Advice for a First Time Author

At this stage it is probably better to keep going and come back later. Unless it is physically stopping you from moving on, see where it takes you and if you hit a dead end you can always retrace your steps.
It takes a while to find your feet but as @Komposten mentioned, you can experiment and find the method that suits you. (Also like Komposten, I leave most of my editing for later. I only go back if something is stopping me from moving forward)
Those first few months are the most infuriatingly frustrating of them all. But it's all worth it to see a finished manuscript. There is no better feeling, even if its only a draft.

Good luck and welcome,
Amanda

 

I'm going to go against the grain slightly and say that if you are completely new to writing it may be worth learning the basics of the craft first, otherwise there may be errors you simply can't edit out. Screwing up your POVs as an example.

 

I think @Chinspinner has a good point. If you're interested in feedback and don't think it will stop you from continuing, you can always post to the writing workshop (you just have to critique two pieces of writing first).

Whatever you do, I totally agree with @BayView that you should have fun.

 

Hi, I'm new here.
I'm never published anything, just completed a screen writing course with an ordinary degree though. I'm still somewhat shy and insecure about my writing.
I've come up with an idea for a story that I'd very much like to write, I've written a premise and a synopsis that conveys places it might go, but now I'm sunk on how to begin this.
I feel that I need to understand people better and human psychology and different cultures and ways of life in order to make believable proper characters whom I understand everything about.
I also don't know if my synopsis is any good and whether or not I should tweak it before writing, but I feel uncomfortable about showing anyone at the same time. I'd feel embarrassed showing my family, plus I couldn't trust them to give fair judgement, by default they'd say its amazing whatever it is. The same in general goes with people I know, yet I also feel embarrassed showing strangers and worried (in the event they turn out to like it) might steal my idea.
Maybe I just need to get a grip haha. But I'm just wondering which of these to do. Just start writing, find someone to show things too or do research, if the latter, does anyone know of any good ways you do research as writers? What's the best way of understanding the differences and ways people of every country, culture, class, mentality, past ect thinks, feels and talks like?
Hope this was a coherent thread starter.

 

I don't have any overall advice, except just to try to relax and have some fun with your creativity.

In terms of "understanding the differences and ways of every country, culture, class, mentality, past"? I can't understand why this would be a goal. I certainly don't think it's an attainable one, so if the only way for you to write your story is to gain this understanding first, I think you should give up!

You don't need to understand how everyone, everywhere, ever feels or thinks. You just have to know your own characters. You more-or-less understand yourself, right? And you're able to have that understanding without encyclopaedic knowledge of everyone else in the world? So you just need to do the same for your characters. Write them as individuals, not as representatives of Group X.

And, again, have fun with it! Explore, experiment, see what works and what doesn't. Writing is hard work, but it can be a lot of fun, too.

 

I would just write a scene, which I suspect you have in your head. It doesn't matter where it fits in your story, or if it is crap, you can edit and tear it apart later. Just make a start. The more you write the easier it gets. As soon as you have something on paper, you'll know yourself if it has legs. No ones going to sell your story like you will. Start believing in it. No story is perfect, people will pick bits they like, and parts they dislike, that is not to say your story is bad. You need to be prepared to work on it for 1-7 years, it is not going to be great overnight. So just write.

 

Writing is the core skill, so start writing. Everything else (research) is to support writing. Write every day.

Just do this. Make some time in your daily schedule to write every day. It doesn't have to be a lot. Do fifteen minutes. But, it has to be consistent. Its gonna be harder than it seems. There are going to be things which pop up which try to take you away from those fifteen minutes. Don't let them. Once you are doing that for a few weeks, increase to thirty minutes, then keep adding, but only as much as you can do every day.

Also, read. If you're writing novels, then read novels. If you're writing short stories, read short stories. If you like science fiction and speculative fiction, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Short_Story If you like mysteries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe_Award_for_Best_Short_Story_winners#2010s If you like horror, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker_Award_for_Short_Fiction. Study them, find out what makes them work and what you can learn from them. By all means, discover your own style, but have an open mind and learn from people who are further down the road.

Everything else is a game.

Go to the mall and sit on a bench where lots of people walk by and you can observe them undetected. Observe how they are dressed, how they hold themselves, how they orient around their friends and family, their facial expressions, what stores they go to, etc. Try to guess as much about them as you can based on what you observe. Let your gut feeling guide you.

