Hi, How often do you just write random scenes, either just for the lolz (sorry I said that!), or because someone gives you a prompt, and you write a scene you really like, but have no current WiP it would fit into, and have no idea what the genre would be/plot would be, etc? I have a group of writing friends that I keep in contact with and meet up with after our writing course ended, and I wrote a scene in relation to a prompt someone gave. My close friend read it and said it was his favourite thing of mine that I've written (hope that doesn't sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet there!) and I really enjoyed what I was writing at the time, and part of me really wants to continue it, but it literally leads me no where in my mind in terms of plot, progression etc... When I wrote the scene I was just freetpying and writing as it came to me... so do you just continue that? Pick up where you left off, keep writing and just... 'see what happens?' and whether some kind of plot comes to mind? M
Either that, or he thought what he'd read before was crap!!! Closest I've come to just writing a random scene for fun is a song I heard, and thought I'd make a short story of it...and then it took on a life of its own...the MC DIDN'T kill his girl-friend, he ended up battering a random stranger instead...I'm still wondering where it's going, though.
I have never done that. I've written scenes for larger projects that I ended up not using in that project, but just a wholly unrelated scene? Nope.
All the time. I call it "story dough". It's how my stories start. A setting, some people, and something happening. I just write it as it comes to me. I don't concern myself with who the MC is, how/why they got to where they are and what they're doing, none of that. I just write it. Then I let it sit. I let it rise a bit. Then I take it apart and look at its constituent pieces. I slice it up and slide the events up and down a timeline. I look at the characters and audition them for different rolls in the story. Sometimes their parts get rewritten. Sometimes the parts stay the same but the character gets recast. It's still a long way from applying an egg-wash or even preheating the oven, but that's how it always starts for me.
I certainly hope that isn't the case! ha! He did say on the other pieces I'd done that he really liked them, etc, but this was more what he preferred really... :s I've never thought of doing that with a song, what a cool idea! I love this analogy. I think I'm going to work on this basis for the piece I wrote, and see what happens. So far I have one MC, and he's just been notified that those he normally hunts are there for him... so he's about to make an escape attempt... I might just continue writing for a bit, see who else he meets along the way, then look at doing what you mentioned, moving some events about and seeing what becomes of it
Yes, I've done that, and it's fun. However, it's even more fun when you figure out how to use it to build a longer, completed story ...short story, novel, whatever. That's another writing muscle that needs exercise. Force yourself to use what you've written in a longer story. Think about it until it gels. Even write another scene using the same characters, and see how the two scenes might link up. Whatever it takes. I don't know what your goals are as a writer. Maybe you write just for fun, which is fine. But if you want to create something more than just a random scene to amuse yourself and your friends, that other 'get to grips with the plot' muscle needs a workout. In fact, a random scene that works, and contains characters who already have personalities and maybe a relationship of some kind is an excellent place to start. But don't stop. Keep going. Spend time thinking about where those personalities came from and what they might be getting themselves into. Throw another person into a scene. Change the setting or the circumstances. Keep going. It's as easy to keep going as it is to start all over again with a whole new cast of characters. That's like somebody who loves to sew but only makes sleeves and then gets bored and makes another set of sleeves, etc. You'll never get a shirt made that way.
that's how my self-published novel came to be, actually. A friend and I were just chatting, started laughing about something I said, and using that line that made her crack up as the opening, she wrote the first "scene" (which was more like a short chapter). I got intrigued and wrote the next chapter. 5 weeks later, our novel was born Anyway it's the best when that happens that you just write a scene you're super excited about. Plotting takes brain work and sorta takes the fun out of it a little, for me... maybe that's why I suck at plotting...
Wow that's awesome, how did you find the self publishing route? I know what you mean though, a scene or a character that gets you excited to write about has become so much more appealing to me than trying to write a plot and getting annoyed when I get stuck, which invariably happens. I like what I wrote so far, so I think after spending all day Saturday doing DIY (boooo) I will lock myself away somewhere for a few hours Sunday and continue to free-type what I've already written, work on it further and see what it becomes...
