Question on getting into the detailing and actual writing

Hey all,

I've more or less outlined all of the major points in the story, the characters and the setting. I'm not sure what is the right lingo i need to look for and googling is getting messy. In some sense i guess my question is, now that the events of the story at least the major ones are in place, what kind of process and workframe do i need to stitch all these events together to make a meaningful story?

How do you guys break apart the events, their sequences and make believable sense of them? I guess its a really broad question and i'm a bit confused myself if this is the right question.

 

You seem to have planned a lot out. I think you gotten to the terrifying place where you actually start writing it out.

You write your scenes in either chronological order, in order of interest or just what ever comes natural to you. When you get your scenes together you can start doing the stitchwork.

 

i'm thinking if i should do some kind of story board for my scenes just to get a feel of positioning and how to get it started and paced so i don't lose track or believability.

 

That could help, but it could also end up being another execuse to not just write. At the end of the day just writing is what counts. You can still work on your planning while writing. In fact, it will very likely help you to make planning decisions once things start to become more concrete.

 

Everyone's process is different, but I think that every new step that you add before you get to the actual writing increases the chance that you're stalling on the writing.

 

There's always the snowflake method, where you take several passes at the story and add in more detail with each pass. I've never tried it myself, and I haven't seen anyone else on the forum mention it either so I'm not sure just how well it works, but it's something to look at if you don't like the idea of just diving in to one scene at a time.

 

In digital sculpting i know this is something that they kinds do as well. They render the details by various passes defined by how light and color interact with a sculpt. I might try that. I tried diving into the details per sequence but i find myself losing track of my goals in the details. Been trying various iterations to see how i can make things work.

 

Is it possible that there’s perfectionism going on? It’s ok to write something thoroughly imperfect and need to do some, or a lot of, rewriting.

 

What's your strongest scene? The one you've really envisioned.

If you haven't sat quietly and envisioned your scenes, and are only thinking up plots and characters, then I STRONGLY advise that you do. Pretend you're watching a movie. Slow it down to real movie time. Add in sounds, sights (and smells, although a movie will lack this.) Take note of what your characters are doing, and how fast or slowly they're doing it. What are they saying to each other? How are they reacting to what is being said to them? What happens during the pauses between what is said? Get this all clearly envisioned, and you'll find it much easier to start writing.

You can start at your planned beginning, rather than your strongest scene, if that's what you prefer. But I think you still need to take the time to envision it. Envisioning is different from plotting it out or thinking it up. You make yourself see and hear it happening.

Don't rush this stage. In fact you can envision a scene many times before you write it. But that's where the detail and the pacing and the voices and looks of your characters will come alive. Don't do this at your computer. Go sit somewhere quiet where nobody will disturb you, or take a bus ride or go for a walk. Do whatever gets your imagination working. If bits of dialogue jump out at you, scribble them down in a notebook, along with any other parts of your vision you especially want to retain. THEN, go and start writing the scene as you saw it.

 

Maybe think of it as storytelling, like you're sitting down and telling a group of friends about a series of events that happened. Except instead of speaking, you're writing the descriptions, actions and dialogue.

Just remember, your first draft isn't going to be anything close to the final draft. It's going to be rough, and awkward and not sound right. But, if you get the story out, using your outline, you can go back and revise--you will almost certainly have to. Fix the descriptions and dialogue. Weave the actions and movements into the narrative. Mend plot holes. And it's going to take more than a second pass (or draft) to accomplish all of this.

You'll find that by the time you reach the end of your first draft, you'll be an improved writer. Practice does that. Also, you will know your story and characters better, so the writing will be better.

Good luck and remember that what you outlined is a guide, not something that must be adhered to at all costs.

 

This makes me think--do we have a thread or list anywhere, of writing books? I realize that we have the Resources section, but, frankly, I'm really lazy. Adding a whole resource record for each thing is something I'm not all that likely to do.

OK, I'm going to Support & Feedback to ask a question.

 

I guess it does partially. I just feel like what i've written so far falls short of my expectations consistently.

