Young Writers Society

Hello everyone,

Hope all is well. I'm both a new member and a new writer. I took journalism in College, but have been working in computers since age 11 (About 15 years). I've written several articles in magazines, currently writing a book on Linux and have written well over 100 technical white papers.

But the urge to write stories has been a fever raging in me since childhood. So several months ago I decided to polish my craft and began reading books left and right. Aside from novels, I also read Stephen King's On Writing, and about a dozen writing books to include the Idiot's Guide to writing Novels.

So now the test. To see if I have any skills on writing outside of the technical world I decided to write a short story. Though my interest lie mostly in fantasy and Sci-Fi I decided to write a short on horror. (I know) I may be wasting your time, and hope that I'm not as this could prove useful to others. But I wanted to walk through the entire book from concept, to development, through first and second draft, to a polished story. And to be honest with you all, I need help from those who have taken the plunge.

So, the story idea. (And it may be lame, but it's all I have at the moment).

The story will be about a family of three (Jake, Maggie, and their daughter Cara). The three take a trip to the mountains, and are involved in a serious accident where all three are banged up pretty bad. The road is deserted, it's late, and it's been raining. Jake and Maggie start hiking to the nearest town in search of a hospital. Their concern is for their daughter who is in and out of consciousness. Along their journey they run into several challenges with the wild-life, and landscape. But "Together" Jake and Maggie get their daughter to a medical facility. Once their daughter is in good care, Jake goes to check on his wife and none of the Doctors or nurses recall Jake arriving with anyone other than Cara. The story ends with a call from dispatch, where they found the wreckage and Maggie's body just outside the vehicle who died on impact.

So that's the overall spoiler, now the development of the story. And so several questions from those of you who have written several stories;

1. Does the story stand better without the twist at the end? Or is it too "Tales from the Crypt, Twilight Zone, etc?" It's creepy when you think about it, and could be written in such a way where it could leave you feeling like you've just experienced a Sixth Sense\Creep Show double-feature.

2. How do you typically go about setting, plot, etc? Should I break out a map, and find stretches of forests where wild-life such as bears and wolves may wonder? Which proves to be an interesting read for those who have either lived, or visited those areas.

3. I thought about starting the story the day of the trip, and entering several scenes that show the bond between Maggie and Cara. As well as to explain a child-hood injury of Jake, which supports that there is now way Jake could have gotten Cara to safety alone.

What are your thoughts and ideas? Am I going about this all wrong? Should I just shut-up and get to writing, which is what most books encourage. But they also encourage brainstorming with other writers and support groups. (Which is why I sought this forum out)

Can't wait to hear from you.

Best Regards,

Ken Wincel

First, welcome to the site. We're a little young here, but this may be to your benefit, since if we can pick it up, anyone could.

1. I think your idea involving her dying, although a slight downer, would be a very spooky plot twist if written properly. I love tales involving a helpful supernatural aspect, so maybe it's just me.

2. You can do a lot of things. I wouldn't advise you to go encounter wolves or bears in the wild, but a lot of research would be just as useful. One thing I would recommend is you actually base your setting off a real place. Take a couple of walks around some locations, see if any of them appeal to you.

When you're establishing a setting, it is important to describe all the details of what it is to be in the setting. The big trick is to present it in such a way that it doesn't overwhelm the reader. The bitter chill of the morning, the stifling heat of the afternoon, and the evening thunderstorms, such simple descriptions can place your reader in a place they've been before.

Plots, on the other hand, are much more difficult. You should make a detailed outline by chapter (or some other subdivision, some authors write on a scene by scene basis.) If you want to incorporate symbolism, it is in the outline that it is revealed (incidentally, stories with such symbolism make them more substantial, if not more difficult to write for.)

3. Starting on the day of the trip sounds like a good time. I mean, on a symbolic level, aren't we beginning a trip? Anyways, a couple of scenes showing their relationship is a good idea. If you are going to thrust your characters into an unusual situation, it better to establish what is normal first.

I'd be careful with the whole "childhood injury" deal, since younger bodies tend to heal better. It would mean doing a lot of medical research too. It might be easier to have an injury he suffers during the wreck explain how he couldn't have done it alone.

