How Do You Write A Story?

[Flip]

How do you guys (and gals ) write stories? I know you start off with a outline, but what's on the outline? I'm an ok writer when it comes to easays for school, but I've never really written any kind of fiction, and I'de like to give it a shot. Or at least see what's involved...

 

 

Thanks, Flip

[Nick]

Good for you Flip! First thing for a writer is never listen to advice. Okay, that said, let me give you some tips.......

 

I usually start with what I call the hook. A single situation of event which has a little pathos or an unusual twist which I think is interesting. In Stocking Stuffer, the whole story was just supposed to be the need to warm a boy's cold toes and the only thing at hand the family Christmas stockings.

 

If you are going to try a short piece first that's really all you need.

 

A longer story needs a plan of battle in the outline. What is the ultimate goal of the story? To solve the mystery? To vanquish the foe? Get that down first and then add the things that you need to cover along the way. Character traits in a little character sketch help keep things straight too. It gets to be real hard to remember who is blond and blue and who is blond and green, etc....

 

But the most important thing of all for me is to just sit down and do it. Once I start to type the story often tells itself and sometimes goes where even I least expect it too.

 

Write, write, write.... because we LOVE to read!

 

Looking forward to your story!

[Gandalf Lyonn]

Hey Flip,

 

First of all get your self a notebook and some pens. Keep track of your charaters and locations in the notebook.

 

The first thing to do with a story is to create a short plot.

 

The base plot for Oracles is that Dale has been fighting with his sisters. He leaves home to get away from everything and to find answers to his questions, ie, visit one of the Oracles, hence the title of the series.

 

Next choose where the story will take place - New York, Paris, another world.

 

Then create your main characters and go from there.

 

Gandalf

[Myr]

Don't use my method. I shoot from the hip and rely on my photographic memory. It's fine for shorter stories, but HP & the PoD is 170,000 words now... and I have no outline at all. Keep that in mind when you write.

 

That said, I'm working on a very extensive database full of everything there is to know about characters. When I'm done creating it, I'll be able to start entering huge numbers of characters and plot items.

I'm slowing moving towards the outline method.

[Thorns]

Good question

 

I use both the free flow of thought and plot outline methods.

 

For The Promise it was I knew some things, Alan was dead, and that Gramps had to die. How that happened changed several times through out the writing process.

 

Time in The Promise was almost an obsession to me I printed off a calander and knew when things had to happen and marked important events in multicolor highliter.

 

Plotting from general to spacific works well for some authors.

 

ie: There is a house where things happen.

the house is on a corner lot

It is painted green with white trim

there is a family of three

 

Each step down the tree gives more and more detail when a detail becomes important then a new tree is started for that item.

 

Others use project management tools to keep track of story arcs and sub plots.

 

In my opinion it is easier to start with a relitivly short story for the first few times to get the feel of YOUR style.

 

Thorns

[Gandalf Lyonn]

A good dictionary and thesaurus come in real handy too.

 

So do friends that are willing to read what you write.

 

Gandalf

[Thorns]

good point about the dictanary and thesaurus.

 

Never compleatly trust your word prossessor to catch the errors.

 

If you write on a connected machine I found a nice online dictonary site

 

http://www.onelook.com/

 

even if the spelling is wrong it will offer a suggestion, and it offers limited thesaurus type refs.

 

The other thing I didn't mention was write....Anything, just write,discriptive paragraphs, dialog, anything and if you use a computer to write save all the scraps in a file you never know when one will be usefull

[Gandalf Lyonn]

The best word processing program I have come across is Corel Wordperfect 10.

 

I want nothing to do with Word or an grammer checkers.

 

Wordperfect 10 will publish documents directly to hotmail format and for around $100 you can get Corel Wordperfect Family Pack 4 which includes Wordperfect 10, Task Master, Quattro Pro 10, Picture Publisher Digital Camera Edition, McAfee VirusScan, Britannica Ready Reference Encyclopedia, Avery DesignPro, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Essentials.

 

It's a great deal and Wordperfect 10 a built in decent spell checker and dictionary. You can of course add words to the spell checker.

 

Gandalf

[Nick]

A good dictionary and thesaurus come in real handy too.

 

So do friends that are willing to read what you write.

 

Gandalf

dictionary.com and its related thesaurus work very well if you are connected when you write.....

