/lit/ - Literature

Go back to reddit or search the archive you fucking retard

>>4574398
Well, that was uncalled for.

yeah retard

Work backwards from those scenes. What needs to happen to get to where you want to be. Scenes in between could be anything as long as it's interesting.

Brainstorm
>Acquire vague cast of simple characters, plot, possibilities, and hone in on a central theme to explore.
>Just in basic documents of organised chaos, work organically.

Refine
>Pin down a basic beginning(s) and ending(s). Use the difference to plot out rough set pieces and transitions along the way.
>Written in simplified tables, bullet points, index cards, story circles, etc to always keep the big picture in view as I go.

Outline
>Write a rough outline connecting all the beats. Lock down a premiss/logline, simplified synopsis, and organised index card structure sheet to keep on the side for reference, and keep the basic theme/structure in mind and on hand.
>Outline written as a linear document, no bullet points/tables allowed. Reasonably organised, but only as much as is necessary for me to understand. Re-consult initial brainstorms and get loose with it, disregard strict adherence to stepping-stone structure for now and just see what happens.
>Reference notes organised separately, as simplified and efficient as possible.

Begin
>Just gradually pump that sucker out into a first draft. Sparingly consult notes as needed along the way, try to keep your writing:revising ratio high in writing's favour, don't look back to revise too often, set daily/weekly targets, don't burn out.

Edit
>Jump cut to a bearded skeleton.

Just my personal process, roughly. Don't really do it consciously and haven't tried to define it until just now, because it's 2am and fuck sleep.
Separating the 'refine' and 'outline' stages is conscious though, because I've previously had a big problem with looking at the big picture for too long and then staying there forever, resulting in thinking of the story/characters as bullet points rather than actual moments in time/people. Turns the story into stilted shit that never even gets done, so I've gotta get away and write freely, just pulling from what I've absorbed in my memory.

>>4574398
Good job, Anon! You really told the other Anon really hard, that fag!

>>4574483
Fucking hell, have I been doing everything wrong all these months? I'm already on my second draft.

I have the basic idea in mind. Then I come up with random scenes that fit to serve that plot.

Then I give up when I can't piece them together and run out of ideas.

>>4575848
You need to just refine those basic ideas further, then. Just include more of the where and how for those ideas, and more should follow naturally.

It depends on the story and your thought process and a bunch of other things, I tend to write differently every time. Following a "formula" is not a good idea, at least not if you want to express yourself.

I just start typing. I have tried numerous times to come up with some kind of outline in advance, and I finally realised that I was spending too much time on the outline. About every 500-1000 words I'd decide the plot needed to take another direction because my first ideas weren't necessarily the best (duh), then have to go back and rewrite the entire outline from that point. The result was that I'd spend about half of my energies rewriting the fucking outline instead of the manuscript.

So I just write from start to finish, log away any ideas I have to put them in at a later date, then spend my energies getting to the end of the first draft so I can go back and make it not suck. Granted, the manuscript I'm currently querying for took a little longer than I wanted, but that was mostly because I had to revise my style. The new one I started last week seems to be coming along a little more smoothly.

Anyway, this is just what specifically works for me. Some people actually thrive on having a predetermined structure. I don't. It probably helps to point out that I write every damned day of the week because I'm an obsessive moron...

>>4575846

There is no right and wrong. There is productivity and procrastination, the path to which will vary with the individual.

Related question: why did a creative writing thread just get deleted?

>>4574397
Read more and write more.

Your idea reminds me a little of War and Peace by Tolstoy. It's a long book, but well worth the read. In that story, the characters all interact with each other in the beginning, then depart ways a quarter through, and come back together in the end affected differently from their experience in the Napoleonic Wars. Maybe it will give you inspiration? Plus, its a really great read.

>>4575888
A smart obsessive moron. I wish I had that kind of dedication. Shit.

My biggest problem is that I can't fine suitable careers for my characters. I only have experience in one field of work. I don't want all my characters to be waitresses and college students.

How do I convincingly write something from the point of view of, say, a mortician?

I have no fucking clue. Right now I'm writing this aberration that started as a short story and has now become way too introspective to the point it is gradually looking more and more like an essay.

I first think of a point of some kind. What's the central idea of the story, what do I want to see happen and why. Once that's decided, I just add build-up and ending, as well as other details if necessary. I don't put any plans or outlines on paper, because I feel it's too restricting. I just keep the raw concept in my mind.

If you start with an outline make sure the outline is flexible. Don't be afraid to change it as you go.

i just FEEL and the words just appears

>>4577474

>>4574397
I've been in your kind of situation before and honestly I would say fill the gaps with anything. Literally anything. Let your characters take you for a ride and write whateverthefuck. Then don't look at the story for a number of months, and look over it again and see which ideas were great, which sucked, and rewrite

Just chuck shit at the wall and see what sticks. It'll work out

I write the entire story in greentext first and use that as an outline.

