Generating Novel Ideas
So you want to write a book. A lot of us do. Some of us are born geniuses with a sense of knowing–a destiny–and the story brews inside our youth, blossoming on the page in adulthood. Ideas and thoughts come easily. This is true of, maybe, two percent of writers who ever existed.
Some of us can experience the sentiments above. They may be fleeting, but those moments of pure inspiration hit us all at one point or another. The muse calls at strange times.
It almost always takes the writer off guard. Dashing for the paraphernalia of his craft. Ink stains his skin like obsidian blood the story sucks; as an immortal god, keyboards are crushed under his devastating fingers; tears well in his eyes: a storm he can only ride out to the end. He is left disheveled and panting–clothes and hair torn asunder–in much need of sleeping and sustenance.
A beautiful image, yes. An ideal writers life, with moments of writing abandon … a lust that can only be satisfied by telling the story brewing inside. Then there are those of us who know we want to write. We may even feel it’s our destiny to write, but we don’t have a CLUE what to write about … or even where to begin to look for ideas.
Making Decisions
There is obvious advice when it comes to writing. First of all, you need to be a big reader. If you want to be any sort of writer at all, it is unavoidable. I expect some of you came to desire writing from a love of books. If not, let the temptress win you over. Devour books as if they were your manna from heaven! Each book, whether fiction or non-fiction, is a lesson in writing. Those things you like and dislike about a book … those are the things you take with you to your writing.
Some real–hard earned–advice I can give you is strengthening your ability to make decisions. A writer has to make choices. Whether it’s his own point of view he’s choosing from, the point of view of his characters or his intended audience, the writer is making choices.
Where To Begin | Your First Choice
You have to begin somewhere. Say you have NO idea what you want to write about. The first thing you need to figure out is what you like best about a story.
Is it the characters? Is it a gripping plot with absolutely no holes? Is it a setting that is so true to life, it’s as if it is secretly dwelling in the space between the pages?
Start writing up some character descriptions. One of the first things Rhiannon and I did before starting to write our novel was look up Character Sheet Questionnaires for generating RPG characters, and we answered all the questions about each of our main and important secondary characters.
Write a general outline of a plot you think you’d like. Take that outline and write a detailed summary of each potential chapter in your new story. The characters can be nameless, or you can give them temporary names and attributes. We also did this before we started writing. A lot of our character information changed between those outlines and what we’re writing now, but–let me tell you–it made getting started a million times easier.
One More Piece of Obvious Advice
Keep a journal of some kind. Especially if you don’t know where to start. Even if all you write is the dull ordinary details of what happened that day. Write something. The act of putting thoughts to paper is a learning tool in writing. I wrote about that late last week. When all else fails, you’re journaling will save you.
It can also provide volumes of inspiration … not to mention fun reading when you’re too old to care. *Waves at self of the future … who’s probably rolling his eyes*
Tags: Writing
On Writing | Joey | 
22 December 2009 12:27 AM
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