 

I think one of the most important things is in Thorns note ... WRITE! Just do it!!!

 

and then Gandalf has the next

 

friends that are willing to read what you write

 

 

VERY IMPORTANT!

 

Consider us friends here and post a story, a part of a story, a paragraph or two.

[Flip]

Well, I started on an outline...

 

Now I just need to, as you guys so elequently (sp) said, WRITE!

 

We shall see how well, (or bad ) I can write fiction...

 

Flip

[Thorns]

Yaaa,

Writing to some gives an internal pleasure (me as an example)

 

Writing to some is a test of the mind.

 

Some set goals for writing (again me i try for 500 - 1000 words a day but some days real life gets in the way)

 

The one thing I have noticed is no matter how you get words out over time you improve as a writer.

 

I can hardley wait to see your story.

 

If you find that it goes slow, set it asisde for a bit and try another, I curently have 3 on the go depending on how I feel is how I write.

[Frankenfurter]

When I write, and that isn't often as most of my stories are verbal, I don't use an outline. I hated using those in school! So, I don't... Good luck just the same!

[Bill W]

Flip, I will humbly add my two-cents to what the others have said. Before I begin to write a story, I first decide on two important things... a theme (or the main purpose for the story) and then I determine the characters and develop them. I have found the characters can make or break a story, as the readers must be able to identify and love/hate/care for them, or the story just doesn't fly. Now let me elaborate on these two points.

 

I will use one of my stories to elaborate the theme concept. The first story I wrote was A Tragic Love and this was in reaction to and trying to explore what happened to Matthew Shepard (the gay beaten to death). I knew I wanted to explore homophobic hatred, but first I had to develop the characters and set up the situation. I based the characters loosely on myself and my best friend from high school. I tend to base the majority of my characters on people I know or readers, which gives them their personality and their own set of strengths and flaws. I tend to feel this makes them more believable.

 

After I did those two things, I sat down and decided how old I wanted the characters to be when the story began, how old they would be when it ended, and then I started jotting down incidents (both good and bad), I wanted to happen during the story. Now I began to write, fleshing out these ideas as I went along.

 

I tend to be different than many of the authors online, as I like to write the entire story before I post it, as I sometimes find that I want to change some things as I go along, and it's hard to do if those chapters are already posted. I know others who like the readers' input, to give them ideas and inspiration, and that's fine too, if it works for them/you.

 

If this is any help, or you'd like to discuss anything further, just let me know. However, as everyone else has suggested, just start writing and seek help for whatever problems you encounter as you go along. Bill

[James Bond]

Two other things you need to pay lip service to:

Setting and facts.

 

If you use a real place, you really should have visited that place, or at least have someone who's been there edit your work. If you invent a place, say a village/town or a farm, you should be aquainted with similar places in the same region.

 

This is necessary to find the little details that adds colour and credibility to a story, such as weather patterns, common types of cars, bikes and houses etc.

 

As for facts, too many can drown a story, too few makes it bloodless. But when you use facts, make sure you've checked them for accuracy. Stupid mistakes can severely limit reading pleasure.

 

Of course, in a short story this matters less, but when stories get longer the setting gets more important.

 

But above all, before you publish, find someone who's willing to edit the story for you. Too many can't see their own flaws, and rush to publish; when a little polishing could have made the story three times better.

 

007

[August Christopher]

Got a few things to add in here...

 

Tried to reply to a PM from 007 only to get an error message. I hope he got it!

 

One thing I want to point out! I think that an editor is the most important thing you could have!

 

If you're writing a short story, never mind, use what ever you want!

 

But if you want to go for a long run. Get yourself a editor, I can't urge or suguest how hard this is.

 

August ;-)

[August Christopher]

Just to add a bit to it...

 

I had a mediocre story until he pulled the rug under my feet. After getting my ego under control. I finally realized that he was right! And I decided to re-write my first three chapters under his conditions.

 

One thing I have to say! An editor will never be happy with what you write! He wants more and better! You'll never be good enough! But you'll live up to the challange!

 

I'm I right 007?

 

He he he! I had to say it 007!

 

August ;-)

[James Bond]

Yes, you are right, August.

 

A good editor should not be afraid to call crap crap.

