As a child I told outlandish stories either completely pulled from my imagination or exaggeration of actual events in my childhood. My Best Man at my wedding can remember back when I was young and would start to tell him a story when he would interrupt me to ask if this was, “an old story or a new one”.
Recently, I started thinking about actually writing down thoughts that I have had for stories. Since college I have wanted to write a book some time in my life. I decided that there is no time like the present. I have found that this feat is much more daunting than I had originally realized. It is easy to watch a movie and read a book and criticize what you would have done differently to make the book or movie better in your mind. But what about coming up with an original thought? That may not prove to be the most difficult part of writing. What proves to be more difficult is the plot and dialogue…not to mention character development. I have about six ideas right now. I have basic plot outlines, but getting it down on paper is proving difficult if not impossible.
Where do I start? How do I draw out my thoughts? How do I add twists and turns? I have noticed that I tend to think of the big picture too much and not an individual scene or sequence of events. I have read that once you develop a character you can start having conversations with these character in your head to get an idea of what it would do given a particular situation. What I have read basically tells me to throw myself into the world that my story would take place in and understand that this is YOUR world not the REAL world.
As for now I will struggle with my ideas and continue to keep a journal of my thoughts. Hopefully writing will start to come as naturally to me now as story telling did for me as a child.
Go for it, Robb! Creating anything is better than creating nothing. There are very, very few exceptions to that rule.
Personally, I think there are a few simple keys to good writing (although I’m no professional, and some really great authors break these rules). The first rule I use: write as little as possible. Only write things that either give useful, vivid color to the world you’re creating or further the plot. Let the action move quickly and don’t bore people.
The other rule is this: the crazier the premise, the easier it is to write a great book. If your world feels normal and your characters feel normal, the book will be really boring. That’s just my taste in writing though. This is what the Harry Potter series has going for it. It’s a crazy premise based on a total lack of reality.
Josh, wouldn’t you agree that the crazier a premise is the more readers will thirst for more detail and information? I would say J.K. Rowling seems to get away with this. I started reading a few books on the subject of writing the first novel. It seems as though my mind starts bursting with ideas as I read through them, which leaves me scrampling for paper and a pen, note to mention keeps me from finishing the books. I plan to keep reading these books and possibly finish them before I have surgery this year. I then plan to reread the books after surgery, considering I will have about 4 weeks and possibly more before I can go back to work. It would be nice to have a solid start by then. I would say that I have some kind of start already. With six ideas on paper with nearly 50 pages of random thoughts makes for something.
To me, it will not matter if anyone ever reads a book I may write, only that I have written it and can see it on my bookshelf.