 

Culture may drive how people respond to things but all people have the same thoughts, fears, desires, urges and failings. Your MC will be whoever you make him/her to be. They will have flaws. They will make mistakes. The more 'human' you make them the more believable they will be. The cultural aspects you can weave in as needed.

I agree that you just need to write some things. Scenes, chapters, conversations. If it's crap, so what? You've just learned what doesn't work. Don't do that; try something different. Eventually you will find your 'voice'.

 

I find the synopsis the most difficult thing to write. You could see if you can find someone to do a synopsis swap and critique with. However, the chances are that you will get new ideas and won't stick that closely to your synopsis anyway.

I find i'm happier to swap with someone i don't really know - which seems daft to me, but I find family are a waste of time.

Dialogue is very important for differentiating between characters and for revealing character. With a screen writing degree I would hope you appreciate the value of dialogue and that you're better at dialogue than most.

I say take confidence in your ideas and start writing.

Difficult to say how to research. I'm just starting research for my next project. I start searching online and then take library books out, but getting foreign cultures right isn't easy .I'm looking into Iran a century ago - but if i'm not spot on whose going to tell? Chances are no one will read it anyway!

 

I understand your fear. I think you should make a writing buddy and exchange ideas with them. That way, you won't be afraid of them stealing your idea as much, and you'll be helping someone else as they help you. Good luck! Get to writing!

 

Thank you very much for all your nice replies.
I guess the key is to write crap haha, I can make it gold later. For now write some bland characters just to have something.
One of the reasons I asked was because the ways of human beings was going to be the grand central theme of this story (bit difficult to elaborate without giving the plot away) and so as a result I intended to involve as diverse characters as possible. Foe example: A guy who worked on a farm all his life in the deep south, a woman who lived in a posh family, a kid who lived on the suburbs, a corporate business leader, a person who suffered metal illness all their life, a 3rd world country character, someone from a deeply religious environment. Don't know if any of these will be characters, but just giving an idea of how varied I wanted it and wondered how to understand such people.
I do have one last question though. Which should come first, story or characters? Should I write a story with bland characters and then once I've decided upon who these people are, I fit them into the story. Or should I have story points being instigated by the characters, aka, be being the people they are, making the choices they make, is what shapes where the plot goes?
Maybe that's too much to ask, maybe I'm being a perfectionist haha. But thank you again for your helpful comments

 

I don't think there's an order for characters vs. plot. This might vary from writer to writer, but for me both characters and plot get developed at more or less the same time. Like, I start with a rough idea of both, start writing, and as I go the characters become more clear, which influences the plot, and then the plot influences the characters, and then that influences the plot, etc.

 

There are plenty of books out there that follow multiple characters. I would read cloud atlas for research purposes

 

At the start of this year I found myself unemployed, which I worked hard daily to remedy but I also took that time to really dive into finally writing my novel. I began doing my research, outlining, going to workshops, and reading up on the craft. A few weeks ag0, after a few interviews, I found another line of work. But in the wake of this new employment I haven't been able think about my novel. My work doesn't detract from my writing, but I can't seem to get back into "it".

Does anyone have any advice on how to get your mind back on writing after diverting part of your mental process to something unrelated. I was really on a roll and really want to get back to that. Thanks.

Cheers,
Jonathan

 

I sympathize - I really do. When I was trying to back into "it", what helped me was stream of consciousness writing. For five minutes a day, I just wrote without letting my internal editor getting involved. Five minutes grew to ten. Ten grew to fifteen. After about two weeks, I found myself so caught up in the piece I was creating that the plot and characters began to guide me again.

Hope it helps,

~ES

 

Over the years, I've often found myself faced with a change in situation or challenging circumstances that required me to turn away from writing for a while. As the challenges were met or as I settled into a new routine, I found that I was able to ease myself into a new routine that accommodated my writing. And, yes, it sometimes took a period of adjustment, but never for long.

 

like @EdFromNY said,

You may wind up developing different routines to accommodate changing schedules. For a long, hard, good while, I was doing an hour every morning. Right now, I've been getting no mornings, a little at night (and no serious AHA moments, either), but many hours on the weekend. Believe it or not, it evens out.