I stuck the book up on Amazon and then never ever promoted it, so, as such, it gets around zero sales which reminds me, I should send the file to a friend who asked for it... That book has issues though - I have wondered about taking it down from time to time, but I still love it that it's out there, so I haven't... Yay for writing time! Yeah to get mine I need to stay up till 1am or leave the house for the nearest restaurant because my toddler doesn't sleep till 10.30pm at the earliest! So what's your story about?
No you don't sound horrible at all... you have to like, if not love what you have your name on. It's a reflection of you and your work, so if it doesn't work for you, then I'd remove it, for sure. I struggle to get 1/2 a book done, and your mate is writing batches of seven's... wow! The story, at the moment, I honestly have no idea. Basically the group I meet with, to keep our minds in writing and to stay motivated when it slips, we meet up for a catch up every few weeks, and someone will set a prompt in advance that we'll all use to write something, then share etc when we meet up. The prompt was something like 'Someone walks past you and discreetly drops a napkin in your lap, it says 'Get out now, while you still can.' I kinda figured everyone would go down the restaurant, out on a date kinda thing, so I went with a solo character who's having a beer in a bar after a succesful day, having rid the world of someone, and having survived another day.. the landlord of the pub is the one who walks up to the MC, puts his arm around his shoulder, drops the napkin in his lap, and basically forces him through the kitchen and out the back, as though the MC hunts have come for him in number... It's kind of got some narration lines and written first person. It does also mention that the bar is open to all, humans, pets, non humans, etc, and hints that the MC is either non human, or knows them, as they share your air, planet, etc... It was only a 1,250 word scene I wrote on my lunch hour, and now will work on the escape/subsequent chase to see where it goes and what it comes to, if anything...
I think that is all my work. Way to tell everyone my secrete. Actually did have a short breather scene, while writing about the assault on Callisto in the first book. Nothing like jumping from dark and messy, to another character fresh out of the shower, and then jump back to the messy again.
That sounds like my kind of book - love these thriller/mysteries type action stories! Wouldn't mind reading actually wanna send it to me? As for my own book - i do love it, but i do know there are issues. For the moment i haven't got any other book out so i guess i am waiting till i have a solo piece to replace it with first. I mean, the book isn't bad it starts with a slave racing to warn the poor of Level 1 in their walled city of the bomb hidden in the treats the government is supposedly lavishing on them - and now her life is wanted. It's a dystopian romance with a nice dose of action
It's something I do mentally as well, though I've never actually written any of them out. The ones that stick in my brain and won't leave eventually become a story, and the ones that don't just float off into the ether, hopefully to inspire someone else.
I currently have no idea where the story is going at the moment past 1,200 words, so I will have to work on it and see what becomes of it... maybe then I can send to some randomers (for the first time ever) for feedback... is thriller/mystery action your kinda thing, evevn if it goes a bit... urban fantasy? I love the premise of your book, it's a shame you didn't like things enough to go further. Will your friend carry it on further without you?
If you post your "story dough" here for crit, just remember to filter your engagement of that critique to the fact that it's only dough right now, not a fully baked and sliced loaf of story. Don't get too explainy. Just listen to what people have to say, see what parts of the dough interested them, what characters, what they found intriguing, what they found missing, etc. All of this will help you to shape the dough better, or at least give you ideas of what to do with the dough. A while back I posted a piece of dough and one member said something to the tune of, "I don't like wish fulfillment stories". That doesn't sound very constructive, but you can flip it around and make it be constructive, because another way to say that is, "I don't see what's at stake in this story". Now that's something I can work with. Thinking about what were the actual stakes made me completely rethink the person who looked most plausible to be the MC. It also made me totally rewrite someone who had initially started out as a kind of sexy side-kick and I recast her as the antagonist.
Wow, thank you, that makes a lot of sense and I find myself agreeing with you, but don't you think it'd be better to have more than 1,200 words? It's just under 2 pages and so you won't gleam too much from it?
