Starting a book/novel. Structure? Methods?

[Nine]

Hey all, new to the site and forums. Hello!

 

Back in the day I used to write alot. Mostly short stories. The only ones I had published were of the, erm, 'racy magazine' variety. I guess there's always a market for that! Writing has always been a hobby, something which I enjoyed as a passtime but which I never took seriously.

 

I recently started to think more seriously about trying to craft something 'bigger', more worthwhile. A first book. I have the basic storyline and an idea of the primary characters, but I was wondering what approach people use to spin ideas up into full blown novels. I had a go at writing a book many years ago and got about halfway before I ground to a halt. I think the problem was that I made the rookie error of sitting down with a blank page and starting to write in a linear start-to-finish fashion. I now think that perhaps more preparation up front is needed :-)

 

Any thoughts, links to previous posts or websites welcome! As I say, I'm new to the site so maybe that info's already here?

[kitten]

I'm sure that every response you get to your question will be at least slightly different. There is no right way or wrong way, just a way that works for you. Also, different types of novel will benefit from different approaches; they way you tackle a plot-driven thriller may not be best for a psychological examination of human relationships. Hopefully you will receive several responses and can try out different suggestions until you find one that works for you.

 

Anyway, this is how I usually approach things:-

 

Having got the basic plotline set out and the sort of characters that I want in the story, I usually do a draft of what sort of ending I want to reach. This may or may not change during the writing process, but it gives me a general goal.

 

Again, it depends on individual preferences, but I personally like my storiers to have a definite beginning, a definite ending, and a clear route to get from one to another. That is why I don't write (and almost never read) stories that are long-running serials similar to TV soap operas. That isn't to criticise those who do enjoy reading and writing such stories; it is merely my personal taste.

 

Then there may be a need for background research, e.g. if one is writing about a historical time period or about manufacture of an atom bomb. So, for Tapping I read up on Victorian mansions and First World War battles. However, such research may not be necessary, either because you already know the background or because the story doesn't need any specialist knowledge.

 

Next I put myself into the situation of some of the main characters in the main situations. For me, it's a bit like doing a computer simulation (or playing the Sims) in my head. At some stage of doing that the behaviour of the characters just 'feel right' to me and I start writing. Usually in chronolgical order, but if I get a specific idea how a later scene (or even the ending) should be written then I will write it before earlier scenes that are not yet so clear in my mind.

 

Then I write and write and write until the first draft is done. Maybe earlier scenes need tweaking for content or continuity, but I don't do any real polishing until the whole novel is complete. Hopefully you will have a compatible editor to help, and how you interact with the editor (bouncing ideas, sending individual chapters, or just sending the complete novel) depends on how the two of you work together.

 

Finally, having produced the whole thing, gone through it with the editor (and maybe beta reader) the novel will be polished and tweaked and then posted/published. Personally, I could probably go on polishing and tweaking forever, subject to the law of dimiinishing returns, but there comes a point where I have to say enough! Even though I complete the whole novel before posting, I usually post a chapter at a time.

 

That's my main way of doing things. Others will have different ways, and I may not always use the same methods. So just find the way that works for you and for the particular novel you are working on.

 

Good luck!

 

Kit

[David McLeod]

Before I add my own thoughts, I'd like to emphasize a couple of things Kit said:

 

...I usually do a draft of what sort of ending I want to reach. This may or may not change during the writing process, but it gives me a general goal...I personally like my storiers to have a definite beginning, a definite ending, and a clear route to get from one to another.

 

I find it easy to write a vignette, a short story, a chapter. What's hard is stringing them together. What's hard in writing a long story/novel, is keeping it from wandering without going anywhere. That's where Kit's suggestions, especially the "definite beginning...ending...clear route...from one to another" are so relevant.

 

Nothing seems more useful than an outline, although I find that keeping detailed records of characters (in much more detail than ever makes it into the story) is perhaps the second most important thing.

