How Do You Begin?

[skip.knox]

So, I'm finishing Goblins at the Gates; that is, finishing in the sense that I now wait upon my beta readers, then do edits, then send off query letters. What that means is that I can start thinking about the Next Book.

Goblins is my first novel. One of the things I've learned is that I absolutely must be more efficient in my novel-writing. A book every ten years just isn't going to cut it. I am therefore determined to do some sensible planning.

I'm going to describe my process for this, what I do prior to writing Chapter One because I'm really interested in hearing how others do their prep work. So, here goes.

I began with a title: A Child of Great Promise. That's really all I had. It's a good title, so it deserved a story. I have other stories waiting in line, but I wanted something that I could target to come in under 100,000 words. Preferrably more toward 80k. Over the past weeks I've given some thought to this. I've got a character and some rough plot ideas, but that's what I had when I began Goblins. I'm resolved not to start writing until I know where I'm headed. So, what do I need before starting? This is the list I wrote, just over the last couple of days. It feels fairly complete. In no particular order.

Setting
Plot
Theme
Characters

I need to have some detailed notes on each of these. Each has specific sub-points. For example, Setting needs both time and place, especially for someone writing alternate history. Theme is something I have come to believe is really necessary. It's like choosing the key for a song.

There are some other things on my list, but they aren't always going to be major. Length is one. I suppose I could have ignored that and just let the story be as long as it needed, but here I wanted to aim for something tighter than Goblins.

Genre is another. You'd think "alternate fantasy history" would be specific enough, but it's really the genre for the plot. Is it to be an epic tale? A mystery? Horror? Romance? Any of those will fit under the general rubric of "alternate historical fantasy" (I really cannot decide the best order of words). I can tell much the same story as a romance or a mystery or an epic.

I'm going to talk about each of my planning elements in separate posts, but first I want to ask my fellow Scribes: how do you begin? I know some of you Just Dive In. That's fine, but that's not what I'm looking for. I dove in. Whacked my head good and hard. I'm really looking for you planners out there. What work do you do before you write Chapter One?

 

[Heliotrope]

I have to do a lot of "composting" I call it. Funny enough my crit group and I were talking about this today. I call it composting, but we were also comparing our drafts to toddlers, only just learning to stand on two feet, so then I went on a tangent about "gestation".

So I'll re-use that here.

My stories need a pretty lengthy 'gestation' period. Some people can start right away when two tiny story elements come together to form a single cell.

I need more time than that. My story needs to have a beating heart before I can allow it to be born or else it will end up on life support and probably not survive.

So what do I do?

I have to start with some sort of logline. A single line. What is this story about?

An honors student and a time traveling pirate steal a treasure from a museum to stop an ancient evil.

Not very eloquent, but who cares? It is just my little foundling idea and no one is going to see it. (Except you.)

Then I take that single line and try to turn it into a paragraph. You can read more about how to do that if you google "Snowflake method of writing".

Usually that gives me a pretty decent idea of what the basic conflict is and who my character is, but it takes a while, again, of composting and brainstorming ideas until I have a concise idea of what I want to do.

Then I start thinking about three act structure, basically just the key plot points. I need to know what the inciting moment is going to be, what the midpoint reversal is going to be, and what the act two disaster is going to be. If I have a vague idea of how it will end then that is helpful too, but it can be very vague.

I also need four goals.

1) What does the character want that will lead to the inciting incident?
2) What goal will she have that will get her to the midpoint reversal?
3) How can I reverse that goal, so she now has to do the opposite until the act 2 disaster?
4) How will her goal change to get her to the climax?

 

[Chessie]

Hi, Skip. As you recognize, this is a very individual process. So, with that said, feel free to borrow my suggestions or toss them to the wind. Here goes...

First, CONGRATULATIONS in finishing Goblins! Woop! How exciting. (okay, okay here it really goes...)

I approach the start of every book differently. It depends on, more than anything else, how LONG I've been marinating on the idea/characters/theme. So I'll give you examples of my last 2 novels and the 3rd one I'm writing right now all started in 2016. My outlining process has become a mish-mash of these books:

-Libbie Hawker's Take Off Your Pants
-Chris Fox Write To Market
-D.H. Costa Sizzling Story Outlines
-Gwen Hayes Romancing The Beat

*It took me about 3 months of trial and error to produce a process that works for me, which I will detail below so I'm sorry for this long post. I hope you can get through it and that it'll help somehow. If you ever need help figuring out the plot point details, I'd love to assist with that.


1. Kiss Me Again (historical/vintage romance): this idea came from a video game character I created and her relationship with one of the NPCs. Yeah, I know, super stupid right? I let my imagination take over. I envisioned Portland in 1947, the two main characters and thought about how in romance the characters need to be placed together yet at odds. I spent several months marinating on this idea before I started outling.