Final comments: You started here, which indicates to me that you are on the right track. I recommend a "freewriting" for brainstorming sessions, or for sections where you aren't sure how to proceed. Otherwise, sit down, read your plot line, and type.

When you begin typing, don't allow anything to interrupt you. I mean anything. However long, keep writing.

I'm glad you're serious about writing.

Also, I'm going to move this topic to the Fiction Discussion Forum.

*Moved*

I think the idea of the story is good and the twist at the end will be interesting.
I'm just wondering how old the daughter is because it could affect the story quite a lot.
I look forward to reading the first chapters and I suggest planning as much as possible before you even start to think of writing the main body of the story.

Dammerung - Thanks for the feedback, and can't wait to get first chapter draft out for everyone to critique.

With regards to the following;

"I suggest planning as much as possible before you even start to think of writing the main body of the story"

This brings up an interesting question I've been struggling with, and would love to hear feedback on from everyone. Most writers I've spoken with, interviews with them, and several writing books suggest that you let the story build itself. And by putting too much planning and structure into the plot and time-line takes away from the freedom of the story as you are writing to a "Plan" trying to fit the story rather than tell it.

One author I spoke to intended to write a detective story, and the story led him into a entirely different genre all together. The finish product was a sci-fi novel in which the main character expired, and his mind virtualized and preserved into a virtual simulated world set back in the renaissance.

I struggle with this opinion as I feel strongly I could go either way. On one hand, I'm very technical and thinking out the details before writing about them would come natural for me.

But on the other hand, my creative side says "Just plunge in, and tell the story. Fleshing out the details and bugs in the second draft." Getting the ideas and story down while it's fresh in my mind is important. Then the 2nd draft would be to elaborate more, flesh out details, add scene, and remove characters that are not essential to the story (Kill your darlings).

What are your thoughts? Others?

Again, your feedback is awesome and always welcomed.

Just dive right in!

Here's the thing: you haven't written much lately, or at least not fiction, so you need to develop your style. So play with it! Write little "sketches." What is a sketch? Basically, just a little piece that let's you experiment with your story without going deep into it. So try things out, see what you like and what you hate. Practice! Creepy scenes are had to do, so you'll need to do a bit before you'll feel comfortable with it.

Fortunately, you have something going for you. You're older. You can read. You do read. That is perhaps the best thing you can do. It will help you in the long run!

So yeah. Plot twists are good. Just make sure you got the creepy atmosphere down.

The word "Bold" comes to mind when I read how you planned to end it. I think it's an interesting idea and I can see a short story coming out of it. My only wonder is how you're going to make Maggie come out of the wreckage if she is dead. You have to make it believable that Jake somehow doesn't realize his wife is not with him. Maybe she could be already out of the wreck standing in the road when Jake awakens? This could be somewhat strange to the reader, and of course to Jake, but they will probably forget about it as the story progresses. At the same time, it could create the effect at the end that Jake was truly imagining that she was alright. You also have to consisder what perspective. I think your best bet might be first person narrative, Jake of course, telling the story. It could, however, no doubt work in third, but that's something you're going to have to decide and figure out for yourself. An outline, I think, is imperative. Good start!

Hehe! When I first read your plot outline, I thought that Jake went insane and couldn't accept his wife's death so he was imagining her alive ... but she's a spirit or ghost. I like that better. Less disturbing.

1. That twist is good. The story is fine without it, but it wouldn't really be horror and that's what you're going for. Just travelling through the woods and fighting off bears and wolves (most deffinately check on whether wild bears/wolves would attack grown humans, and if so under what circumstances. Also, I'd think about whether these animals can see our ghost) might get a little ... unspecail. I like the twist. It's a sharp note that strikes home at the end of what seems to be a story with a happy ending. ANd it still is a happy ending, sort of. She's dead, but she helped him save their daughter and all, so that's great.

