McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Just starting... again

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meg_evonne:
and ditto that.  Also Tim Powers doesn't start anything until he's found, "20 things too cool not to use" while doing his research. He was on the same panels I mentioned before! :-)

Starbeam:

--- Quote from: meg_evonne on August 03, 2009, 08:52:01 PM ---I agree with above.  If the idea of an outline sends terror through your gut, try JB's ....

Big Ass poster board (try the stand up folding monster)  and draw a big ass curve on it.  Buy some colored post it notes... and start plastering scene ideas along the arch.  Use different colors for the sub-story archs (arcs?).  You can move them all around as you fill in the blanks. 

Below the arc, I stick additional post its for each character as I build them, starting with their physical characteristics, move on to their quirks, their flaws, their hopes, their dreams, their relationships with other characters...

Over the top of it, I'll put any wild ass idea that I would like to use in that arc somewhere.

Only problem?  This like eats up your table forever---.  Good point--you can't ignore the honking thing and you've no room to eat anymore so you lose weight.  Bad point--you really can get ticked off lugging it all over the place.  so I shifted to Xcel charts and color code it, now.



--- End quote ---

My b/f's mom made me an arc thingie.  Big bulletin board in the middle, space on the sides and top for the arc.  Backed with plywood, or something similar, with the foam stuff like from science fair exhibits, and covered with cork.  Took a couple tries to get it right cause just the cork on the plywood wasn't enough for the pushpins to go through.  At some point I plan on taking a picture, but lots of other stuff to get done first.

belial.1980:

Meg and Starbeam turned me on to the following podcast: http://www.writingexcuses.com/ (Thank you guys!)

It's full of good advice. And it's pretty entertaining too. Three guys who're relatively new authors give advice in 15 minute episodes to aspiring writers. You should check it out.

LizW65:

--- Quote from: neurovore on August 03, 2009, 08:58:55 PM ---Tim Powers, bestselling fantasy author and winner of major awards, does not write a book until he has an outline down to what information is exchanged in every conversation through the whole book.

--- End quote ---

Huh.  Pretty damn close to what I do.

Starbeam:
My normal inclination is to get an idea, start writing, and when I get to a point that everything coming out is pretty bad, I start world/character/plot building.  With that done, I'd usually go back and start rewriting from the beginning, and sort of keep doing that when new stuff pops up or changes.  There aren't always too many changes doing this, but new scenes, better dialogue, etc.  It sounds similar to what Patricia Briggs said she does, and from the little bit I've read of "The History of Lord of the Rings," Tolkien did this kind of thing a huge amount.  Though his changes were really big ones from one draft to the next.

I've yet to actually finish anything that's not considered flash fiction, so I'm attempting to write linearly using the story arc.  And no going back to change anything until I get to the end. Currently, that is stuck while I'm reading a research-ey type book.

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