 

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[Graeme]

A piece of advice I received when I started was, when writing a chapter, to keep in mind what's going to happen in the next chapter. This works along the lines of having a draft of the ending by giving you a target to aim for in your writing.

 

I personally won't start a novel now unless I have a clear understanding of how I want it to end. That way I won't write something that stops that ending from happening. I don't always know how to get to the ending from the beginning, but that's part of the joy of discovery What I usually have in mind is a number of incidents/events that will occur. More are usually added during the writing and sometimes some get dropped in the process, but by keeping these in mind, I make sure the chapters that precede them lead into these events.

 

Everyone is different, and what works for me may not work for you. But I think you'll find it helpful to have a target towards that you're writing to. That target may be the next chapter or two, or it may be the overall story ending, but if you're thinking ahead, it'll help. It may also help to write specific scenes that you want to include ahead of time, and then drop them into the story when appropriate, with any massaging required to get them to fit smoothly. Again, that helps you by giving you a firm target to write to when you're doing the earlier chapters.

[LongGone]

How you write depends on WHAT you write. A historical novel needs a ton of work to be just right. A fantasy novel, less so.

 

Me, I research heavily to make sure people believe they are IN the places where my novel takes place. You need to feel you're in London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York. Since much of my work took place in London, I actually flew across the pond once and did extensive in-person research. It showed. Half my readers were convinced I was British. (I wish I were, but that's irrelevant.)

[C James]

A piece of advice I received when I started was, when writing a chapter, to keep in mind what's going to happen in the next chapter. This works along the lines of having a draft of the ending by giving you a target to aim for in your writing.

 

Totally agreed, though in some cases I'd expand it a bit, to following chapters. It would IMHO depend on the story type and plot. If the story is largely plot-driven, IMHO it helps to have a clear picture of the plot in mind. In some cases, for complext sections of a novel, I've had to hold back on posting chapters until I get several chapters ahead, in order to make certain that details match, such as timeline. I learned that one on my first novel; my editor, Emoe, saved me from having a three day weekend-- Saturday, the next day, and then Sunday.

 

I've largely abandoned writing chapters, per se. I now mainly write in a working file that usually contains several chapter's worth of scenes (I often write out of sequence), and when I am comfortable that the first 5k to 7k or words will form a chapter, I select a scene break to chop it out at, and paste it into a chapter file.

 

I personally won't start a novel now unless I have a clear understanding of how I want it to end. That way I won't write something that stops that ending from happening. I don't always know how to get to the ending from the beginning, but that's part of the joy of discovery What I usually have in mind is a number of incidents/events that will occur. More are usually added during the writing and sometimes some get dropped in the process, but by keeping these in mind, I make sure the chapters that precede them lead into these events.

 

I definitely agree with Graeme on this. I tend to write the ending first, though it usually requires a partial re-write when I get to the end of the story.

 

In one story, I knew the final ending, but there was a critical series of events near the end which were very complex (plot driven story). I couldn't make up my mind how they would play out, so I just wrote five outlines for that section, and ended up with a fusion of two of them once I got to that point.

 

On other occasions, I've started a story based on a situation, with no clue where it's going until I get a few chapters in.

 

How you write depends on WHAT you write. A historical novel needs a ton of work to be just right. A fantasy novel, less so.

 

Me, I research heavily to make sure people believe they are IN the places where my novel takes place. You need to feel you're in London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York. Since much of my work took place in London, I actually flew across the pond once and did extensive in-person research. It showed. Half my readers were convinced I was British. (I wish I were, but that's irrelevant.)

 

I'm fond of "on location" writing, too. I've set parts of stories in areas I haven't been to, and in those cases I rely on research and. if available, online friends who live there. However, there's just no substitute, IMHO, for going there yourself. In one novel, I had a couple of chapters set in Rome. Foe the first one, I relied on my memory of a visit ten years before. For the second chapter, I was lucky enough to be in Rome just prior to writing it, and as I walked around I was composing the chapter in my head, and at my hotel at night I wrote much of it. I liked the result.

