Hey all, I just wanted to share a little device I've come up with recently that has really helped me alot. It has been largely inspired by some of the advice I've seen on here as for years I'd been massively overanalysing my writing to the extent where it was holding me up... Have a look...I now write this 'mantra...?' at the beginning of anything I write... Who...? Whoever. Where...? Wherever. When...? Whenever. What...? Whatever. Why...? It doesn't matter why; it just 'is'. How...? That's the tricky part. Just write it...!!! 5WH is how a story is told in its simplest sense and so far I've found that this stops me obsessing over things like character names, locations, storyline, motivation, etc... Does anyone do anything similar...? Bri...
This is my, well I guess you can call them devices, it's really simple and I just sit down and write a brief synopsis of my characters with these headings. Name: Appearance: Attitude: Likes/Dislikes: Family/Past: This gives me a general understanding of my character and allows me to grow with them and change them slightly if need be. Less is more for me I guess. PS: My name is also Bree,
My characters gets more substance as the story progresses. I don't decide beforehand if one will have black hair or be a blonde. When I need to put down that fact, it will unfold itself for me.. Same goes for attitudes, history.. I sometimes wonder how a certain persona will react when trouble is hitting hard, and I'm sometimes surprised that a character I thought was 'chicken' turned around and did what had to be done.
I think that format formalizes somewhat what I do when I'm thinking about a story concept. Unfortunately for me, since I'm new and rather obsessive I still managed to get tangled up in details. It's a struggle for me to just let go and write. I keep worrying that I'm loosing track of the various plotlines.
Yes that is a good technique. The only issues lies in whether you can make the answers to those questions flow and mingle well with the words you chose. Sometimes, being too technical with writing (I've been told that haha) can harm it. A good tip for people starting off.