 

On a good day he might be a little bit more polite and say this (whatever this is) is not up to your usual standard; I know you can do better...

 

And August, one of these days I hope to get a reply to my PM (and my email) :wacko:

 

007

 

PS (EDIT)

 

No, I didn't get your PM, others here have been able to (and no, my box is faaaaaaar from full).

 

Otherwise, I still have my membership at GD (at least until DL sees one of my latest posts ), and my old hotmail account.

 

I also sent you a PM several days ago, but am unable to verify you've received it, nor read it.

 

Still 007 here

Edited September 25, 2003 by James Bond

[Thorns]

I agree an editor is like gold.

Mine worded it like "you are capable of much better" and "what were you thinking?"

 

A stinging rebuke. I ended up doing a rewrite and the resulting story is much stronger.

 

The other thing is I hate part stories, I doubt I will post anything but complete works.

 

If I need to change something much easier to do if it is unpublished and as a reader I hate waiting for parts. As someone in a thread on GD said I want a story not a pamphlet.

 

I think that a stronger story that will not loose its way results from finished works. There are many stories on Nifty that started great and have devolved into a series that loose thier point.

[Gandalf Lyonn]

Hey Flip,

 

Pick a genre-Fantasy, Sci-Fi, whatever and write a short story, say 15,000-20,000 words. E-mail it to me and I'll work with you.

 

(You may even get to proof read some of my stuff.)

 

THOSE WHO CAN WRITE - WRITE

 

THOSE WHO CAN EDIT - EDIT

 

THOSE WHO CAN DO BOTH - ARE WONDERS

 

The more you read the better you will write.

 

(Myr, I need more reading material, please.)

 

Gandalf

[Comicality]

Well, if you want to start writing a story, the hardest part is just getting those first few sentences out. Seriously. When you have a blank screen staring back at you, it can be hard, even discouraging, to get started.

 

What I usually do is think about what it is that I want to say with a story. What is it that I need to get out there. Is it a memory of someone you knew? Or someone you wished you had known? Or maybe it's a situation that you or a friend lived through. Whatever it is, the first step is trying to determine what 'feel' your story is going to have and how it relates to you personally.

 

The second thing to tackle, as many people have said here already, are the characters. I've always found that if you put enough thought into the characters, how they walk, talk, act, respond, and their individual personalities...then the story truly will write itself. If you take two people, and stick to who they are as individuals while you're writing, then they will 'naturally' react to whatever situation you put them in. Their conversations will build themselves, their actions will reflect their feelings, and their thoughts will dictate how things should go. (Hehhe, and yes, sometimes that doesn't always fit into your 'plans' for how the story is going to go.)

 

I think the most important thing is to simply write from the heart, and not force the story in any given direction. Let your feelings guide you, let your characters breathe a little as to how they're going to 'act' in your story, and keep going until you feel that you've said everything that you had to say. Is it easy? No, not always. But writing is a 'muscle', and it gets stronger with practice. Start out with some thoughts or feelings that are close to you, and then...stretch out a bit more. Take little chances here and there, play around with words and phrases and find your own personal flow for writing. It's like a fingerprint, and everybody's style is different. Don't be afraid to let yourself come through in the story, allow it to be close to you. Your sense of humor, your pleasure, your pain, your desires, your problems, and your passions. The more of yourself you inject into a story, the more personable it'll become. Just explore your own voice by staying true to what you feel.

 

I hope this makes at least SOME sense! Hehehe! And that it helps out a little bit. Best of luck dude!

[wep363]

My brain works funny. When I proof read my brain adds words that aren't there and takes away ones that are! I guess I should have spent my milk money on milk instead of drugs in high school.

 

Anyway a site that has helped me is:

http://www.spacejock.com/

I like to proof read using yread which you can download for free.

It reads my text back to me and i can HEAR what i wrote without interference from my brain!!!

 

There are some other tools on this site that some authors might find helpful!

[Sparhawk]

God thanks so much Bill! I just had a hard drive crash and had lost all my favorites which this was one of. Be sure and have Myr include this site in the resourse list.

[Myr]

This site has been added to the Author Resources Category in the links engine, as well as on the Author's Resource page

[dkstories]

There's a lot of important things that other people have added here, but I of course am going to add my own thoughts.

