I'm writing a novel. I need help coming up with a structure, guideline, and developing a plotline.?

Question

I've got ideas but I can't seem to make them go together how I want. I think that by getting some sort of structure to my thoughts I can do a better job at figuring out what ideas need work on going with the flow along with an easier method of figuring out the entire story. I still don't really have a plot, even.

Answer 1

The first thing you need to do is solidify exactly what you want to say. I'm not talking about plot or characters, I'm talking about ideas, about expression. What matters to you? What do you want to say to the world?

It doesn't have to be original, it doesn't have to be correct, it may be as simple as "love is good", but you've got to figure out what the writer inside you is screaming at you to create. You may have several different things you desperately want to convey, and that's fine - so long as you have one good starting point.

The second thing you need to do is what Timothy Findley calls "killing off your darlings". In other words, some ideas - although you love them, and they're all fleshed out - just won't work with the big picture. You've got to chop them out, even though it hurts.

Maybe later in the process you'll see how one fits back in like a puzzle piece, but until then, forget about the parts that don't mesh. They'll only hold you back as you try to drag them along.

The third thing you need to do is embrace Csikszentmihalyi. What do I mean by this? Csikszentmihalyi is a psychologist who developed the idea of "flow"; he said that when the work isn't too challenging or too easy, and it's enjoyable to you, you'll fall into that intense focus in which time passes (and dinners are skipped) and you're still plugging away calmly, totally oblivious.

If you worry too much about structure and planning, you'll end up with a homework assignment on your hands and lose sight of the love of just writing. I find that if you just start with two characters and have them interact - physically, for example, catching each other's eye on a bus - or in conversation, you can slowly start to see their identities and lives rolling out around them.

The fourth thing to do is to fall in love with your characters. Plot is overrated. If you want plot to be a big deal, you'd better be writing a murder mystery, a Harlequin romance, or hard science fiction. Otherwise, don't get too preoccupied crafting a storyline. Yes, things have to happen, yes, things have to develop, yes, things have to change and screw up and unfold, but these things should be your *characters*, so keep your eyes on them.

It's so important to know those characters inside out. In your real life, when presented with a situation, you should know how any one of your characters would react if they were in your place. If one of your characters bores you or simply doesn't capture you, scrap him or her.

The fifth thing to do is network. You can't really collaborate with other novice writers until you've got a grounding, or at least a chapter, so once you've worked on the above stuff, it's time to find others to help hash you through. These people aren't necessarily the good writers; you're looking for the good readers. You want to find someone reads avidly and dabbles into different genres, who can tell you exactly where a writer went wrong in a certain book, and can praise that book's merits too.

This person will be able to tell you, no-nonsense, what isn't working and what is - sometimes just realizing that you disagree with them can help you determine your book's development.

The sixth thing to do is work. If you spend more time talking or musing about your book than you do sitting down, gritting your teeth, and typing, you won't get anywhere, because you like the *idea* of writing a book more than like *writing the book*. And liking the idea of anything more than the thing itself, is never enough.

So make sure you devote a lot of time to actually writing - and many writers do find that talking too much about their working manuscripts does kill the magic a little, so don't go overboard telling everyone about your awesome upcoming novel - it's begging to be jinxed via a swift and brutal writer's block.

The writer's path is a weary and exasperating one, and I hope you end up loving it as much as other writers do.

Check out "On Writing" by Stephen King. It helped a bit.

Answer 2

Have you taken any writing courses? You could begin with an outline. Then develop it from there. A bunch of index cards might be helpful. You can jot down ideas to capture the flow of the story and then move the cards around to see what order works best. Maybe you should start with some short stories, for practice. A novel goes on, and on, and you might get burned out if you don't learn more about the development of a story.

Answer 3

Start writing down your ideas in a bulleted list.

Once they're all out in front of you, keep coming up with ideas until something in your head clicks. The more ambitious route would be to create a seperate outline for all of them, denoting the steps between the beginning, climax and endpoint. It also helps if you just list as many ideas as you can off the ying-yang (even silly ones) and just keep looking through them.

Write daily. If you don't write daily write at least make sure you constantly write, even if it isn't your story. One of the best things to do when you aren't sure what to write is to go outside and take a walk. It loosens your mind somewhat, especially if you aren't focusing on the problem, and it can be inspiring for scene settings or whatnot.

As an example of that, New York City gave me a great basis for a metropolis in story set in the future. But Costa Rica gave me an excellent setting for a futuristic fallen empire. It all depends on surroundings and what you can create out of it.

If you need a visual aid that keeps your thoughts moving along the way they should, find a large peice of paper and make a web/tree/whatever you want to call it. Put your general idea/starting point in the center and branch ideas from it. Then branch more ideas off of those. This can give you more than one situation in your story with which to work.

Ex.
Story idea: fighting scene
|
monster
|
knight/warrior/elf/whateveer
etc. etc

This can also be helpful when you have writers block. Write down the source of your problem, and then branch out from it.

I hope this is helpful.

Answer 4

Yo, baby girl. Why don't you hit up 'Writing.com'. You'll get the chance to work with novice writers as well as some professional ones. It is a fun place to get that edge you need. They use a scoring system that will help you become wayyyy better than you thought imagineable. Well? What are you waiting for? Your destiny awaits.

Aiight, boo

Answer 5

You need a ghostwriter. Writing a novel is just that----WRITING. Rather than aspire to write a novel perhaps you may want to start a little smaller.................maybe compose a sentence, for god's sake!

Answer 6

Then you need to say I want to write a novel. You are asking others to do the work for you.

Answer 7

Just let it all go...you're stressing yourself into writer's block. If you create interesting characters, and have some starting point, you can let the characters "do" whatever they want to do, and cut out what doesn't work later.

Answer 8

I would reccomend some writing books, because they really do help. Also, writing sites are fantastic!

Here are a few:
www.writing.com (my username is addie28)
www.youngwriterssociety.com (my username is Addie)
www.fanfiction.net (I can't remember my username on that one!)
www.fictionpress.com

Answer 9

You mean you want us to write it for you.