 

My current novel is set in large part on one of the Canary Islands. I've been there, but it was when I was very young and I don't remember much. I was fortunate enough to end up visiting (as a cruise port of call, so just for a day) an island 60 miles from the one where my novel is set, a few weeks ago. I found that gave me a better "feel" for the area. It helped.

[RCMills]

I recently started to think more seriously about trying to craft something 'bigger', more worthwhile. A first book. I have the basic storyline and an idea of the primary characters, but I was wondering what approach people use to spin ideas up into full blown novels. I had a go at writing a book many years ago and got about halfway before I ground to a halt. I think the problem was that I made the rookie error of sitting down with a blank page and starting to write in a linear start-to-finish fashion. I now think that perhaps more preparation up front is needed :-)

 

Any thoughts, links to previous posts or websites welcome! As I say, I'm new to the site so maybe that info's already here?

There are tons of books out there that address the various elaborate or simple techniques authors use to put a novel together. Elements of Fiction Writing is a decent start. A little research on amazon can turn up more, I expect. Writersdigest.com also has some interesting links and features from time to time. They also have a 101 Best Websites for Writers feature that picks out some of the best places online for that sort of thing.

 

Just remember not to get too caught up in what other people do and forget to actually sit down and start writing (or plotting, as the case may be).

 

A historical novel needs a ton of work to be just right. A fantasy novel, less so.

As a bit of an aside...I find it difficult to understand that writing and researching about previous eras is any less trying or burdensome than writing about and inventing an era and people that don't exist at all (if we're speaking of doing either of them 'just right'). I've met fantasy writers who do an incredible amount of historical research before they even sit down to start building imaginary cultures and peoples and civilizations.

 

But perhaps I've misinterpreted your emphasis on research and fantasy and work.

[JamesSavik]

A lot of it depends on what type of story you are writing.

 

A Character driven story rises or falls on the strength and depth of the characters. Their development requires a lot of thought and effort. Regardless of your careful planning, strong characters have a tendency to drive things; sometimes in a direction that even surprises the author. Literary works, romances, etc tend to fall under this catagory.

 

An event driven story characters take their ques from outside events beyond their control (eg. a war, an earthquake, a historical battle). Their development is still important but they aren't driving the ship and must react to outside events. Maybe they can influence the outcome. Action stories, historical fiction tends to fall under this catagory.

 

Truthfully, there is a great deal of crossover between the two types of stories and they both benefit from strong, well developed characters.

[Kia Zi Shiru]

for my old stories I didn't use an outline but i did write chapters in advance so I knew where I was heading, since the timespan was over 30 or even 40 years in total I really needed the in advance writing. I'll never finish the story though, it needs a total rewrite and the characters sorta have all evolved into the characters I write with now.

 

Black Sheep actually has 3 endings. right now I'm halfway through the first one (20 chaps total) and I haven't written out the outline for the second one yet, but I do have the ending written down for it. It actually was written before I even started the story. Right now I look back on it and know I need to totally rewrite it, but it is there. The third part of the story.... well, I know some stuff that will happen but I'm not sure who will end up with who and what will happen (Though Vic is showing me some stuff lately....). For me it's mostly the characters "telling" or "showing" me what will happen.

 

http://zettesworld.com/journal/ZStoryList.htm <- at the bottom of this page a some great and helpfull links to writing, they really helped me improve my writing.

[nms_sbmod]

Hey there

 

There are as many ways of starting and continuing a story as there are writers, I think... but here are a couple of things that have worked for me (sometimes!):

 

1. write an outline, and break it into chapters

This is a tough one, especially for the first time folks, but it can really work to find basic logical flaws and the overall flow of the story. If you want to publish professionally, a lot of editors will insist on this.

 

2. index cards

You can use index cards to jot down a couple of words on each of the really major events, then you can play around with the order of the cards. I use index cards for my character sketches so I don't forget what colour everyone's eyes are.

 

Good luck!!