That's going to be up to you. Maybe when you've come to the point where you've let it sit and rise a bit and now you're questioning what to do with it. The important part to keep in mind is to remember that you (and only you) know where you are in the process of things. Here's my example that I mentioned above: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/tempelhof-a-fantasy-language-adult-theme.140806/ The way that story reads now is utterly unlike either version you'll read in that thread (if you read it). It was only dough. Nothing more. That initial hallway scene doesn't even happen now. The story starts somewhere completely different. My MC's connection to his love interest it TOTALLY changed. None of it remains other than characters and setting, and the characters have, for the most part, stepped up to me, the director, and asked for rewrites. I offer it only because you mentioned above that you've never asked for critique before and I just want to show you that you can get critique at all stages of your process, as long as you remember where you are in your process and engage accordingly.
You speak a whole lot of sense and I really appreciate the time you spent and advice you gave. Funny enough, the scene I wrote in first person I changed to third and send to a fellow writer from a course to review, and they've literally just given some feedback on it... It needs work, in terms of the tenses are different in places due to the writing changing.... It needs some work now to get it all flowing correctly, and then when done and it's flows a bit better, it'd be worth sending it to some people with more skills than me to get some criticism to work on.
I write fantasy myself so urban fantasy is absolutely fine for me 1200 words is a good length for critique i think, if it's for a forum like this. People don't generally like a huge wall of text and the longer your piece, the harder it will be to get people who would put in the time. Entirely up to you really once you have fulfilled the forum requirements to post it on the forum for critique, feel free to do so (in the Workshop) As for the premise of my book - well the book is finished and we did think of writing a sequel, but it didn't really work out due to a combination of a lack of ideas of where to take it and alsp some clashes of ideas. I wanted to use our old characters but my co-author wanted new characters. We tried to compromise by having both new and old, but then she wanted to essentially write their love story again (convenient amnesia) and i wasn't totally on board with that. As well as that i had issues with a character she created (found her annoying). So we kinda stopped. We are just working on our solo projects now We also tried to write a different steampunk one, a mystery around the premise of a girl who is murdered in the same house every time, and every time she wakes up, knowing she had died but no idea who killed her or why she is where she is. The idea was whatever the reason, every time she runs back to the same house, same room, and dies in the same place. Problem is neither of us are planners, and mystery is one of those genres that need planning... so...
No One to Save Her is pretty good, actually. It'd be cool if you and S got together and straightened out the setting, but other than that, it's a fun read. (Yeah, I know I was a lot tougher on it when I commented on it for you post-publication. But there's genre expectations to consider. And sometimes story is enough.)
Haha I thought you didn't like the book! I thought you were actually trying hard to let me down gently I'm not sure thorough editing is possible with S to be honest. She does edit and has put out a number of her own books (self-pubbed) whereas I only have our collab to my name - but we work too differently in the editing process. Last time I told her one of our beta readers @KaTrian said she didn't like Serycia, S wanted to rewrite the entire book with a completely different plot! She wanted to erase Megan and change Soren's history altogether. I've forgotten what she proposed but I outright refused. It's that kind of reaction to critique that has me scared to do any editing with her. S does have some awesome ideas, to be honest - she's prone to a lot of excitement and drama whereas I think my writing is a bit more "inward", emotional turmoils and the like rather than events. I think that's probably what made a good partnership at the time. But veering to the extreme, her ideas can become contrived, and mine a little angsty. I've often wondered about writing with her again and I know she'd like it too - but I'm a little worried about the tendency for extreme drama in her writing, which is often equally prevalent even in her character's voice, not just events - and that's when it gets tricky. She is happy to compromise and discuss the direction of the story, but when it comes to what she regards as the voice of her character, she will not budge. It's fair enough - but then there comes a point when I don't like a character of hers and then it becomes rather hard to write together... I either compromise on my own character or we stop altogether, so...
I can't imagine a collaboration. How does that even work? Do you each write different characters and/or chapters and then stick them together at the end? I would think that voice and tonal consistency would be really hard to achieve. I can see why editing together would be problematic.
Yeah we alternated chapters, each one from the POV of our characters, so we only had to stay true to our characters' voices really. We agreed in advance where the story was gonna go (like, they will go to the castle to get the treasure, for example) but how they do that in our chapter is up to the writer responsible for it. It worked quite well from my beta readers i don't think anyone found consistency of tone a problem.
