order to make a story which I will be passionate about enough to keep me going. I'm wondering how you all decide what you write about, but mroe importantly why?

Like my current book is Eerth. I'm writing about it. What gave me the idea? I have no clue. I actually think I mis-spelled Earth once, and it looked like Eerth, and it stuck. Not sure though. What gave me the idea to write what I did about Eerth and everything is beyond my understanding.

Though I know it's fantasy. And since I read fantasy alot, I found it way easyer to write. Since I love what I'm doing, how could I go wrong?

1: I do not have a formula. I do post some writings online and so I have an idea for it, then I post a chapter about once a week. But for my novels and articles, they just come to me or I pick them.

2: I enjoy writing about subjects that I love to read about and research(education, etc.) so I go with that. Normally, in nonfiction, I use papers that I have already written for classes, reformat them, then use them. As for fiction, I come up with writings from everywhere, and I keep a notebook full of ideas.

The reason I write is because I get ideas for things that no one else writes so I decide to enjoy them myself and write them. I also want to help others to learn about education, writing and other information.

Good questions!

1) I find that too much planning, for all types of fiction or poetry, stiffles creativity and makes for an inneficent story. You can always edit your work, as many times as necessary, after you're done. Why make yourself draw out lengthy outlines when you can let your story go in any direction that suits you and fix it up later.

Though, I must say, the opposite goes for non-fiction. I always found that an outline and a plan makes things easier.

2) A spark. Maybe it's a scene that you can play in your head that makes you want to create more working around it. Maybe it's a plot idea you thought about (WW2 aviator caught behind enemy lines.) Maybe it's a theme that you want to explore (the decline of religion in the modern world, the concept of "true freedom.) It can be anything. Even a small idea, if you expand it right, can create an entire story.

1) Yes and no, there are way more then one formula, neither of which are the "right" formula. The only universal formula is this: Discipline and patience, sit down, start writing. You can always scrap it and start over until you have it. A friend once told me "Inspiration comes by all the time, but if it doesn't catch you while you're working it doesn't hang around waiting for you."

2) Again, there's no one way to do this, it's discipline and determination. If you have some brilliant ideas for scenes or events through out the story they can motivate you to keep going because you want to reach them. At the start of each chapter you may want to make up a really strong end for that chapter, that way you have a more immediate goal. You can even do this for every event, plan the end phrase before you type the beginning. If you connect with your characters and get to know them they can also drive you forward. Caring about what happens to them is important for several reasons, and if they feel important to you they will keep you typing.


Me, I usually have a theme or a very general idea first, one that fascinates me. If I can brainstorm a few times over a couple of days without loosing inspiration I sit down and begin to outline the story. After that I create the characters. Usually these appear during the brainstorming but this is where I solidify the main characters personality. After that I may get into a bit of back story, but not always. I make sure I know who they are in every detail, who they were usually grows naturally from there as the logical past that generated this character. Finally I sit down and start typing, staying several pages ahead at all times. If I'm on page 10 I have a solid plan up to page 16 and a good outline up to page 22, etc. It's a random example but I guess it's clear enough. That's my favorite "formula"

I just feel that I'm gonna start...then think I missed something or should have added something else, what should I do, weave it into a sequel or what?

Go back and weave it into the story. That's what edits are for.

maybe plan a chapter or two at a time.

this allows for a fair amount of creativity and organization.

Its gonna be tough due to school who haspounded into my brain, plan prior to writing and having brainstorming sheets and outlines. I'll have to try and make a general brainstorm "mess" to use later, otherwise I see where you are all coming from.

Another question should possibly should be in a different section but are there any "creative" writing programs other than MS Word. I feel a separate dedicated program for this type of writing may help my "creative juices"?

MS Word was never designed for creative writing. It's a business tool to be used in the office. That's why it is included in a suite of programmes called Office and that is why it has so many options for formatting and inserting items like tables and graphs. For business writing, doing reports, and such, there is nothing better. I use it for that. I never use it for creative writing. I only use Notepad. If you are uncomfortable using a bare bones text editor instead of a word processor there is WordPad which is a word processor but far simpler than Word. Both come free with Windows. Notepad produces plain text while WordPad produces what Microsoft calls Rich Text Format. Both can be loaded directly into Word when you are ready to use the text in a formatted document. Either is easier to use for the writing itself than Word. If you have Windows, any flavour, you already have both so it won't cost you anything to try them.

Forget everything you learned in school, I was writing stories(to the best of my four-five year old ability)before first grade, I had it in my blood and I stopped writing for nearly 12 years. I spent those years drawing and later painting until the middle my last year of high school. My 3 years of high school were 3 years of daily art classes, a pretty bohemian school and nobody telling you how to write. That's how I got my will to write back.

School promotes the accumulation of knowledge, but not not necessarily creativity.

As for software, it depends on what you're writing. There's always CeltX if you want to try writing for theatre, cinema, radio, or some other format. If what you want is just to get away from Word and the dull and tedious work you associate with it here is an article that may help you:

Free Microsoft Word Alternatives

It actually got me curious. I think I'm going to try out Lotus and Buzzword myself, once I find the time

anyone have an articles of writing style or even programs used by any well known authors?