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Writing advice needed



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Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:24 am
Cyvain87 says...



I am looking at trying to write a novelish length piece of writing which may not be posted on here because of content though i have many ideas.... How do i go about making a start on something like this. I have a general idea of what i want the story to be about and a couple of character roles thought out but not in detail. I don't feel able to just start writing it because I cant work out where to begin. Any tips on how to deal with this kinda project would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:03 pm
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Panikos says...



Hi, Cyvain!

I'd probably be able to help more with this if I had an idea of what your story was about, because every project is different. How best to start a story will also depend on what kind of writer you are, as well. Some people have to plan a novel out in exact detail before they write a single word of it; others just plunge straight in and see how it goes. Neither process is correct; it's just whatever works for you.

For me, the best way to decide where to start a story is to figure out what sets the plot in motion. The typical story results from some kind of disruption in the status quo. Voldemort fails to kill Harry Potter; Lyra Belacqua sees somebody put poison in a bottle of wine; Katniss Everdeen's sister is chosen at the Reaping. So I'd suggest you think about what happens to your main character to make their life change, and thus what causes the story to take place at all. That's often a good place to start.

Without knowing more about your idea, though, it's hard to be more specific than that. Would you be able to share a summary of your ideas so far? Also, why do you think you won't be able to publish the story on YWS? You can post pretty much anything on here as long as it's rated appropriately. :)
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Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:43 am
Cyvain87 says...



Well i wasn't sure if for one it might end up being too long or if the violence content might get too much. The general basis i have is a fantasy magical world where it follow the life of. E main character who is female from when she was young skipping a little bit here and there until she's teenager. Her father turns out to be an evil wizard and tries to influence his daughter from a. Young age to be like him teaching her dark magic whereas her mother is a good witch essentially. And events happen that result in her having to run from her him and stuff i don't want to post too much detail as so much of my initial idea is only preliminary anyway. One thing i do know is when onstage writing and i get going my writing when it's story length stuff i don't paragraph and grammar check as i go then struggle with that afterwards. I know what i want the big change in the story to be and i have various reference images to help me with descriptions of places etc. And once i get started i know it'll be fine it's just getting they first line down on paper or digital paper....


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Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:47 am
Mea says...



It sounds like you just need to start!

Really, it's totally up to you how much planning you do before you start working on a lengthy story or novel. Some people start out with nothing but the idea for a first scene, other people have every single scene and character planned down to the smallest detail. You should do whatever works for you, and the only way you'll find out what works for you is to try the different ways. If you want to try plunging in with less planning, it looks like you should probably start right away!

If you don't want to do that, keep planning! Something I like to do is make a list of all the scenes I know will be in the story, and then fill in the gaps by adding the scenes until I have most of an outline. Or you can ask yourself more questions about the characters, or write down more about the world.

If paragraph and grammar checking is something you tend to forget about as you write and then you have a hard time reading it or understanding yourself afterwards, maybe what you can do is every time you finish a page of writing, go back and edit that page for grammar, etc.

About putting it on YWS - violence isn't a problem as long as you make sure to rate it 16+ or 18+ depending on how violent it is. If it's too long, you can always just post one chapter at a time, or parts of chapters (in fact, I'd highly recommend doing that anyway).

So just start! And if you don't know what you're doing, or it's not that good - so what? You can always edit it and make it better. One of my favorite writing quotes is this: "You can't edit a blank page."
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Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:06 am
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Cyvain87 says...



I like your quote very much they is very true and the idea of editing a page after I've done it is a great idea so long as i don't get too lost in my flow of idea i forget to do so but I'll definitely give that a go! Thanks for the input guys. I'll do some experimenting to see what works best for me, i haven't written enough yet to have worked out my method If that makes sense.


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Thu Jul 19, 2018 9:00 am
Tenyo says...



If it's your first novel I would recommend investing in some kind of scaffolding before you embark- whether that's a plot, or a guidebook, or another novel to imitate. Diving in head first is a much more exciting way to do it, but much harder to see it through if you don't have previous experience with big projects.

I've always found the Snowflake Method to be a great way to start out for first time novelists.

You basically start off with a one sentence synopsis of your novel, then expand it into three, then turn each of those into a paragraph of a three-act-structure, and keep going like that until you get a whole novel. If it's your first big project then this way works well because it breaks everything down into simple, smaller steps, and it's easy to see where you're up to in the grand scheme of things. As you figure the process out you can adapt it as you go to what suits you.

When I wrote my first novel I found imitation to be really useful. I took a novel of the kind of pace and length I wanted and looked at the progression from chapter to chapter, then imitated it in my work. The story was still different, but I used the plot and character development landmarks to keep myself on track.

The most important thing, I think, is community. You're on YWS so that's a good place to start! I'd recommend finding a writing buddy, someone who knows about your project and who can hold you accountable. Being open about your work and reaching out when you get stuck is a good habit to get into. The Last Man Standing is a club that is pretty much based around that, if you want to check it out. You sign up and write a piece or chapter per week for as long as you can.
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Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:07 pm
Cyvain87 says...



Thanks that sounds really useful I'll definitely take that into consideration.


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