how to start a novel or short story?

Question

how long should the whole story be? I woud like to do this for my senior project, no mean and off subject comments.

Answer 1

A short story is generally less than 45 pages.
A novelette has a "word count between 7,500 and 17,500, or 45–85 pages."
A novella generally has a "word count between 17,500 and 40,000 or 60 to 130 pages."
A novel is anything longer than 130 pages usually.

First thing you need to do to start writing any of these three selections is to brainstorm. Come up with a bunch of plot ideas of what could happen in the book. Pick one you really like and come up with
-characters,
-some events you want to happen in the story,
-the climax or the major turning point in the story
- The resolution or when things get resolved.
- And just some general stuff like that

Also, you could do what I do and just go along as you write; don't really plan stuff out, maybe just come up with a few main characters and what the general plot of the story is.
It's not really the best way to write since I find myself often contradiction what I had written before but I like it and it lets me more creative.

Hope this helps and good luck!
(I've added some links below that may help you plan out your story and get some ideas)

Answer 2

Go to http://www.editred.com and read some short stories to get an idea of what people write about and the length of the stories. You might even want to join (it's free) and then you can workshop your story there and get advice and feedback from other writers.

Writing a novel is a huge undertaking. Writing short stories is easier and much more fun!

Answer 3

Start the story straight away. If necessary do the chapters in order 2, 1, 3, 4, 5... (although don't number them like that). First-time novels are usually 80,000 - 100,000 words, which is not long.

Answer 4

Determining what exactly separates a short story from longer fictional formats is problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to be read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe's essay "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846). Other definitions place the maximum word length at 7,500 words. In contemporary usage, the term short story most often refers to a work of fiction no longer than 20,000 words and no shorter than 1,000.

Here's a suggestion on how to being:

Scetch details of your main characters - looks, mannerisms, background, etc. Write the details down - or even draw them if you are a visual person.

Then take your main character or characters and imagine them in some odd/out of the ordinary (out of your current work's context) places or scenarios – anything goes! Write down ideas on what would have to happen to your type of character or how they would react to the scenario you placed them in.

This may seem futile, but it will help you flesh out your characters further and give you insight into what you may want to happen to this type of character in a potential story. You may even come up with multiple story lines and can see if one of them just seems to be the best or easiest to continue

Strong well-crafted main characters can inspire readers to love your story as well as drive you to write a great story for
these imagined beings to be in! :-)

This should get you going. Then you may want to write an outline of you story (a kind of synopsis), including the ending. I have heard that John Irving writes his endings first, down to the last line, and works backwards. The idea of the outline is to give you goals as you proceed. Writing the ending first may give you the "spark" you seek - and also give you something to strive for.

Answer 5

Once there was this lady that lived outside of town, about 20 mile or so, on a road that not very many people traveled on, so she didn't see very many people, and the ones she did see she hide from, she had been by herself for so long that she was afraid to talk to any of them, so she just stayed in her house and watched them from her upstairs window, hoping that they never saw her watching them as they went by.