Probably the best scene in my head is the zombie reveal scene in the middle of the story. I haven't fleshed it out yet as i've been trying to get the start right. Trying to see what may be the best way to start and give the readers the information they need to believe the world.

@TWErvin2 Gotcha, i've been improving on my starting chapter here and there right now, although i'm considering pushing the start further back to give some calm before the storm. I have 2 pretty good starting points. The earliest one gives a hero's journey vibe to it while the later one gives more of a draft vibe which would set the tone for the whole timeline forward regarding the MC's goals.

@Seven Crowns I'll take a look at it Seven appreciate the share!

 

It sounds like you're assuming that the solution to that is to do more planning. It seems extremely likely that the solution is instead to do more writing.

I've used the analogy of a person learning the piano. That person isn't going to study and study and study a complex piece for years, expecting that when they start to play, they're going to be concert quality. They're going to start with scales, and simple pieces, and hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands(?) of hours of practice.

That sounds like perfectionism. You don't have to get the start right

If you don't want to start this story "imperfectly", then try writing some other story, one that is consciously and deliberately a "throwaway" practice piece. Or write scenes or vignettes. Practice your scales.

 

Here's the trick. Pinpoint why. What is falling short of your expectations?

Is it the way the story sounds or reads? Is there too much detail? Too little? Is it moving too fast (jumping from plot point to plot point?) Is there something about the characters you don't like? Something about the plot or the progression of events that doesn't make sense?

More planning isn't the answer, if you are dissatisfied with the way the writing 'sounds' or if you feel you're moving too fast or too slowly, or it lacks detail or is too detailed, or lacks that spark that gives your story life. Those are writing style issues, not planning issues. (And possibly envisioning issues.)

It's hard to fix something if you don't know what the problem is. Figure out the problem first. What's wrong? If you need to get somebody else's opinion, put some of it into the Workshop here and pay attention to the feedback. You have nothing to lose, and the feedback might give you the insight you're struggling to get on your own.

 

Holy mud. That section alone is worth taking on board.

Yes. Transitions into and out of scenes are so important. So is orienting the reader as to what is going on, and where this scene fits into what has gone before. And I've always maintained the need to decide—ahead of time—what you need a scene 'to accomplish.' In other words, the Purpose. What should the reader take away from this scene? Keep that in mind as you write it.

The MC (or POV character) CAN certainly get what they want or need in a particular scene, though. To avoid this success being 'boring,' that accomplishment needs to lead to something else. Winning that little battle isn't the end of the story. It's just a step forward, which MAY lead to more complications or problems later on.

For example, the MC's car has broken down, and the MC's need—at the start of that scene—is to get it fixed. She takes it to a garage and it gets fixed. This accomplishes what she originally wanted to do in that scene. (It also might demonstrate that the MC doesn't know how to fix a car herself, which might be important to the story.)

However, in the process of getting the car fixed at the garage, she gets to know the mechanic—who turns out to be the brother-in-law of a man the MC has been searching for.

And etc....

 

Gotcha, i suppose what i'll do is i'll create different versions of the start and then from there see what is the best fit with the rest that has been written.

I feel like there is a major hurdle for establishing the setting well at the start. Starting earlier into the timeline would make it easier but it would drag quite long before some of the major characters show their relevance much later to the point i'm not sure if readers would take it right. Yet i do feel that an earlier start would help to explain the situation which is at least to me pretty difficult to get down.

 

Have you considered writing a prologue? That's one of the uses of a prologue. A prologue should contain what readers need to know BEFORE they start reading the main story. If you put necessary early events in a prologue (in an interesting scene or two, not a wad of dry history) then your readers will expect a break, and will not be fazed if you pick up the story much later on in Chapter One. Just skip over the bits in between.

Although I didn't write my prologue till I was all finished with my first draft, I realised, from the feedback I was getting, that I needed one. I had originally 'revealed' the past slowly, as part of the story. But that didn't work so well, as the readers were picking up all the wrong clues.

