Young Writers Society

So, when I write, I write my book with tthe intention of having it published. I use a book called "Learn to Write the Novel Way" to help me write and publish. The book shows me how to outline and write the book correctly and succesfully. My question is, what do you do to prepare for writing a book? Do you jump right in or outline, or do something completely different?


Vet

Well, there's no correct way to write a book. You just have to have good grammar and all that other writerly goodness. I write summaries and look at pictures and then jump right in. Books should come from your heart and you really have to be your characters, so that they'll be as believable as possible. So as long as you have believable characters, a good playlist, a fantastic plot, and a lot of patience then you don't need any guidebook to map out your novel.

~Angel

Okay, thanks for the advice.

Vet

I actually write for fun. If I'm not enjoying the story I'm writing or if I'm not inspired enough, I just can't bring myself to do it. With that in mind, I always try to write with correct grammar and spelling so that other people can have fun reading without getting annoyed with all the mistakes.

I don't normally have a plot line in mind when I write, just small ideas of what's to come. It's the character's actions and decisions that bring all the ideas together and make a plot. But hey, that's just me. You seem to be a little more organized when writing, which will probably work out better for you than it would for me...

Main thing is, I always try to stay true to my characters.

Ciao baby,

Dream,

XOXO

Rough outline then jump right in. I think I'm going to start a few chapters in and see where my plot goes from there for the beginning. >.< I'm having such a hard time with that beginning.

I write for fun and because I wanna tell others stories and entertain them. I don't have a real outline or anything when I start writing. I usually come up with a question or a concept that gets me started, and from there I just think up characters and how they can make that concept work.

I write with character sheets. pages and pages of questionares, drawings of my characters, whatever it takes to get a true feel for them. If I dont end up knowing a character inside and out, I'll end up fudging him up. Especially dialogue; sometimes I write little scritp snippets of things that would never happen to my characters, just to see their reactions and feel out their voices. I am a character-driven writer, plot is just whatever my characters feel like doing at the moment.

formerlly i usually write freestyle...like i have a blank page and write anything. That seemed to work for some time until it came to a point that the stories feel empty...so now before iw rite, i would ask myself:

"What will happen?"
"What will i explore?"
in order to make the story a bit more effective

I never actually write out a plan of any kind. Usually I store all my ideas for the project away in my head somewhere, so that when I actually sit down to write, I'm filled with all these ideas that burst out onto the page.
If I write out a plan on paper, it just doesn't work for me. You see, if I did write it on paper, that would just be all of my ideas emptied onto that page, so then I just don't feel like writing the story when I've already gotten the ideas out.
I don't know, it's probably just me, but that's how I write.

I do ordered work, so I come up with a plot, setting and character base before I write. Sure there is some sudden writing, but the more everything is planned for a in-out design the better. At the very least, I need to have the order of society and small-scale culture before I write. I need accuracy in my writing, can not contradict myself with careless descriptions or inaccurate conversations.

I basically write whatever plot pops into my head--and that's a bunch! I have dozens of unfinished stories because of it, but that's mainly because my style keeps changing, new ideas come, or I lose interest in it. But mostly I just write, and end up letting the characters fight for the top, sort each other out, and guide the plot along. Stupid, I guess, but I sort of let them tell their own stories, and all I do is write it down.
I cannot write if I have it all planned out from start to finish, which is why, when I tried the textbook "How to Write the Novel Way", I failed miserably. Now, I let the ending stay fuzzy or completely dark, and just write and write and write until I can't write anymore. Although, you people with the plots already figured out are probably further along than me, but like SplitPen, if I write my ideas down, I lose interest in it, because it's all right on that paper in front of me. The story is right there, in condensed form, but I just can't make myself write anything about it. I don't want to, so it dies for me.
I dunno, that's just me though.

~Addict

Personally I don't plan, mostly I just write and let the writing motor itself into a plot. It usually doesn't work! BUT! by doing this I can take sections from each and create a plot using all these ideas that don't work on their own, but together, they're lovely

There isn't a way to write, you develop your own way.
Ben.

Before I write, I plan. One-line hook. One-paragraph hook. Themes. Comparison titles. Draft query letter. Lists of characters, settings and other stuff like magic systems. Three-act dramatic structure.

Then the first draft.

Then the rethink. Do I need to cut or expand to reach my wordcount goal? Are there extraneous characters and plotlines I can axe? What needs to be expanded on? Are there missing scenes I need to add? Did the themes come through? Does the protagonist have a satisfying emotional arc? Does he face his greatest fears and weaknesses? How's the pacing?

Redraft from beginning to end. Workshop the first chapter and query while flailing around trying to revise.

Send to beta readers. Try and drown self to escape the anticipatory terror.

Get beta feedback. Try and drown self to escape the crushing despair.

That's about as far as I've got. I've written four novels, but only one has reached this stage so far.

I've tried and failed seat of the pants writing. Planning is the way to go for me.

My planning style has changed over time. Once it was just a scene list with dot points of what would happen in that scene. For my current work I did a more elaborate version of that, which also encompassed the sights, sounds etc. and emotions I wanted to capture within the scene. For my next work that I'm tossing ideas around for I'm going to focus more on character first by coming up with lists of goals and values for each character, making sure that they all have some values that conflict with their own for internal conflict, and that there is at least one goal or value conflict between all of the major characters. Then I'll move onto the plot which I have only a vague idea of at the moment.