I did way more outlining for this story than I normally do because this isn't a genre I write in. Three failed attempts at chapter one, a Scrivener file complete with character pictures, needs, motivations, goals. An entire first draft of bullshit, which I was able to manage getting out by doing something like this:

Ch. 1 OP Intro Hero:

Chp. 2 Intro Heroine:

Chp. 3 Meet Cute

Etc. Then I detailed in how this came about. Of course, now that I'm on draft two I tossed out the first draft and nothing is the ****in same. The story is by far better, more intense, more natural, beautiful. I spent 3 months going back and forth like this wasting my damn time, which is why I just jumped in with a first sentence on this draft and haven't stopped.


2. My Ludmila: I have no clue where this idea came from, but I thought about it for about a year before I started outling, which was the first draft! For this one, I followed the plot points along as I wrote, and when I would hit one I'd write out the chapters detailing it and it came to look like this:

Ch. 1: OP heroine intro: pantsed the chapter and on I went until the end. However, I spent about a week brainstorming the characters but the world I already know, so that was easier. And that's all I did.


3. The Countess Of Shimmering Bay: I brainstormed some ideas for a few days then just started writing...and none of the story is related to any of that brainstorming at all. I also came up with this idea playing the same video game from earlier, so I've thought about it for about a year. The more a story percolates in my head, it seems the faster I can write without outlining.

For this story, a random sentence popped into my head and I just wrote, letting creative voice lead the way. Now, I know you said that's not how you write. So all I can say is that I still use the plot points to guide me: op intros, meet cute, adhesion, etc....and I merged them with Libbie Hawker's plot points that are the basic ones you see in all plot books. So essentially I have a process that has extra plot points but it helps me write longer books. As I've written 2 novels this way and now a 3rd, I'm getting the hang of the formula so yes, doing it over and over again will pay off!

Story goals: whenever I try to think about them I get confused and pissed off. So I just go with my gut now and something good always comes up. For example, in the Countess story, the fact that she has an uninvited Captain hanging out in her town trying to do her job, who she ends up falling in love with, was a clear opportunity to provide romantic opposition. Sure, I'll give her a goal to take him down. It's what becomes most natural but only do I succeed at this by already being in the prose!

And that's how I do it now, writing from one plot point to the next and when I get stuck, I brainstorm. It also helps to have a formula which thankfully romance does. The last two books I've written in my fantasy world so it makes things a lot easier. I hope this helped somewhat!

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I'm pretty straight forward:

Plot
Character Basics
Setting
Character Specifics
Theme

The theme is probably built over every phase, oft times without my even knowing it, exactly.

The plot can start with a beginning or an ending or anywhere in between. Mostly, it begins with "this needs to happen" or "this is what starts it all". Heck, my WIP right now is the result of finding a back story I couldn't resist, so the story came directly from "this is where there story gets us, and it begins here... now, who the hell does all this and why?"

 

[Chessie]

I'm pretty straight forward:

Plot
Character Basics
Setting
Character Specifics
Theme

The theme is probably built over every phase, oft times without my even knowing it, exactly.

The plot can start with a beginning or an ending or anywhere in between. Mostly, it begins with "this needs to happen" or "this is what starts it all". Heck, my WIP right now is the result of finding a back story I couldn't resist, so the story came directly from "this is where there story gets us, and it begins here... now, who the hell does all this and why?"

Studying and knowing the plot points = knowing story structure, which makes writing a more feasible task. I also love the "this needs to happen", but when I leave that in the script I get lazy and never go back. So I'm training myself to get it down the first time.

But I wanted to touch on theme really quick. Theme is the packaging that ties it all together for me. Without it, I can't write. So how do you figure it out after you've written the story? I'm genuinely intrigued.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I suppose this goes into how you define theme: Subject matter or meaning/message?

I don't think I am awake enough to articulate much of anything useful, I will see what the morning brings... but the short version is there is an exploration of a theme developed in the WIP that I didn't really get until well after book 1 was finished, it might (perhaps) be the actual central exploration behind everything else.

Studying and knowing the plot points = knowing story structure, which makes writing a more feasible task. I also love the "this needs to happen", but when I leave that in the script I get lazy and never go back. So I'm training myself to get it down the first time.

But I wanted to touch on theme really quick. Theme is the packaging that ties it all together for me. Without it, I can't write. So how do you figure it out after you've written the story? I'm genuinely intrigued.

 

[Penpilot]

For me, I start with desires/wants/goals, what ever you want to call them.

Each major character's internal goals and external goals and why they want to achieve them.

This usually gives me a broad idea about what I want to do with the main plot, subplots, and some ideas for the world.

