1. darkriver

    darkriver Member

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    Got the beginning of a story

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by darkriver, Oct 16, 2017.

    but no middle or end. Anyone have any ideas how I can progress my novel?
     
  2. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Just think about it. This thing that happens in the beginning - how will your main character react to it? What action will they take? And what will that action cause to happen? How will the antagonist throw a spanner in the works, causing your main character to react?

    Action and reaction, action and reaction.
     
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  3. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    write the beginning, see if anything occurs to you

    (although from your previous threads I thought you had the whole plot in your head ?)
     
  4. DueNorth

    DueNorth Senior Member

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    What if that wonderful beginning you have becomes your ending? What happened to get your characters there? Developing a plot (I think) is about imagining (playing with) " what if?" and being willing to go a certain distance down various plot paths even if you end up reconsidering and hitting "delete."
     
  5. KiloBravo

    KiloBravo Member

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    Try to think about the ending now that you have a beginning. Worry about the middle later.

    I haven't figured out the middle or ending of my WIP. Though I do have some ideas of the ending, but that could change. I agree with the above remark to just start writing your beginning. Why not? The rest will come to you as you write. Don't wait until you have a middle/ending to start. Your beginning should take you some time to complete, unless you just mean you have a few lines of the beginning. Otherwise that will be the excuse not to write.

    The thing about being creative is... There may not be much anyone can do for you in that department.
     
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  6. Reollun

    Reollun Active Member

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    In my opinion, the beginning is the hardest past of writing a novel. When I started writing mine, I knew very little of what's going to happen next. Sometimes it's best to let the story take its course. Keep writing and see what works for you and what doesn't.
     
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  7. Lankle

    Lankle Member

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    This often happens to me, I have an idea or a scene and not much else. For me the next step is to write the scene and just allow myself to keep writing with no plan. Something odd kicks in where the words seem to flow from some other part of my brain. Of course it produces lots of crap but I find there are seeds in it.
     
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  8. darkriver

    darkriver Member

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    I decided it didnt work and now I dont have a clue.
     
  9. Seren

    Seren Writeaholic

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    One way of doing this is through the 1-20 method, which I always find helpful when I'm feeling stumped. 1 is your beginning. 20 is your ending. The numbers between are the middle, which you can fill in with any vague ideas you have kicking around about what might happen in the middle and roughly where it might happen. Then you'll have smaller bridges to build, from 1-5 rather than from 1-20. How do they get to this little idea...? And then this one...? And then this one...?
     
  10. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    For me, I find the trick is simply getting a scene that excites me, that I wanna build up to, and usually what gets me stuck is not fully understanding or seeing how something happens. You have to find a creative process that works for you - for me, it's usually talking to other people, bouncing ideas together, and sometimes it's just a matter of pushing forward anyway, writing even when you haven't a clue and know you'll just have to rewrite it all. I found the rewrite are almost always better. I say "almost", but in my case, it's just always better, because you've got the groundwork and now there's something concrete to develop.

    So find what works for you to get you unstuck - is it talking? Going for a walk? Drawing? Listening to music? Is it writing your characters into a completely new setting? (say, if your story was medieval fantasy - throw your MC into the modern world in 2017 with a credit card - what happens? :D ) Is it writing scenes that excite you and worrying about fitting them all into the right order later? Interview with your characters? What usually gets you inspired?
     
  11. GlitterRain7

    GlitterRain7 Galaxy Girl Contributor

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    I'd say start on the end next. What do you want to happen in the end? Then, take the beginning and try to play maze with it to get it all connected leading to the end. Yeah, you're going to come across a lot of dead ends, and it may get discouraging, but you'll eventually get there.
     

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