First off hi! First post, just found this place and it's great but this is something that's been bugging me a bit with my own writing, Years ago some things happened in an MMORPG I used to play that inspired a story in my head, so first I wanted to just write one book. Then that grew to three as I had another arc of the characters life's I wanted to add in then that grew to five as I realized that the first book was going to be way to long if I kept it at one book. Then it grew to 8 as I added in more characters and detailed my plot out more In the end I've been writing this book in my head for about 4 or 5 years now, it's grown and I'm so happy with it's plot now and character development, I've written about a hundred short story's, some in the book some side story's, I have a whole book compilation of the worlds history it takes place in, and pages and pages of character development ramblings and bouncing ideas off a friend. Now heres the problem, I've been meaning to start this book this year but every time I sit down and open up a fresh document, I just feel like I cant start it yet, like this thing Ive worked so hard on I cant put into chronological order even though I know it perfectly. Or I tend to want to just jump right into book 4 of the series and skim over everything else but the one scene I have in my head. I haven't had this problem before, this would be my 6th novel I've written, and I really finally want to get this one down on paper. Any thoughts or suggestions? Similar circumstances? Id love to get some second opinions on this issue, it's been troubling me since November when I first took a crack at writing it out (and got about 50 pages in or so)
Only advice I have is just write don't be afraid to write rubbish and don't even attempt to make it sound like what is in your head yet.
if you're too scared to start it yet, at least document your ideas. I started creating a world for an mmorpg when i was 10 and when i turned 20 i realized id never be a game designer, but maybe id be an author. So i went and flipped through all 5 or 6 of my full binders and just read all of my childhood thoughts to create the world for my new book. It was a fantastic Blast-to-the-past experience for me
I didn't quite understand, did you PLAN those 8 (or was it 6?) books or did you actually WRITE them before this problem occured? And that "MMORPG"-what is that?
I think you should just write it, don't be afraid, don't attempted to think I can do this because this is just going to make you not want to write it. Just open up what ever you write with and just started writing ideas, down. Hopefully that will help you to started get into the mood of it.
Tesoro: Planned : P detailed planning though, and I've writen up to 50 page chunks of some of them in short story form. Trillby: Yeah the going around in the head forever thing is what I've been worried about also thank you guys for the advice : / I keep telling myself just to write but ah easyer said than done sometime. But I appreciate all the responses! It really sort of gives me the motivation and it's a good reminder on how it doesnt have to perfect this first draft
Don't be afraid to just sit down and write it, even if the first chapter won't turn out as you first thought there's always a possibility to change that (and everything else you're not happy with) later. The important is getting started. If you want to you can write down the scenes one by one, independently, either on paper or in text documents, and then rearrange them in the order you want them. After that you just connect them with each other. There is nothing saying that you need to start with the very first chapter. Do what works for you. The important is the book(s) being written Good luck and let us know how it goes!
This is exactly how I started my book. I was still in college when I was conceptualizing it, so I never really had time to start it until I graduated. I, too, had like a 50+ page word document that was just whatever ideas I had, from random tidbits to entire scenes written out. And, for me, it also started out as one book, but then it grew way too big. It was supposed to be a trilogy, then a five-part series, then I had a whole plan for 12 books, but now I'm thinking of cutting it down to 6 or so and just having more things happen in fewer books. I think it's really cool to know someone else thinks about plot the same way I do. I am just further down on a similar path, and I have a complete story that's nearly ready to be submitted to an agent. Anyway, I can tell you what I did. Like what everyone said, I just started writing. And oh, man it was bad. Horrible prose, nothing lined up the way I wanted it to. But the trick is to re-write. I got through the first quarter and then started over again from the beginning, having both the old and new documents open so I can steal whatever I liked from the old. That time, I actually made it all the way to the end of the book, then I started over with the same thing, both the old and new documents open and stealing from the old stuff but essentially re-writing it from scratch. Just write. If you get stuck on a scene, skip it and come back to it later. Rush to the finish line, no matter how embarrassingly bad everything is. Then you at least got through an entire draft, even if you'd shoot yourself if someone read it. If you still feel like you need to tweak your plot until it's ready, this is a great resource that helped me put all my pieces together: http://storyfix.com/story-structure-series-1-introducing-the-four-parts-of-story It's an in-depth series of how plot within a single book should lay out in order to make it publishable. Publishers need a particular plot structure no matter what the genre. Hope this helps! Happy writing.
I had the same exact problem. You have an awsome story, idea's, events-all of it. And there is multiple ways to go. What worked for me, is just to work through each scene/chapter, bit by bit. If somthing sparks your intrest, write about it. And as you go, you will find that your story takes shape better, you get rid of all the crap that the story just doesn't need and you will have some of it already written down. Hope this helps XD
Thinking more on it, one problem I had was character development. I had a really well-thought out plot, and an MC that fit in pretty well, but she just didn't feel complete. So, I did a lot of character development exercises. Having a strong MC helped me move my story forward.
Funkybassmannick: wow that sounds exactly like how I'm going through it I actually did break down and just start writing it today, and man is it bad so far... but well it's a start writing is re writing. and thank you so much for that link! and yeah character development is hard, most of mine are based off people i actually met, I have a friend who knew them to and we are always bouncing off ideas with each other and talking about the characters, but Ive done so many exercises on it, I've been thinking I need to just sit down and write the book for a long time.
"Let the words flow upon your fingertips. It won't matter if your message means nothing, or if your message means more than something. As long as words are written, you have a story." --original quote (I enjoy creating clever quotes) Anyway, I pretty much live by the above quote. When I'm having moments like you are, I usually write whatever comes out of my fingertips, regardless if it makes sense or not. I write and write until I can't write anymore, and then I re-read what I have written (and there are times where it makes no sense) but I revise it and make it into a story that would make sense to an audience. Write whatever comes to mind. Hold the idea inside your head and your fingers will do the work for you. Well, it works for me.
Start where you want to start, and then work your way to the other stories. I think a lot of book series are actually written and published in non-chronological order. Of course, you could always hold the entire series back from publishing if you feel that earlier installments are going to shift what happens later.
It is going to bad it is your first, first draft. Accept that and make it the best you can, just get the satisfaction from accomplishing something one word at a time. Every word you write is closer to a complete novel. There is nothing you can't tweak, change, delete, add etc It can become good but it is very rare that your first, first draft will be. Don't be surprised if you do more or less novels than you have planned - I know my trilogy turned into a single book - whereas short stories and single books have become capable of sustaining a series.
I learned from my first book, I started at the point the criminal decided to commit the crime. But it was boring facts and no action. Basically dull. Now I start where the story starts in my mind, then I will cut the parts that are boring and stick them in small portions later if they are needed. They are the foundation of the story, but not neccessary to be seen in the story. It explains the why they did what they did. Just start writing, get something going then you can adjust it later(editing). You might just have a touch of mental constipation, years and years of ideas all crammed in there and needs a little push to get it going. Like others have said, the first draft will not be the greatest. Its not suppose to be. Painters don't grab one canvas and paint an art work without error. ("They have happy little accidents", sorry, channeling Bob Ross) MUsicians don't pick up an instrument they have never seen before and play a concert on it. It takes work, and the first step is to play the first note, put the first brush stroke, write the first sentence.
yeah my first drafts have never been good I learned that much, I've completed several novels before (not just planning them out, I think I got confused when I answered that question earlier) but it still feels frustrating since I have such high hopes for this book but thankfully I've gotten a full chapter out and the ideas are starting to flow
