Thread: Story Development and Publishing questions

How do you guys go about developing the story? I've previously just written the book from the first page, and continued on until it became a shambled mess of crap. My current project, however, I'm composing a document on my computer that contains villages, cities, wandering tribes, indavidual people, groups of people and their purpose, religious groups, gods and goddesses, the lay of the land, the indavidual culture of each city/tribe/village, trade routes, empires, etc. I've not written a single bit of the book itself, I'm simply just gathering information at this point.

Also, I have a question about publishing and posting on this site. I hope to put parts of the book here on the site to gain feedback on it, but I am also hoping to get this book published if I think it's good enough. But I know some publishers have qualms about people posting a book on a website, since it's as if I'm giving it out for free, and they lose profit, etc. So, what are the rules/guidlines/opinions about posting a book you wish to publish?

I honestly thing that posting your book here is a safe bet, that seems to be what I have seen so far. However, I'd advise just posting excerpts just to be safe. Where developing your story in concerned I think it depends on the genre you are writing in. if you are writing Fantasy, it would probably be best first to develop the world a bit first, as you seem to be doing. For stories set in our universe I usually find it easier to simply outline the plot vaguely and then just begin writing.

Much of story development is trial and error, and every writer will have their own preference for how much detail they plan ahead of actually writing a book. From previous threads on this subject, I believe that most writers like to have, at the very least, an idea of how the story begins and ends, and the main events that have to happen to reach the ending. The amount of detail you gather in advance will depend on you as a writer and perhaps on the type of story that you are writing. It sounds as if you are creating an entire civilisation, so a lot of detail will be beneficial to understanding the role that each tribe will play in the story.

I'm currently writing a fact-based historical novel, so a lot of research was needed before I could write each part of the book. I am also writing a novella that is purely creative and fictional. It only existed in my head before I actually started to write it.

For your second question, I can't really add anything to what nath881 said. I would advise only publishing excerpts, to whet people's appetite, if you later want to find a publisher for it.

Alright, thank you for your help, guys.

The best thing I can suggest is to know the ending before you start. If you know where the story has to get to, then it makes it easier to see if you're going the right way.

My second piece of advice would be don't spend so long building the world that you never start writing the story.
When you start inventing different coloured earrings your priests have to wear, on certain days, when the moon is in a certain constellation, and then devise a religious schism based on conflicting ideas about the meaning of the earrings you've gone too far. World building is not the same as developing a story.

I agree with Loopstah. Knowing the ending is very important. It doesn't have to be the exact ending, though, and often times your ending will change as you move through the story. But the main thing is you have a destination in mind when you start, something to write towards.

For posting on this site and requesting feedback, I only use the Writers Workshop section, since anything posted there is only visible to site members, and it's removed after, I believe, 30 days. So anything you post there is safe and for the sole purpose of receiving critiques from other writers.

Some authors do post a full chapter online for everyone to read, as a form of marketing. The idea is that the chapter is so engaging the readers will want to go out and buy the book. But usually that's done after a publishing deal has already been secured.

How about planning for the social message of it as well as the physical places and people? In some ways that can be more important because it will dictate how your characters develop. Developing a character is an important concept, you may have a fully rounded idea of what they are like, but your readers need to get to know them.

Kyle has beaten me to it about the writer's workshop, it is a good idea to get things developed and before putting them there and little bits is fine. People don't come here to read whole books and you will usually get more readers and more thoughtful crit. on 3-400 words than you would on 2,000.

Not sure where you're getting that. People write thoughtful crits in the Workshop on 2000 words or more all the time -- often up to 3000 or 4000 words. Sometimes more.

Knowing the ending is handy, even if by the time you get there you change it slightly. Some major events along the way will help you keep on the path and not straying about, requiring a lot of revision after the first draft. Knowing where to start the story is good too. Best where something is happening. That doesn't mean a murder or big explosion, but don't start with a load of backstory.As was said above, everyone has their own method. Take ideas and implement what works best for you!

Originally Posted by JosephB

Not sure where you're getting that. People write thoughtful crits in the Workshop on 2000 words or more all the time -- often up to 3000 or 4000 words. Sometimes more.

I don't deny it, the key word is 'usually', I find that writing a full crit on a couple of thousand words can take me a couple of hours, I don't always have that much time. I quite often write something on a few paragraphs or look for something else if something is that long, I don't think I am the only one.

Well, I'm certainly glad you don't deny it.

The other thing is, I don't know how much good "thoughtful" is if you're talking about 300-400 words. Maybe you'll get something on basic mechanics or style. Maybe feedback on an opening -- but not likely much on things like character development or plot. So really -- that you get might get more feedback isn't going to make a lot of difference.

I have been writing a fantasy book and the way I did it was to write a story first just so I could get used to the characters, world, technology, philosophies etc that I was creating. Then I did some thinking. Then I sat down and just started writing the first story. After producing several drafts I decided to draw some pictures (places, maps etc). My strategy was to write and not care about whether it would end up in the final version. But prior to doing anything I did think for a few years about the story I wanted to write. However, what I have actually written bares little resemblence to what I first thought.