OR Becoming a Writer
This is a simple step but one that people seem to skip over.
 |
| This is me about the time I started to write. I'm lecturing Hubs on my future as a writer and a doctor. He snapped the pic to anoy me. nice right? I'm NOT under the influence of narcotics or anything else mind altering. Jeesh. |
Here's a bit of an intro first. I've been writing for a handful of years now and have been approached by others, whether friends or acquaintances, who ask me how to go about writing. They say they have the "best idea ever for a book", but aren't sure where to go from there.
I'm going to cover the BASICS. The absolute basics for starting to write. I'll post something every Wednesday that will take you closer and closer to being a writer and then, if you desire, one day published. But the main point is, not everyone wants to be pub'd. Some just want to know how to write down the stories in their heads.
So let's get started.
First of all, you say you have an AWESOME-kill-you-now-you're-gonna-be-one-rich -------- idea, right? The best idea, EVER! Yeah, I've had those. But what about it? Do you dream about it? Think about it? Create Sims worlds devoted to it? Do you know who the actor and actress would be (can't be you!)? Did you draw up the cover you know will make it big?
Well, let's hear it. What's your book idea?
*Crickets*.
What? You don't know how to explain it? You just want to write about it?
EEEEEHHHHHH, no.
I don't care if you will eventually define yourself as a *pantser or a *plotter, you need to be able to write down a short little paragraph with the essentials of your idea. It doesn't have to be perfect, no one expects it to be. But write it down so you can see the conceptualization of your end-all-be-all story idea.
Tell what, who, when, how, where and what stands in the way of them achieving their goal.
Like this:
Bob and Martha are playing poker one Saturday night in a small town outside of Portland, Oregon. An alien attacks and the married couple are separated. Bob must decide if he is really all for gun control or if he wants to save his wife instead. Is her pot roast really worth it?
Okay, that is the CRAPPIEST example ever, but here are a few points we can learn from it (besides the obvious).
- It's just the bones of the bones of the bones of the idea. Nothing fancy.
- You have the basics there. That's all you need to get started.
- Hey, this one was in complete sentences, not all of mine are.
- And if it was my pot roast, it would be worth it!
So let's say you have that summary complete. (I use the term summary LOOSELY, people). And you want to start writing. Great!
But what does Bob look like? Smell like? How about Martha? Who's POV (point of view) are you telling this from? Are you going third person (she, he, they), second person (you) or first person (I, me, we)? How about setting? Are they rich? Are they at a park, mall, home, office? What's their backstory?
If you've never written a story longer than 500 words (which is how we measure our book lengths, not by pages - word count), than you should start outlining your characters and where you see the story going. This will help cultivate the world you're trying to build.
By the way, 500 words is about 2 pages of double-spaced text - give or take.
Anyone want to throw out a trial summary for others to see as an example? I did and it looked like vomit on the screen lol. You can't do worse than me. Stay tuned for next week whe I cover tips on actually sitting down and writing!