Then I go to the three act structure and start to think about key story points and start sketching out ideas for each.

-inciting incident.
-breaking into act 2
-midpoint
-break into act 3
-climax

All this feeds back into the plot, world building, and characters, each causing changes that ripple into the whole.

When I have enough information, I split things into individual plot threads, and think about the major points in each of them as they unfold.

Eventually I have a broad, if not a bit messy, outline for how the whole story unfolds with all the various subplots.

I can usually tell if I know enough about the story by if I can write a quick one or two sentence synopsis for it. If I can't then I don't know enough.

After this, I start writing and proceed to toss around 50% or more of all this work into the trash as I think of better things and the story, characters, and plot, morph on the fly. And again, it all feeds back on itself, so generally what I start out with and what I think it's going to look like doesn't really match up with what I end up with. Some things stay exactly the same, but most changes, and I think it's always for the better.

For me, an outline never survives an encounter with the blank page.

 

[spectre]

I usually start writing blind. Once I get 10k words in, then I'll take what I have and begin to flesh it out. Usually that means creating a setting first, then developing more actors and characters. Once I have these two, I will begin planning more immediate vents surrounding what I've written, decide what main plot it ties into, and from there write step by step, creating the adventure as I go. I spend some time thinking about the long haul, but mostly I like to get involved in the moment.

"Intro quality"
World building
Character creating
Act 1
Bigger picture moment
Continued adventure writing so everthing ties in.



"The eye that sees cannot see itself."

 

[skip.knox]

Wow, there's some really good stuff here. Consider this an individual thank you to each of you. But I also want to respond to some specifics.

@Heliotrope, I love the goals. I've read that approach elsewhere, but I think it's just the ticket for Child. Where I see it useful is as a way to elaborate on the basics of the plot. Also, as a way to begin tying character and plot together organically.

@Penpilot, I'm going to post separately on plot, but you say here you start with the main characters and their goals. In Goblins I didn't even know who the main characters were, at first. Or, rather, I began with one but dumped him after several thousand words. A secondary character has grown into being a key character. Same with goals--stuff just slides around on me. But I am determined to be more disciplined about this for Child.


So far, it looks like Planners go first either for characters or for key story idea or concept. And it looks like it sort of doesn't matter which, because all subsequent steps are so iterative and tightly related, you wind up doing both more or less simultaneously.

The close runner-up is theme, mainly because it's not always evident up front, however important it turns out to be for the planning in general.

I hope to hear from others!

 

[Devor]

For me, it feels pretty straightforward.

You start with whatever - that initial nagging sensation that you think is worth exploring. In this case, you've got the title, A Child of Great Promise.

The next step is to figure out what that means. There are ideas bundled into that statement that you might not even realize are there. Who is the child? Why is it only "A" single child? What's the promise? What is this child's claim to making that promise "Great"? Does the child keep to that promise?

So for each of these I would start listing and sketching out ideas, about 20 for each, and then try to mix and match mentally until something felt right - fitting your personality, surprising and distinct, compelling and rich.

For instance . . . . I might come up with something like this:

The child is a sentient baby worm monster unfrozen from the ice of Antarctica living in somebody's brain, who has the potential to heal victims of brain damage and dementia, but only if it can overcome its fear of modern humanity.

^ You know, or whatever.

From there, the next step is a concept statement:

After making the conflict worse, the main character chooses to grow to overcome the antagonist.

^ Rewrite this sentence until it's as specific as possible.

Finally, from there it's . . . . character, plot, setting, and so on.

 

[skip.knox]

Thanks, Devor. Do you go through all that prior to writing? Character, plot, setting, theme? Do you have a fifth or sixth item on that list? To what level of detail do you go on each before you write Chapter One?

 

[Devor]

I go through them using a lot of placeholders to keep it fast and flexible.

I just use the big three - for me, theme is a subcategory of character, like magic is for setting.

 

[FifthView]

I start with all of these to some extent. I have these in general. But I find that I really need specifics before I can begin to write. These specifics might be only a few aspects of a character, a setting; they are something for me to sink my teeth into. Lately I am wary of overplotting, as well.

Also, perhaps strangely enough, I want to have a feeling that I want to convey. I don't really know how to explain it. Am I writing a tragedy? A comedy? A rousing adventure? A character study? Do I want it to feel like a thriller? To some degree these will touch on all of the above categories, but I find that this is imperative before I can begin writing.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, skip, so I'm finding this discussion of special interest. Fortunately, I've only spent four years on my WIP, rather than ten. Hoping to finish before the five year mark.

If you aren't familiar with K.M. Weiland's site, I recommend giving it a visit.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

But I wanted to touch on theme really quick. Theme is the packaging that ties it all together for me. Without it, I can't write. So how do you figure it out after you've written the story? I'm genuinely intrigued.

