Right guys, so I have this app on my iPhone called writers app, & when working on a story – it asks for all these details. Can you please give an example of what each of these things mean so that I don’t spend ages writing the wrong things down? Title: I know what the title means (ha-ha) Synopsis: Help with this bit... Premise: Also this bit - I have no idea what it means... Plot: I think I know what the plot means. I would write some detailed notes on what I plan to write about here – would that be correct? Characters: Most of the things below I know, such as name, roles, blah blah blah – but what would I write under strengths & weaknesses? I am guessing size means are them slim, curvy, tall... Occupation is their job, right? lol - Name: - Role: - Occupation: - Strengths: - Weaknesses: - Habits: - Biography: - Hobbies: - Personality - Age: - Eyes: - Size: - Hair: Character Notes: Here I normally write any extra information on the character such as who their based on & what not... Places: Again, I know what to write here... - Place name / description: Notes: So please, any help & advice you can give me would be great, Thanks, Kelly
A one-page summary (it can actually be longer for your private purposes, but you will need to condense it if you intend to query agents or publishers about your project) of what happens in your story. What is the basic concept behind the story you are writing? Is it the story of the wealthy son of an aristocrat who decides to chuck the good life in order to combat human traficking in Mumbai? Is it a murder mystery, in which the lead detective on the case struggles with his inner demons while pursuing the killer who has similar demons? See Cogito's stickied thread at the top of the Plot Development forum. No. It means their strengths and weaknesses of character - supportive, helpful, honest...or conniving, lascivious, theiving. Hope this helps.
My advice is to ditch the app. You know your premise and basic plot. To know your characters, the best way to do this is to spend time with them, which you do by writing scenes for them. You'll discover who they are through writing, not through filling in blanks on a character sheet list. Sometimes going through those lists can be useful after you've written some scenes with them, and you reach a point one evening where you don't feel like writing but you want to spend some time working on your novel. But don't become glued to anything about the character you come up with on a character sheet if it emerges later to contradict something you discover by writing.
ditto that in spades!!! using formulaic programs for 'creative' writing make no sense, imo... this one will only hold you back and make the creative process more complicated than it has to be...
I agree with Liz and Maia. Get rid of that app - it isn't helping you. Just get a computer running Word and start writing. If you haven't got one, grab a pen and a notebook and start writing. Stop wasting time and confusing yourself by just filling in blanks.
