Thread: Where do you start your story?

Do you begin by developing characters first or do you develop the plot and then the characters?

I start at Chapter 1 and begin writing. Whatever happens, happens.

My stories are predominantly plot-driven, however, so the characters are usually developed in how they react to the situations that are thrown in front of them; which, more often than not, are copious and always difficult. Nothing establishes character better than having every horrible thing in the world befall you and emerging the other side unscathed.

I just start writing. . .I write a line that I like and stick with it, then I give the person (if there is a person involved) a name, and I stick with it.

I start as if I'm writing the beginning, the very first chapter. . .what I intend to be the first chapter any way. It never becomes the first chapter, but I find it easier to write as if it was.

I used to write like this:

Chapter Names: The Sea Man, A.W.O.L.

Characters: Bob, Tim, Peter whatever.

Locations: London, Essex, St.Petersburg

Important Objects: Lucky Coin, Bust of Lincoln.

Mood: Dark, Macabre etc.

Character Traits: Pete - Controlling, Morbid obsession, Highly Strung, Arrogant etc.

Those are examples by the way, that's a blueprint for the worst book of all time.

Any way, that doesn't work. My characters and story tend to refine themselves over time naturally. I've found planning can be a very bad way of going about it, and trying to develop characters before you've even written them into a book just spells disaster. I end up changing every single thing I wrote before hand. It probably works for some.

I write much more naturally when I sit in front of a fresh new page with a cup of tea and wait for the ideas to come .

I love that moment when you just find your stride and start typing away like a madman. One of my favourite parts of writing.

There's no special order. You just write which ever works best for you.

Originally Posted by Sam W

My stories are predominantly plot-driven, however, so the characters are usually developed in how they react to the situations that are thrown in front of them; which, more often than not, are copious and always difficult. Nothing establishes character better than having every horrible thing in the world befall you and emerging the other side unscathed.

I'm the same way.

With reading more these past few years, I find myself putting books down more because they don't hold my attention unless there is some kind of internal or external (preferably both) conflict going on. I absolutely can't stand it when the author spends pages and pages on false conflict. Characters that are just standing around talking to one another, going to parties, or fighting when it's not moving the story forward at-all. It actually makes me angry sometimes because the story idea is so intriguing that I want to continue reading but nothing is happening.

A story starts either with something I see in real life, or a scene I see in my head. There's always just a scene at first, whether imagined or real, that kinda sticks out. It can be just a little snippet of something, too--one novel I wrote when I was a kid started with me watching some boys playing football on a hill. Another series I started on a few years ago started with a conversation I had with an unusual friend who was staying at my trailer at the time.

That's all it really is, just bits and pieces. I start thinking about these little bits and pieces of things that sort of swirl around in my brain, and eventually a story will start to coalesce around them. To add interest to the story, side-plots, conflicts, etc., I just dip into various experiences I've had, or stories that I've heard other people tell, and add those.

This is of course the case with fiction, where a story has to be fabricated.

If I'm not writing fiction--writing about something that is known to me, that I wish to inform others about or use as entertainment--then I have to pretty much STOP myself at a certain point. If I am writing about a band that I've seen that I really like, for example. then I'm probably going to have to edit about 2/3 of the article out to get the editor even to look at it.

I just mash all the keys on the keyboard randomly and when something intelligible comes out, voila! Story!

One of my biggest ambitions is to write a great fantasy novel. I used to play a lot of AD&D and wrote some reasonable scenarios for gaming. Map making comes easy for me, characters and names don't cause me any problems and I see some great scenes in my head. Why do I find it so difficult to write a story? I always shy away from plotting and maybe I try to over plan; wanting to see the whole story in my head before committing to paper. Do you think it would be better to begin with short stories or plunge in and try to fully develop one of my ideas. You're advice would be much appreciated.

regards

Ralph.

You could try short stories, but I can tell you there's a world of difference between writing shorts and novels. Two very disparate things, funnily enough. My advice would be to jump in head-first and start writing your novel. Even if it turns out to be a mess, it's a learning experience, and very few writers' first novels turn out to be great.

Hi Sam,

thanks for your speedy reply. Very often I picture a scene, vivid and strong, with mood and feeling. It can be an event or a character but one scene doesn't make a story. In you're opinion does solid plot develop good characters , good characters drive the plot forward or do you have to find a middle ground.

