Starting Points
- Thread starter tenmei
- Start date
Is IS fun, isn't it?
That's excellent tenmei. Continued good luck with it.
By all means, please post it.
Can't wait now.
My stories all start the same way. I decide on the ship, add the crew, and then create at least five stories for them. Many times it never get past that stage, or it does but I then get bored with it and rewrite it and so on. The current Pytheas series actually started five years ago as the Osiris (new class of ship not seen before). The stories-and some of the characters-weren't working out so I rejigged the idea as the Monarch (Sovereign-class). I ended up completely scrapping that, but kept some of the characters for what then became the Triton (Luna-class) and that didn't work so well so it was then the Dauntless...and then the Pytheas. Some of the characters are the same from those early drafts, but their names have changed and their traits as well.
I won't be changing it again.
On other fronts, I tend to write a basic synopsis and start writing, though in recent years I've written a few paragraphs and given up. I'm currently writing a novel and will be pursuing that to the end.
I won't be changing it again.
On other fronts, I tend to write a basic synopsis and start writing, though in recent years I've written a few paragraphs and given up. I'm currently writing a novel and will be pursuing that to the end.
I'm mostly a "big scene vision" writer.
See...the vast majority of my tales begin as Epic Moments Of Enlightenment At The Most Random Moments.
I'm minding my own business, doing nothing in particular--when the inspiration hits me for particular "events" involving my favorite characters--usually intense moments of character growth, or larger-than-life action scenes (which you won't find in my short stories for a while...they're mostly character tales).
Then...as I reflect on this, I mentally form a plot around these scenes--how did the characters get to this moment? Why are they doing what they're doing? And so on.
After this, I jot in my Black Book, not a synopsis or outline (those things tend to exhaust my creativity, I found out the hard way....), but a brief, one-page "teaser" (similar to what you might find on a hardcover-sleave, or a softcover-back).
Then, I reflect some more on possible "big moments"--and when I get enough, I start writing.
If I ever get "writer's block" (which is so depressing, believe me
), I stop, and throw around ideas for restoring the "flow" of the tale....
Sometimes, I just get an idea for a first line (i.e. from my tale "B-4 and After": "B-4 did not understand"), and it intrigues me so much that I just start typing away, letting the tale "write itself" as I go along. But that doesn't happen nearly as often....
See...the vast majority of my tales begin as Epic Moments Of Enlightenment At The Most Random Moments.
I'm minding my own business, doing nothing in particular--when the inspiration hits me for particular "events" involving my favorite characters--usually intense moments of character growth, or larger-than-life action scenes (which you won't find in my short stories for a while...they're mostly character tales).
Then...as I reflect on this, I mentally form a plot around these scenes--how did the characters get to this moment? Why are they doing what they're doing? And so on.
After this, I jot in my Black Book, not a synopsis or outline (those things tend to exhaust my creativity, I found out the hard way....), but a brief, one-page "teaser" (similar to what you might find on a hardcover-sleave, or a softcover-back).
Then, I reflect some more on possible "big moments"--and when I get enough, I start writing.
If I ever get "writer's block" (which is so depressing, believe me
), I stop, and throw around ideas for restoring the "flow" of the tale....Sometimes, I just get an idea for a first line (i.e. from my tale "B-4 and After": "B-4 did not understand"), and it intrigues me so much that I just start typing away, letting the tale "write itself" as I go along. But that doesn't happen nearly as often....
As fan fic, when I read something by a new(to me) author I have zero expectations. I am often surprised at the overall quality of the end results because of this. As long as spelling and punctuation are good and the format is uniform it's whatever you make of it. Dark Kush puts out some really good fan fic-but in big chunks. I fall behind and give up eventually because I don't want to short shrift the others. Other people love his stuff so much they hang on every word. (No slam there Kush-I only have lunch hours to read. I try to catch your stuff at home on UT after its done.) If you want feedback(I knew I had a point to that last bit) smaller chunks is better, spaced out over a day or two. Dropping a 10,000+ word story in our laps will limit reads(IMO) and therefore feedback. However-most of us love new authors just to see a different take on things. So who can say? The thing is-take pride in what you have done and don't worry too much about the reaction. It's your baby, not ours. Now go for it!
ed.-
You already did. Doh! Well, I gotta go home-but I'll try to start reading it tonight.
