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Writing fantasy: Choosing a plot, Lesson 1

One of the most difficult things a person can do when creating a new novel is creating a plot. But there are ways around this. In the last portfolio entry I talked about keeping a short notebook on hand and writing in it, this is where it really comes in handy. I carry mine round with me anywhere and is on letter size paper so it's not too big; but the most important thing is to carry it everywhere, for you never know when inspiration may strike. In this book you should be plotting already somethings like the world and some small drawings, but this is also an ideas folder, whenever you have an idea for a book, whether you think it bad or good, write in the title ( this does not have to be final, name creating is a whole other bucket of fish ) and write in a small summery of what's going to Happen. I say write everything because a lot of the time writers deny themselves wellness. At the time of writing down an idea I thought it was stupid, but Looked back on it in my notebook and it was a great idea; so I decided to write it into a novella, well lets just say its my best seller, and a quintet of books.

When choosing a plot, write things down in the notebook, so when you finish one novel/ short story, you are not suck in the grey are for a couple of months trying to pick out a new plot, there will be one already to go, all you have to do is develop on the plot.
If you still believe that your ideas are stupid, well just take these for example:
1) small orphan boy in space defeating evil,
feels cliché right? well I've just described the plot for Star Wars.
2) man in desert with magic watch that can see hidden things, BTW, there's also big worms that live there that'll try to gobble you up.
does that sound cliché and boring, well that's Dune, one of the bestsellers of the 20th century.
See, it's all in how you play on the idea and how you write it, a completely unexperienced writer would not pull this off so well and make it into a bit of a bore, but using the correct words and location description, you can create a world no one will ever forget, make yours the next Hogwarts.
Again, just write down every idea and a short summery in your book, and sometimes I do look back and see an idea that is still terrible and would never write, but most of them, I would write down, after reading them with a new mind.

Latest reviews

Pros: I found this article very re-assuring and helpful. Breaking down the ideas from best sellers was both amusing and informative.
Cons: I did not find any cons.
Thank you, I too use a note book to keep all my ideas and plot lines in. I honestly thought it was just one of my quirks to combat a bad memory. Now I will embrace it more and not feel foolish when carrying it around with me to jot down ideas or scribble a quick drawing of something that is relevant to my current project.

Portfolio entry information

Author
Toby Johnson
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2 min read
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