What did you start writing for ur novel & how found ur plot!?

Question

I want to start my own novel, but I dont really have a specific plot /genre. I want to write sometihng in "literary fiction". I am having trouble with starting to write my first draft since I am totally new to this land. If you've wanted to write a novel, tell me, about what? How you were planning to play with characters and the main story line. I just need a simple idea/.motivation to begin with. Right now, everything seems so huge.

I'm 20, married, Indian, computer science student.

Answer 1

Write what you know.

Find some inspiration.

Read more books.

And, finally. Start with a good sentence. The rest will come.

Answer 2

It sounds like you are trying to learn to ride a horse when all you own is a saddle and no horse. You haven't grasped any concept to write about yet, which is where the process must begin. Without an idea, there is no story.

You talk about being new to this land. I assume that is America. You also mention being a student which I assume means college. Most American colleges - if not all - require two semesters of English Comp as part of their core curriculum. Have you taken them yet? Not only do those classes help you to learn how to write competent papers, they also can teach you how to write. Ask a professor for some mentoring. I mentored many when I was in college.

You are a very busy person. Married, student ... new country ... It sounds like you haven't had much time for observation. You need that. Look around you. What do you see? Keep a black and white marble notebook and write your thoughts in it. Fill it. Observe people every chance you get and make notes. Read the newspapers - clip out interesting stories and paste them into your notebook. Look for inspiration anywhere you can.

Then the old adage "write about what you know" comes into play. Perhaps your story is about adjusting to a new country as a very young married person. Add some conflicts. Maybe American women don't behave the way you are accustomed to. Maybe you are treated differently than you expected.

When your notebook is filled, sit down with it and circle some interesting thoughts that could possible lend themselves to short stories. Try to connect some of your thoughts into one story. Write a lot of short stories - even bits of stories. Sooner or later, something will cry out to you to become a longer work. Observe people and try to describe them in your journal. They may become characters later on.

I doubt anyone sits down for the first time and writes a novel. Start with poetry, short stories, commentaries, narration... Eventually you will come up with some deeper more complex ideas.

Lastly to borrow from Stephen King, you cannot be a great writer without being a great reader. Do you read a lot? Make notes in your journal about the things you read. Wrote about things you loved - write about things you hated too. I recommend the book The Novelist. It is a good novel about a woman author teaching a class in college. During the semester she writes a novel for the class while describing the steps she uses along the way. It is a good story and a good teaching and learning tool as well. Try it.

Good luck. Don't rush it. Adjust to your situation, but take notes along the way. The novel will come when it's ready. Pax- C

Answer 3

I write contemporary romances, or I'm trying to lol. Basically I took an idea that I loved and figured out a way to make it different (every idea in the romance genre has been done 20 times over) and more modern. I liked the idea of when you got compromised back in the old days and had to get married, but I wondered if I could figure out a way to make that happen in today's world. Then I went from there.

Take something you love to read about and put a new spin on it, thats how I started.

Answer 4

Scetch the details of your main and potential characters - start with 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 new 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

I listen to music a lot, and get ideas through that. Sometimes a phrase or the meaning of a song (if it's deep enough to have a meaning) gives me ideas. Then it is my official song for that story. Whenever i have writers block, i listen to the song until i get so sick of it, I gotta rip off my head phones and write SOMETHING just to get it out of my head. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the story, and i delete it and really work on the story then. Or it might just be bad writing. It's always worked for me to start or to get rid of writers block. Then no matter how good the quality is, i have something to start of. It works for me, maybe not for anyone else, but you could give it a try. Good luck!

Answer 6

I just start taking random notes on what I was writing about. Don't force yourself to come up w/a plat and characters, you won't be thinking about it, and they'll just kind of pop into ur head...

Answer 7

I just take my ideas from current and world events and start fashioning a plot storyline from that.