>>4577493
That's actually a good idea.

I'm currnelty 37.000 words in.
I think of a story, then the characters, then just start writing.

just use the word "suddenly" all the time. Nothing beats a good ol' "suddenly" story.

Suddenly there was a gunshot and Steve was dead

i sit at a cafe with my laptop and bleed

i've never written a NOVEL, i found short stories relatively easy because you can just focus on a moment or condense your plot heavily.

i'm trying to sort of break into the process of writing novels by doing something with a friend - writing a chapter with no specific idea of where it should go, sending it to him, he writes one that follows on from it, i reciprocate, and so on. i like the idea of one of us just killing a character or ending it abruptly against the other's wishes. i think it might demystify the whole process for me but i dunno if my friend will commit to it.

>>4577518
>currnelty

That's going to be the name of my character in the next video game I play.

>>4574397
>can't see her legs or heels

what an awful gif

>>4577522
No, fuck you. No one should ever do this.

>>4574397
You need to build credibility. The gaps you dont just "fill with anything". These gaps are what make your story feel real and true.

For example, lets make up a story.
We can even use this guy's setup (not a bad one, but I would never use it)
>>4574483

This will be a short story, and there will be no sci-fi or fantasy whatsoever. We will make the central character a young girl. Shell be 17. Well place the story in San Francisco, present time. Lets make it spring, and warm, since you'd expect a story in San Fran to be ridden with fog and gloom. Well have the story be between two or three characters, and well try our very best to keep the story in as few scenes as possible. One would be best, three at max.

So here is the very basic of the basic. Its just pure aesthetics. Now we have to decide what the story will be mainly about, OR, we develop our main character, let her loose, and see what happens.

I prefer the second method, but since we are using >>4574483 's method, will decide on the plot now. We will, however, allow for the story to evolve in whatever way we want. If something comes up, were going to take it. Outline be damned.

continued

>>4578138
Jesus Christ noone fuckin cares.

Reported for spamming this board with letters and words

>>4578140
Can you even read?
>>4574397

>>4574397
OP, do you want me
>>4578138
to continue? Or anyone?

>>4578158

not op but i was planning on reading your second post

>>4578138
So now we have to decide on some plot. We will also have to work on our main character.

To you OP, your own personal experiences will help you here. Whatever interests you most in life, write about it here. More importantly, whatever MOVES you the most, write about it here. If someone close to you just died, if you returned to your hometown for the second time after leaving for university and realized you dont have any friends left there, write here, if your dog died, write it here. Usually counselors and professors tell undergrads hoping to join an English MFA program to spend a few years "finding themselves". What they mean by this is, your some teenage twerp who hasnt experienced anything worth reading, so go do something and then come back. This is bullshit, but in some way it is right. Your story has to move your reader, and you probably wont write a moving story about a parent dying until you know what its like.

With that said, lets make this story about a 17 year old girl who was planning on moving to san fran with her best friend (they are both enrolling in some college there. Maybe Berkeley). However, something has happened to the best friend, and now their moving plan is looking impossible. The girl is now in san fran, dealing with this situation. There is a chance she may become homeless. The characters she deals with can be the best friend, parents/friends over the phone, or some stranger.

Main character is thin, long black hair, muted green eyes, fair skin, has ptosis in one eye, and is wearing a light blue summer dress.

Her personality will be sharp and sassy. She currently in our story is irritated or outright pissed off because of her circumstances.

Before we go on to the best friend, we should decide on 1st person or 3rd person narrative. I say 3rd person since it will be easier.

continued

>>4578193
What are you trying to do? Do you just want to show OP how you come up with a story? I have no idea where this is going.

>>4578216
Me neither but I like it, so stfu.

>>4578216
Im showing OP one way to create a story, using another anon's method, since OP's main question is

>How does /lit/ write a novel/story?
>So, how do you write?

>>4574397
>I've got an idea for a story about three people growing up and each following a different style of life/philosophy

Into the trash it goes.

>>4578193
So now we deal with the best friend, which is where this story is really going to start taking some work.

Which college are they attending? Our main character (lets call her Arianna for now, I like the name) is 17, so she is a freshman. If we decide on some particular college, like Berkeley, we have to know their policies on freshman housing. Do they require dorms for freshmen? If they do, dont they have policies for this sort of thing?