I have to say all of the comments and thoughts here have really given me some food for thought whilst I'm writing my first story and introducing y'all to the Sanctuary Fold and the crew of the Annapurna.
I've got a vague plan of where I'm going with the story - the broad strokes are there but I'm letting the story tell itself as I'm writing. Thinking about the first story has already gestated a couple of other stories that could be told in subsequent stories.
I've got a vague plan of where I'm going with the story - the broad strokes are there but I'm letting the story tell itself as I'm writing. Thinking about the first story has already gestated a couple of other stories that could be told in subsequent stories.
Mistral,
Thanks for the kind works. I perfectly understand your dilemma. We all have limited time in addition to writing our own stuff, fan fic or original, and reading other stuff, etc. To be honest, I've gotten very behind on reading my fellow UT writers stuff, not to mention some of the promising non-UT stuff on this board, and gosh darn it I never got around to reading the virtual series like Frontiers, Renaissance, and Star's End that had some really cool websites/graphics.
There are times when I will write an entire piece and then just dump it on the board, so I can seen now how daunting that might be. With my works in progress I tend to put up a little bit at a time, and usually post once or twice a week, or whenever I have something worthy to post. If that works better for you, let me know.
Thanks for the kind works. I perfectly understand your dilemma. We all have limited time in addition to writing our own stuff, fan fic or original, and reading other stuff, etc. To be honest, I've gotten very behind on reading my fellow UT writers stuff, not to mention some of the promising non-UT stuff on this board, and gosh darn it I never got around to reading the virtual series like Frontiers, Renaissance, and Star's End that had some really cool websites/graphics.
There are times when I will write an entire piece and then just dump it on the board, so I can seen now how daunting that might be. With my works in progress I tend to put up a little bit at a time, and usually post once or twice a week, or whenever I have something worthy to post. If that works better for you, let me know.
Hi all,
This is a great thread, even better since it apparently helped tenmei (whose fic I am now going to go and read!) So thanks to kes7 for pointing it out to me.
ST:Restoration is actually my first fanfic, although I have written three non fanfic novels before now. Very similar to what a lot of people here have posted, you quickly realise that every novel is written differently.
I have a process somewhere in the middle between everything - for Restoration, I've got a basic idea of what is going to happen, what the central mysteries and plotlines are going to be and how they are going to get resolved. I also have a fairly detailed outline of the first 19 chapters. Basically, I'll continue to work on that outline as I go, adding or subtracting stuff as I go.
At the end of the day, you write how you write. No right or wrong way. The end result is what counts and whether you have fun doing it.
Just my two cents...
Joel
This is a great thread, even better since it apparently helped tenmei (whose fic I am now going to go and read!) So thanks to kes7 for pointing it out to me.
ST:Restoration is actually my first fanfic, although I have written three non fanfic novels before now. Very similar to what a lot of people here have posted, you quickly realise that every novel is written differently.
I have a process somewhere in the middle between everything - for Restoration, I've got a basic idea of what is going to happen, what the central mysteries and plotlines are going to be and how they are going to get resolved. I also have a fairly detailed outline of the first 19 chapters. Basically, I'll continue to work on that outline as I go, adding or subtracting stuff as I go.
At the end of the day, you write how you write. No right or wrong way. The end result is what counts and whether you have fun doing it.
Just my two cents...
Joel
I'm glad that this thread has helped someone other than myself! I agree on the fact that what counts is whether you have fun doing the writing - which I'm having fun doing at the moment.
I think a good point comes when, as I said earlier, you can hear the characters in your head - and you learn stuff about the characters you didn't necessarily know whilst you were writing it. For instance, I didn't plan that Kalen was going to be a boxer or a fan of mystery novels until I came to the scenes where that's mentioned and those things jumped out to me as the sort of thing that character would do.
I think a good point comes when, as I said earlier, you can hear the characters in your head - and you learn stuff about the characters you didn't necessarily know whilst you were writing it. For instance, I didn't plan that Kalen was going to be a boxer or a fan of mystery novels until I came to the scenes where that's mentioned and those things jumped out to me as the sort of thing that character would do.
Similar threads
