General Discussion

okay so i've always known i wanted to be a writer when i grew up and that day is fast approaching (i'll be twenty this year) and i got nadda, zip, zilch for a book so far.

actually, let me backtrack. i have characters (some of which have been my babies for years and still have never had anything longer than a bunch of scrapped paragraphs) and i've been mulling over some plotty scenes with them and a couple relatively minor points and whatnot, but i have absolutely no large story line to put them in. i'd like it to be kinda steampunk / desertpunk / swamppunk and what-have-you, as in more vibrant landscapes and maybe a lil more magic than most steampunk things i've read... which is actually a startling few.

i digress. i guess my problem is this: should i start writing these aforementioned scenes and play around with my characters' emotions and form a plot as i go, or wait and decide on a definitive plot before starting any significant writing?? i mean, i kinda have an idea, but not much of one.

also any tips on staying motivated to finish and not abandon such a project would be great!

@hollyshark

e: whoa minimus you don't need to overwork yourself and post this four extra times

@Hollyshark

I always start with my characters outline, what they look like how they act that sort of thing. If you have a sort of guide how they interact with each other even better.

Then do a really basic plot line. You can sketch it all out in full detail later, you just need a gist of they do this, then this happens, but really...

Also remember that you do not need to write from beginning to end. If it helps you to write out specific scenes in your mind as you have them, and then connect them all at a later time. Also editing will be your dear friend. As will a good friend who will read and edit your story and fill in your plot holes and energize your plot bunnies later.

@Hollyshark:

Play around with them first. I have an idea I've been toying with, and I haven't got a whole plot yet but I've done little scribbles to explore the voice of my protagonist. This kind of writing is fun, and it really frees you since you aren't tied to a plot yet.

So if you've had these characters for a while but don't have a plot for them yet, experiment. Uninhibited writing is the important thing, and if that means no plot quite yet, so be it.

@skub @purplpeanut lol what are friends i have a pretty solid start, so maybe i'll start with that and the other things i've been thinking about and see where it takes me from there? i've always been more of a "just go with it and see what happens" than a "wrestle it to the ground and make it obey me" person anyway.

@Hollyshark

Then just go with the flow. And remember that editing will help you just in case it doesn't work out.

@Hollyshark

From my experiences, plot isn't something you create- it's something you discover. It's there, somewhere, you just need to find it. First, start off with who your characters are, what you want from them and want from this story, and any major ideas or themes you want to incorporate. Base your story around those things, expand, and explore. Ask yourself questions- what would happen if...? Why would the character do this...? Through what means could this happen? Why, and what would happen as a result? And if you think something or another would be a cool idea, then play around with it, see if it's possible, why it would happen, what would happen as a result, and you may find yourself discovering a story that was always there- just beneath the surface. And above all, explore your characters and know how they would act in certain situations. After all, a plot should be character-driven, not story-driven. By this I mean your characters are the ones who should push and pull the story along, for whatever reasons of their own, and not the simple desire or need for Thing A or Objective B to be accomplished.

Hope that helps. Have fun. (:

@Hollyshark

I'm no writer, but my brother is working for a creative writing degree, and me applying for video game devlopment/programming.


But all I can tell you are these two things:
1. There is no surefire way to write.
2. Start small.

So for point number 1. There's no 'best' way to write, or do anything creative. Yes, getting your characters set up and a barebones plot from the beginning is great. But it might lack some creativity. You know how it's going to end before it's even started. It might not motivate you to continue. Would you want to watch a movie if you knew the ending? Probably not.

"Evildoer kidnaps protagonist's friend. Protagonist goes on adventure. Protagonist kills evildoer and saves friend." - and then you build from the outside inwards.

Otherwise, you could write it as you go. Consider the journey over the destination. Write what you can think of, and compare it to what you already have. Does it make sense with everything else? Does it add to the plot/character development? However, you could easily never have a plot you could settle on, always changing what happens in the middle.

"Evildoer kidnaps protagonist's friend." - and then you build from the left onward to the right.



For point number 2, it's fairly self explanatory. Don't write a novel for your first piece (though I'm assuming you already know this) Write about a wacky dream you've had, or maybe a television show you used to watch and add your own twist.

All of what I can consider 'games' that I've made are simple tech demos. I had a simple idea - for example, a puzzle game where you move in one direction until you hit a wall - and built the game off of that. First, it was just walls - move until you win. Then there enemies that would block your path - you had to plan your movements according to their predetermined path. Then it was enemies that would move in random directions from the beginning - plan your movements differently every time.



I hope this all made sense. It's starting to get late and I felt like I had to pass the time by typing up something.

@tiggerpup91 @dribson thanks for the advice. i guess for now i'll just go with the flow and see where that takes me.

@Hollyshark
to be honest, your case isn't that far from mine a lot of years ago - i always wanted to create some sort of story even when i was little, and i got there by now! well, i still have yet to actually unleash my wildies at the world, but i'll get there when i get confident enough c: what i have in mind by now has a huge world with tons of characters, so i thought i'd share my process with you in hopes of helping out!

the first thing i used to do was just plan some characters. they didn't really have any purpose back then other than giving myself some fun to think about. eventually i made them interact to see what sort of relationships i'd get, give them backstories, etc. after a decent amount of characters has been made the whole thing evolved into some kind of story i simply had in my mind; though it greatly differs from what i have now. my taste seemed to vary a ton back then, so i just experiemented and experiemented with the universe and settings! i loved those characters way too much to just let go after developing them and coming so far, so each time i got bored of a setting i just converted it all to what i liked most at the moment. with each new world and setting, of course, came a new plot, though a few points always remained more or less.

by now i have the current world for a year, possibly more, without changing it. well, obviously changes are still being made but they're minor compared to how i used to revamp literally everything whenever my interest wavered. i went through a countless amount of worlds and settings before i finally stopped on what i like, and i'm continuing to expand it to fit my liking even more!

i don't know if any of this helped,,, i suppose everyone has differents ways when it comes to this. but in my opinion playing around with what you have is a good choice, so you know what sort of things you liked and then combine those to get a final result you're satisfied with in the end.
good luck! (\v/)