 

When writing, it is always the characters that get me going. As much as the story is very important, the plot vital, and the setting absolutely necessary, it is the characters that make or break stories in my opinion.

 

As I begin to think out a story, I look at the main characters. Who are they? What do they want? What's their favorite color? What food do they like? What food do they hate?

 

I always start with my main character and work outwards from there. Then I put the characters into a setting and imagine them interacting. When I get into the characters so much that they come alive for me, that is when I know I have a story to write.

 

People in real life do things for different motivations, and often react to different situations in different ways. They also change over time, or act differently in different settings.

 

For instance, a character may be friendly and a good guy when in private, but a total arse when he doesn't like certain people around him. That means when this character is in a scene in Chapter 1, the reader will love him, but when they see him being an arsehole in chapter 3, they think he is an idiot. Then they begun to wonder which is the real character, and all of a sudden they have a depth that the readers love. When they appear again in Chapter 4, they wonder how he will react, what he will do and they become emotionally invested in that character.

 

A good plot, a good setting are always necessary for a good story, but it is the characters that make a difference betwen a good story and a great work. When people finish your story and imagine themselves interacting with your characters, when they imagine what your characters will do next, and when they want to BE your characters, then you have written a good story.

 

When I wrote Mists of Fate, I got a lot of e-mails from people expressing how they loved certain characters, asking questions about them, and begging to see them more in the story. I even had two people want to write spin-off stories about certain characters (neither of which ended up being particularly good, but the fact that they wanted to do so was an honor).

 

When people read Harry Potter, The Last Herald-Mage (or other Valdemar stories), or the Dragonriders of Pern and they actually write their own stories or play MUDD/RPG games based on those worlds, they do it because the author has created a full tapestry of Characters, Plot, and Setting that captivated the readers imagination. However, it is the characters that always seal this success, because if the characters on the original page did not seem real, did not capture the imagination of the reader, did not feel as if they were real people, even the best of plots and settings would go to waste.

 

That, in my opinion, is what makes or breaks a story.

 

Now having said that, I must also agree that if you use real-world settings for your story, make sure it is a place that you KNOW. If you have at least visited the place once and can remember the smells, feel, look, and sounds of that place, then write about it freely. Minor problems such as streets not being exactly correct with reality can be overlooked so long as it looks, feels, and sounds like the real place. I'm lucky in that I've been to 25 countries in my life, and well over 20 states here in the U.S. I can, and often do use most of them in my writings, and even my mythical settings are often based on real life places I have been.

 

For instance, during the Persian Gulf War (the first one), I remember sitting on mid-watch in the 5" gun mount, listening to a tape of Sinead O'Connor, and staring ot the hatch at the oil fires in Kuwait on the horizon. The gun mount was pitch back, it was the dark of the moon, and I was wrapped in total darkness with the horizon lit by an eerie red glow. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air, making it difficult to breath, and the smell of rotten flesh from dead animals in the water only added to the miasma.

 

Now take that image (yes, that is a real life memory of mine), and put another character into that setting and twist it around a bit. Make it on the battlefield outside of a mythical city glowing softly in the darkness. The fires of the dead lit the horizon as the battlefield was clear, and our hero sank to his knees, keening in grief over his fallen comrade.

 

That might make a wonderful ending to a story.

 

My most recent story idea, A New Dawn, came from thinking about my grandmother. She's getting older, and my aunts and uncles want to put her in a nursing home. I thought of her sitting in the nursing home with my grandfather who has alzheimers, and I wondered about their life, their history. I knew a lot of it because they told me, but I also wanted to hear those stories again, to hear the events that shaped my life, and the life of our family as well as the history of our country (my grandfather is a WWII veteran who was at Guadalcanal, the Philippines, and Okinawa. He survived all of them and spoke of them to only two people, my Uncle Bill and me before his disease robbed him of those memories).

 

From there, I developed characters, distinct individuals that I hope people are going to come to love.

 

Those are the things that make a good story.

[Patrickgay17]

I didn't start out with an outline. Maybe that's why my story sucks so bad and dosen't get many bites. Oh god! I wrote it as it came to me. Which reminds me..................

 

Read my story I will start to put chaperts up in a few days. The story is INTO HIS OWN.

 

Trust me you want to read it. There may be some violence so if you are a little squeemish then dont read it. Or you know.....do