First, I am gong to refer to theme as message, rather than as subject. Second, I have a philosophy of thematic issues similar to show don't tell... explore don't preach. Let's take Avatar as an example of the bad... thematically this story tapped into several related themes that hit the movie-goer with a propaganda stick. An example meant to be bad, but turned out to be good, might be Patton (the movie) which was intended thematically as an anti-war movie, but! was done well enough that either side of the military force coin could come out of the movie drawing their own conclusions, or folks could just watch it and not take any greater meaning. Atlas Shrugged sends a fairly clear message. I prefer fuzzy themes, a bit more fuzzy than even Patton. Throw feathers in the air, don't hit me with the pillow... so to speak. If I see an agenda, I'm probably done.

So, the trilogy I'm writing...

I was working on the history of the world and a story and stumbled upon a simple piece of history: These people lived far in the north but migrated south, a Viking culture moves to the tropics/subtropics, and it had to be more than a migratory bird instinct. Long story short, I decided they needed to be driven from the north, but how? The long convoluted story cut short: The gods want them to go south, but the gods aren't in power, the people are under secular clan rule, and the church wants to establish a theocracy. Thematically, there is pretty much no way to avoid a secular vs theocratic conflict. Man's relationship with the gods, their own faith and belief systems... religion's relationship with their flock, as source of power or pawn's on the chessboard... man's spirituality and their relationship with mortality... all of these things come into focus only as the story (with is an action-conspiracy-plot-fight-kill-survive story) fleshes out in it's telling, as I explore it myself.

The interesting bit for me was the relationship with mortality angle, which is fun and easy to explore in the midst of conflict... not because of this basic exploration, but because after book 1 was done, I realized I was also playing with a "mirror" of an immortal dealing with his own inability to die, and how that can lead into things in future books.

So for me, I have no message (in the end, it's whatever the reader decides... yeah man, Tolkien was advocating smoking weed!) so I explore things subconsciously and let the characters and story sort it all out. I am a theme pantser.

Mirrors are another thing I do all the time and I don't realize that I'm doing it. They are frigging everywhere and serve a multitude of uses.

 

[Chessie]

Theme pantser. I like that.

Can we trade the word "pantsing" for "freestyle"? It sounds so much better.

"I freestyle my novels," Chessie said.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Freestyling, sounds like I might break my leg... or worse.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

So many posts...It's taken me a while to reply because reading all this stuff looked daunting. Lol.

My initial reaction to this question was "Uhm. I have no idea," My WIP was basically brainstormed in a day and a half and made up as i went. I did veeeeery little initial planning (I was desperate for something to write). So i wasn't following a method or anything; i don't really have one figured out. So, i didn't know how to answer this question. But when I thought about it...

Character. Character definitely. The plot, theme and setting developed as I wrote, guided by the characters. The first thing I did was write down a list of ideas I liked--a lot of it was stuff that had stuck in my head from the random junk I was writing while blocked at the beginning of this year, that I wanted to make into something more. Soon I had four main characters figured out and named, and they haven't really changed since my initial brainstorming. (Even though everything else has.)

And now my deficiencies in character motivation (the things i failed to figure out or clearly define) are screwing me up. So I suppose this is a clearly character-foundationed story.

edit: It's getting more and more interesting thinking about this because I realize that at the beginning i had no idea what I was writing. The tone did a complete 180-degree turn halfway through. (It started out as kind of a fun, not-quite-serious story, and now it's turned out MUCH darker.) Heck, I knew NOTHING about the main plot! I just had a concept. And I started writing. Kept writing. I figured out so much on the fly, it took a lot of turns I didn't expect. The theme completely took me by surprise, but it came directly out of the character, so...

So, yes, definitely freestyled.

 

[ThinkerX]

My ideas, drawn from other authors, bits of history, religion, or logical issues, tend to germinate for a long while before combining and mutating into a story concept.

Once a 'go' decision is made, then...

I simply start writing (with the shorter works). No real outline, though I'll often have a floating list of character and place names at the very start or finish of the tale, along with an occasional note.

With the longer pieces, I put together an outline of sorts, maybe three or four pages, organized by chapter, along with a character list, place names, and a few other 'musts.' These list the scenes that occur in that chapter, which I think of as 'movie clips.' Usually, I'll end up redoing the outline two or three times over the course of the story. Sometimes, usually for background or setting type stuff, I'll have to dig into my decades old descriptions.

 

[Miskatonic]

I have to decide on the MC first and foremost. Then the type of world they are put into. Then I decide what the underlying theme/concept is and what the MC has to overcome in order for the story to be resolved.