 

When I read a fascinating book in the genre I'm writing, I want to work on my book. It's like living in a fictional world when I'm reading or writing, so both motivate me to want to do the other. I wish I could quit work, but that's not possible yet.

 

When this happened to me, I feared I was losing my passion, so I did the only thing I could. I wrote. Bits and pieces each day. I remember one day, I wrote three words. But I didn't beat myself up, because at least I wrote those three words. For me, the passion was still locked away so I switched to editing my old work. After doing this for a while, the passion for my novel, the one I aspired to get published, returned and I haven't stopped since!

Since writing comes from such an emotional place, it's understandable how life can affect it. Just make sure to always make time for writing, even when your heart isn't in it. If you really can't force yourself, relax and step away from it for a few days, but set a goal for yourself. Say, "I'll stop writing for three days, but I won't let myself go past that! Once three days are up, I must write something."

Wish you all the best!

 

I'll give this a shot.

if you don't have to get up early for any reason, when you get in bed, try imagining anything. Then, as your imagination runs wild, try to piece a story together and if you can't, rinse and repeat until something, even the tiniest detail, comes to you. But here's the trick; write down your ideas when they hit you. If you can't do it right then, try to ingrain that idea in your mind so that you (hopefully) remember it on the morning, and note it down then. And if you forget your idea, don't worry, it'll come back to you (and probably at the worst possible time too )

Hope this helps, and if it doesn't, let me know and I'll try to think of something else.

I wish you the best of luck and even though I might be just beginning to write, I feel like the best (unpublished) author in the world. I guess you could call my process "following your heart instead of your mind." Something to that degree at least. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck for the second time. Lets hope that makes you twice as lucky.

 

It may sound trite, but there are two things I do in this situation:
1) put my butt in the chair, and
2) make typing motions on the keyboard.

It doesn't matter what you're writing; eventually you'll find your way back into 'it.'

I went through a dry spell for ten years, I was burned out after producing more than 6000 pages in nine months and just couldn't put my brain in writing mode. Despite that, I still wrote. It was mostly crap, but I did it anyway. I cranked out two screenplays and a bunch of other stuff and even recorded a few ideas for stories which I've since started work on.

I doubt you'll go that long, but I've related this to let you know that no matter what, eventually you'll get your groove back.

 

Evening, Good People...

My profession and passion is software engineering. I used to write on my journal all the time, and I always imagine stories and scenarios and try to work out the intricate details of characters, but I've never really took a stab at actually sitting down and writing something other than my thoughts.

For the past week, I started writing a horror story that was building up in my head for a very long time. The experience is truly exhilarating. I'm not really doing it for profit or publication, but simply for the joy of telling a good story. I really enjoy asking myself: "What would this character do in this situation??" or "What is that character thinking of right now ??".

My point is that, I've always read books and watched movies and played games as a consumer, but never as a creator for those mediums. I am interested in continuing my story and hopefully publishing parts of it in this fine forum for peer reviews (after my 2 week probation). My question is: after you've understood my situation, do you have any starting pointers for a rookie ?? Do you think that its a bit too early for writing my own work, and I should do some writing exercises, ghost-writing, or freelance work before ?? Are there any books that you would recommend for a beginner ??

Thank you for reading
AB

 

It's never too early to write your own work. You want to write? Go nuts.

There are no prerequisites for creativity. This isn't medical school. Just pour out whatever's in that head of yours -- via outline, a draft, a bullet list, however you want to do it -- the important thing is that you write.

Since you're not aiming to be published (yet?) I wouldn't worry about trying to be so formal or follow anyone's guidelines. Write what makes you happy, and remember why you're doing it: for the love of storytelling.

I'm not saying don't seek out tools or tips on how to write better, I'm just saying there are no rules.

....Except grammatical rules. Follow them, please.

 

I recommend you get a slew of how to write books from your local library and peruse them, finding the ones that make sense to you.

For whatever reason, there is no one book that works for everyone. Some of us rave about this book, others rave about that book. For example the Orson Scott Card books are raved about. But for me, I thought they were just telling me common sense things that I didn't need to read about to figure out.

I really got a lot out of Lisa Cron's Wired for Story. And I used a lot of the advice from Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik. I also look a lot of techniques up rather than looking for entire books. Sometimes I find great stuff online. Other times I'll get a reference book like, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. There are several other books in that series.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll stick around this forum for a while. I think I can learn a thing or two.