All of this will determine what happened to Arianna's best friend (lets call her Jessica). Is Jessica in San Fran with Arianna? Was she there before Arianna? Is she still planning on going to college there? This is why you should write what you know about. You wouldnt want to write a story set in Manhattan and not know how people deal with cabs. Still, that doesnt mean you can only write about what youve experienced first hand. Just do your research after your first draft, and then edit whatever mistakes you have (this is called logistics, by the way).

So they are in dorms. Jessica doesnt want to room with Arianna anymore, because Jessica has been in San Fran the entire summer and has made new friends. Arianna now gets the dorm to herself, and doesnt have to pay for the other half. She may get a new roommate.

So now weve canceled off quite a bit of what this story could have been aoout. Arianna probably wont become homeless, and nothing severe has happened to our character.

Now, we could decide to leave this entire situation as mere setting, and leave it at that. Or we could enter the story when things are more uncertain, say when Arianna first hears from Jessica that she isnt planning on moving in with her anymore. This could be over the phone while Arianna is still entering San Fran for the first time (besides that time two summers ago when both Arianna and Jessica visited Berkeley and made plans to go there together).

At this point in the story (call with Jessica), Arianna doesnt know whats going to happen, and neither does the reader. Sure, if the story plays out long enough well find out that Berkeley has a policy for this sort of thing. And maybe Arianna is confident enough as a character that this doesnt phase her, and she already believes that Berkeley has a policy for this sort of thing.

But what about Jessica? This is her bestfriend, how could this happen all of a sudden? No matter if the story focuses on Arianna fearing homelessness, Arianna will still have to wonder for a good amount of time why Jessica did this all of a sudden (again, Jessica only said in the call that they wouldnt be rooming together, she didnt say why). Because Jessica was so brief (and wont take Arianna's calls), there could be a story here, beginning with the call, and then Arianna, completely alone in a new city, dealing with her problem.

The gaps really will fill themselves now that you have all of this background information.

continued

>>4578236

>given a vague story idea that could be good or bad depending on execution
> acts like a judgmental shitwad

Into the trash YOU go.

>>4578273
So now we have a basic setting and basic plot happening to two characters, Arianna and Jessica. We dont know much about Jessica, but thats fine for now. Arianna's character will develop more when you write her speaking.

You have several places to start this story, and many places to end it.

Weve pretty much covered the Brainstorm part of this method
>>4574483
Once weve gone through all the different ways the story could play out, we decide on one beginning, and then once scene, and see where it goes. This will be Refine.

Arianna gets the call, heading towards San Fran to start studying at Berkeley in one week. She has a dorm on campus. She is taking the Coast Starlight from LA (where she is from) to San Fran. She gets the call on the train. There is a passenger near her, and they talk. This will be the first scene. I want the passengers to be a young boy and her mother. The mother is currently absent. That will be the first scene.

Second scene is Arianna making her way to campus.

Third and final scene is Arianna at her new apartment. The story will end here.

So, now we have to decide what is going on in Arianna's head. What she will learn, all of that. This I cant really implant for you, just like I cant implant your narrators voice (since this story is in third person), so this is about where I have to stop.

Arianna worrying that shes going to not have a place to live may make her wonder if she will have to dropout of Berkeley. Make her seem naive about the situation, she is 17, so her being confident and un-phased would be out of character, and not very interesting.

As far filling in the smaller gaps, try to use the concrete of the world to move the story forward. Whats around the character? How is Arianna moving her body? Try to go through all of the senses. Its a warm day and shes carrying luggage so shes probably sweating during the second scene, but she may still smell good, which is a nice characterization. Things like that. Stay focused on the little things, and as you write, things will hopefully come to you.

>>4578280
>given a single example of judgemental behaviour by a person that could be good or bad depending on general behaviour
>acts like a judgemental shitwad
No, into the trash YOU go.

>>4578337
This is going to go on for forever.

Im in the trash, and none of you can come in.

Fuck you clean people.

>>4578333
I know this was for demonstration purpose only and I don't want to attack you, but this story sounds boring as fuck. Even if you have some really good writing skills, I can't imagine this story becoming interesting. Who cares about some teenage girl who loses her apartment? Where is the theme?

>>4578385
What do you mean by theme?

And like you said, this story right now is just the basic of the basics. Its just the setup, the story could turn into something very different by the end of it. But even with just this, the story could be interesting, itll depend on the writers craft

>>4578428
The story should be about something. The writer should have some idea about what he wants to write, not just random events.

>>4578479
I said multiple times in the posts that I wasnt going to implant the story for OP. I just showed him how things can start happening once you start writing.

My problem is that I have very abstract ideas for stories. I know the kind of catharsis I want to reach and all, but it's hard to come by with a setting, theme or even genre that applies to my initial ideas.

Any thoughts?

>>4578634

read more bookz