In my prologue, I show my main character as a child, and let the reader watch a pivotal moment in his early life that sets the rest of the story in motion. The readers now know what he knew at that point. I then jumped to him, 6 years later, in Chapter One, and the story continued unbroken from there—revealing, slowly, what had been happening to him in the 6-year interval. The device works.

 

That's a good idea i'll try that! The main points i need to establish at the start.
Is the level of technology and what is possible with it today
a brief history of mythos and metahumans where in this setting, mythological figures existed as metahumans and magicians who made their mark in history or at some point were worshipped by local people.
how magic works, (magical dimensions and artifacts)
and lastly the fact that humanity rose above these "gods" with technology growing to resent them overtime

 

You can google "story structure" and "how to write a scene". After that there isn't really one single formula where you can just replace a template with your own writing. You can plunge straight into the novel, write page after page, or you can start by filling in character questionaires, writing descriptions, using plot wheels and whatnot. There are also step-by-step books on "how to write a novel". Or, you can also open any book you've read and enjoyed, and have a look: how does it start? Description, dialogue, internal thoughts, stuff like that. That's what novels are made of. You have all those things and they have to be arranged in certain order. You can also google what "plot" is and what "story" is. But all that googling takes lots of time and can be confusing. Instead, you can also use that same time to read more. Eventually, you might feel less confused and more comfortable with creating your own novel. It's just about telling a story. Maybe sit down and tell some of your story to a friend. Or to grandma. Or, write some of your story from the viewpoint of the main character, as if he is telling the story to your friend, or to grandma. Just use it as an exercise of "how to tell a story". You can google that, too, of course.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+tell+a+story

 

I strongly suspect that you can insert this into the narrative as it progresses.

However, if you write a prologue or explanation, you can relax about the narrative, and I'll bet that you'll discover later that the narrative stands OK on its own, without the explanation.

 

Be a little careful with that scenario, because you can too easily create an infodump (a dull potted history about stuff the readers don't care about yet.) How much of this information do people actually need to know beforehand? I'm a lover of prologues, but this one sounds like it could morph into what gives prologues a bad name—a dull, skippable backlog of information that doesn't click with the reader.

Think about Lord of the Rings. There was an awful lot of world history, magic, lore, magicians, backstory etc in that story as well. But it didn't get dumped on the reader at the start. It got worked in as the story unfolded.

If you do want a prologue, see if you can think of some way to personalise this history. Is there a character (not necessarily one who figures in your main story) who could illustrate the changeover from gods to humans in some way? Some human who rose above the gods, maybe? What motivated this rise? What was that person like? What happened to that person?

If you can make this person the POV character in your prologue, that will get us interested in this person's story. If you can tie these early events into the 'present' story in some way, so much the better. Could this person be a direct ancestor of one of your characters? Is what they did likely to be repeated? See if you can tie this together in some way.

BTW, I'm not sure what you're referring to in your last bit ...with technology growing to resent them overtime? Is there a typo in there? Did you mean over time? As in taking a long time? Or did you mean overtime (as in extra work?) And who is 'them?' The humans or the gods?

 

You know I am a lover of prologues, but I agree with you on this one. This information seems dry, and is maybe not a good basis for an interesting start to the story. As you say, though, the author could write it, just to get it out of the way ...and get rid of it during an edit, if it turns out not to be necessary after all.

This background information is not a secret to the people in the main story, I presume, so I suspect it wouldn't be all that hard to just work it in. In other words, start the story assuming that people know what's what. If we see the magic in action, and if characters refer to the god/human history on occasion, that will probably be enough.

 

A really skeletal example of inserting some of these facts into scene by implication, without needing a prologue:

"Jane, why are these plums still here?"

Jane sighed, put the simulation on hold, and emerged from Atlantis into her bedroom. "What?"

"The plums. The offering. You were supposed to take them to the temple."

"Mom, if you want to live in the past, you take fruit to your moldy gods. I have better things to do."
​

 

I'm tentatively interpreting

"and lastly the fact that humanity rose above these "gods" with technology growing to resent them overtime"

to mean that human technology grew to surpass the things that the gods could do. And that over a period of time, humans grew to resent the gods that they no longer needed.

That's my guess.