I try a balance of both character and plot development, though I often end up listing more to the character side.

If you lean more to character development, just be careful not to fall into telling the character's life story before starting into your story. Unless, of course, your story is about that one person's life story...

Originally Posted by Woody

Hi Sam,

thanks for your speedy reply. Very often I picture a scene, vivid and strong, with mood and feeling. It can be an event or a character but one scene doesn't make a story. In you're opinion does solid plot develop good characters , good characters drive the plot forward or do you have to find a middle ground.

I'd be inclined to say "find a middle ground" but I think that solid plot is a great tool for developing characters. One famous author said, "Throw the kitchen sink at them and see what happens".

Let's say you have a neighbour called "Jim". He's the nicest guy you could meet. Pays his bills on time, works nine-to-five as a lawyer, and has a great relationship with his family. There's nothing really there which a reader can connect with, but when you start to throw him into the mire, that's when character reveals itself. For the interests of keeping it to my genre, his wife is murdered by a gang whose leader he failed to keep out of prison. Thus starts a trail of revenge. That's great character-building. How far is he willing to go to avenge the death of his wife? How will it change him? He could be squeamish at the beginning and not really want to hurt these people, but when they keep stonewalling him, he becomes enraged and tortures them to find out who killed his wife.

By having him as a normal Joe at the beginning, and now as a man forced to embrace his dark side, you create empathy with the reader. But it's still driven forward by the plot. Most thrillers, for instance, are not character-driven, despite what people may argue. The plot drives the story forward, in my opinion. And when it comes to thrillers, I don't buy the book for the characters. I buy it for the story. I'm not sure what your genre is. It might be that you're writing the kind of thing that lends itself to strong characters.

Originally Posted by Woody

Do you think it would be better to begin with short stories or plunge in and try to fully develop one of my ideas.

Well the sensible thing to do would be to develop one of your ideas at at time.

Originally Posted by Sam W

You could try short stories, but I can tell you there's a world of difference between writing shorts and novels. Two very disparate things, funnily enough.

1. Novels = longer.
2. Novels = more characters.

It doesn't really seem like too much of a difference to me.

Novels in my opinion are a bunch of short stories that chronologically connect with one another. So why not work on the scenes you do have and with the characters in mind, come up with other scenes that take place in the world you've created. Take your time and pace yourself.

3. More plot-lines.
4. More POVs.
5. Tying up loose ends.
6. Having everything make sense at the denouement.
7. Keeping the reader interested. (Shorts are easier to do this because they usually don't exceed 10,000 words).
8. Knowing that it isn't just enough to have a start and a finish. Getting there is the hard part.
9. Pacing.
10. Judging lengths of chapters so the reader doesn't spend their time wondering when a break is going to come.

There is a huge difference between shorts and novels. It's not just a matter of writing a bunch of short stories that chronologically connect. It all has to make sense by the time you've finished. I still don't think writing a short story prepares you for writing a novel. With a short story, you know the ending's around the corner. With novels, you have to be disciplined. One's a sprint, the other's a marathon.

Originally Posted by Sam W

3. More plot-lines.
4. More POVs.
5. Tying up loose ends.
6. Having everything make sense at the denouement.
7. Keeping the reader interested. (Shorts are easier to do this because they usually don't exceed 10,000 words).
8. Knowing that it isn't just enough to have a start and a finish. Getting there is the hard part.
9. Pacing.
10. Judging lengths of chapters so the reader doesn't spend their time wondering when a break is going to come.

Number 1.

Originally Posted by Sam W

I still don't think writing a short story prepares you for writing a novel. With a short story, you know the ending's around the corner. With novels, you have to be disciplined. One's a sprint, the other's a marathon.

And how do you propose you become disciplined? There are plenty of people out there that have never had a history of writing and they wrote a novel. Whether it's good or not is besides the point. Anyone can write a novel. It's challenging but not impossible. You familiarize yourself with the genre you want to write, use that as a guideline, and just write. Through drafts and editing you make everything connect. It's only difficult if you make it difficult.

Anyone can write a novel.

Have you written one? Because if you haven't, then I can't take what you have to say about it very seriously.