2. Reserch. Hmmm. You can do what ever you think you need to, really. Find out about car crashes ... I'd go to the police or media for that, they've seen that sort of thing and they'd probably be helpful. If you can go to the area you're setting your story, that would be a pretty big bonus. If not, I'd deffinately check out maps. Most deffinately reserch the animals and other natural thingies they encounter. The internet's probably got something. Libraries too, especially in the area the topic applies to. You could probably find someone to talk to, like a park ranger or something like that. I find out what I need to, when I need to. If it's pretty important and I don't have a clue about it I try to search for information way before I get anywhere near it in the story.

3. The day of the trip idea sounds pretty good. It would be good to get to know what's normal for the characters, like Grif said, before they get into the unusal.

ON PLANNING

I've heard both sides of the argument, and I think it just varies between people and stories. Some people work best plotting, others when they make it up as they go along. Some stories really need to be plotted, while others don't really require it (or not much). Personally, I do plot when I write a long story. It helps me, because I go off on tangants otherwise. But I have some short story things that are, well, really silly, but I don't plot them.

It is possible to kill a story with too much plotting. I've done it. But I wouldn't worry about this too much. If it happens, it happens and you'll know you're limits for future stories. Really, don't be afraid. If you're interested in giving something a go, you may as well try, because then you'll know and it won't just be second-hand information. You'll know what's right when you do it. Anything goes!

Planning

Normally I suggest planning because when I just dive in my stories fail because I have nothing to show me what my ideas were at the time. A plan can also be useful in the short term if you are planning on writing about something slightly off the main story line as it can help you get back into the story.

Admittedly a plan could restrict you but you can easily change it as you go along and there is no rule that says you need to stick to it. You could also use a very first brief outline of each event in the story and elaborate on that before linking it all up together, I have a friend who does that and she finds it useful because her ideas tend to be all over the place. That method is also useful if you decide that something doesn't fit in with the rest of the story and you can just cut it out with no major effects to the rest of the story.

Some people probably don't need to plan their storys, I know some do, including me, so maybe you could write a rough plan or plan a short story and see if you really need it.

WOW! I had not received any notifications that this post was being responded to. And I come out to find several great responses. I'm beginning first chapter tonight, and will post very soon. I suspect things will get very intersting then.

Can't wait to get through it, and get some feedback.

Thanks everyone!

Maggie was humming as she walked down the hall folding a towel. Laundry was done, and the excitement of the cabin was pulling her.

“It’s a gorgeous day”, she said to herself impressed that forecast today which predicted rain had been wrong. “A perfect for traveling.” She said out load, a smile on her face.

Her husband Jake was taking a four day weekend in the mountains. His parents had bought a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN which they only used two or three times a year. The rest of the time, Jake and Maggie had access to it as a get away, which wasn't’t often.

She had hoped this trip would ease his nerves. If she had any notion of how the evening would turn out, she would have stayed home, and suggested dinner and a movie.

She was smiling now as she watched Carla play in the yard through the Kitchen window.

“What an imagination”, she thought.

Carla was placing tea settings around a table made from an old tree stump. Around the table was an arrangement of stuffed animals. As she sat the table, she would stop to ask each one if they wanted “1 or 2 lumps”.

Carla had just turned eight, and was on spring break. She loved visiting the cabin where her and her mother would search for treasure, and would occasionally stop to pick berries.

Carla and Maggie were close, and Maggie enjoyed all the time Carla gave her. They would swing in the park together; play singing games where they would make up impromptu songs, mostly silly songs about farts and jabs at Jake.

Maggie finished the few breakfast dishes, and sat the bags out in the living room for the trip.

I know it's not quite a chapter. But wanted to get some thoughts on this. I've been tempted to scrap this. I may jump in writing the scene of the accident, and coming back to write in the beginning. I've been struggling with the opening scene, mostly due to time I believe. I've had very little of it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bad day to choose to ask thoughts, kwincel, the place is closing down today - feels kinda like a ghost town. Look for the url for the temp. site in The Lounge, and you could post it there.

Thanks,

I assume the forum and not the site is shutting down correct?

-Ken

I like Lucy's idea.

I think the story has great potential, so keep on with it!

In terms of planning the story out-I mostly plan mine out by writing a summary out. That way I don't have random ideas written down and somehow have to connect them into a story. But I don't let that outline keep me from exploring my creativity. By the end of the story, it's mostly changed anyway from the original! lol