The Birth of a Novel

CBumpkin · Jun 3, 2008

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I haven't seen any conversations on this lately and, since I'm new, thought I would throw a poll out there to ask:

How do your novels come about? What USUALLY sparks your imagination the most to say, "That would make a great story!" Is it a character that you come up with and then put in an interesting situation? Or is it usually the situation that intrigues you and you write around that idea? Does a great title come to your mind and cause you to put fingers to the keyboard? What usually gets YOU in front of the monitor to begin a new novel?

Looking forward to reading your answers. If your choice isn't listed, go ahead and post what does it for you!

James81 · Jun 3, 2008

I'm supposing the last one.

My stories are always based on ideas. And my ideas are usually "what if" situations where I try to put a new spin on an old theme.

Mr Flibble · Jun 3, 2008

Characters, always. Then I decide what would screw them up worst, and bingo -- plot.

JoNightshade · Jun 3, 2008

IdiotsRUs said:
Characters, always. Then I decide what would screw them up worst, and bingo -- plot.

Ditto.

Diana W. · Jun 3, 2008

Well, for the story I'm writing now it's a theme that has been going round in my head for a few years now, the sort of "wouldn't it be cool if....'" kind of thing. So I created the characters for that.
For future novels...who knows?

slcboston · Jun 3, 2008

Umm, why isn't this multiple choice?

Some days it's characters, some days it's scenes... NEVER a lesson if I can help it, though.

melaniehoo · Jun 3, 2008

My current wip started when an idea for a character and the first scene came to me already written out, like a movie.

DamaNegra · Jun 3, 2008

I think that, more than characters, its lessons that people learn (or refuse to) that motivate me. So I look into real life people and turn them into characters.

For my current novel, I had this perfect character: hypocrite, narcissistic, superiority complex, more money than she could handle, etc. She's so into herself she thinks she can single-handedly change the world, and then she realizes that, of course, she can't. Her biased point of view is a result of a sheltered life, so she can't even comprehend the problems she's trying to fix. Hmmm... that's bound to be interesting.

Novel material!

Danger Jane · Jun 3, 2008

I said characters, although I'm not sure that's exactly it. My stories start out as feelings, and those feelings usually blossom into characters who happen to fit perfectly into a story I've been thinking about lately.

Titles often seem to pop out of nowhere to me, but usually they come with the story or a little afterward.

Diana W. · Jun 3, 2008

What a great thread. Gives us an insight into how everyone works

Zodiea · Jun 3, 2008

I keep looking at the list, and I can't click just one button. At one point or another, I've done most, not one more than the others. If at gunpoint I'd choose 'a great character', but often other elements come first before I change it up and make it character driven.

My current is based off a title (usually a bad idea to do often, for me at least.) Other ideas are based off my hunger to break stereotypes in writing (not crazy challenges, more parody-like), a character based off of one of my interests (just one!), and sometimes I enter a random keyword in an image search and get inspired by a certain result (usually related to a 'what if?' question.)

CBumpkin · Jun 3, 2008

slcboston said:
Umm, why isn't this multiple choice?

Some days it's characters, some days it's scenes... NEVER a lesson if I can help it, though.

I didn't make this a multiple answer poll on purpose (which is why I said USUALLY). I wanted to see which ONE answer receives the most votes in comparison to the rest, and to get an idea of how popular each aspect is with other writers.

Manderley · Jun 3, 2008

I don't have a USUALLY-answer for you. I'm working on my fourth (unpublished) novel, and they have all had different conceptions:
1) A lesson or theme
2) A situation
3) A great character
4) A setting (which is not an option on your list, I noticed)

As for short stories, they used to come fully formed, so it's hard to say what brought them into being.

CBumpkin · Jun 3, 2008

Here's an alternative way to look at your answer for this poll, for those who may not have a USUAL. When you want to begin writing a new story, what's the first one of these aspects that you USUALLY think about? What kind of protagonist or antagonist you want? What situation you want to write about? etc.,

Metaphor · Jun 3, 2008

I put situation, but TBH, I was torn between action and situation. They're kind of similar.

Often, my ideas come from 'Imagine if..."s. Like for my current WIP, 'Imagine if a teenaged girl got pregnant and that actually brought her closer to the father rather than him running off...' I was thinking that, and I'm like, hang on. That's just begging me to turn it into a story. It evolved, sure, but it was all sparked by that one 'what if.'

I guess the option you pick depends a bit on if your novel is character-driven or plot-driven...

maestrowork · Jun 3, 2008

Themes and premise -- what is the story going to be about? Then come the characters. I usually have situations (inciting incidents) that relate to the themes and premise, but the plot is driven by the characters.

So in summary:

1. Themes/premise to frame the entire story I want to write
2. Characters to define the players -- why would the readers care?
3. An inciting incident to get the ball rolling

Sassee · Jun 3, 2008

It's usually character for me, joined simultaneously or shortly thereafter by a situation. Generally I get an idea for a great character in my head and think up the story that goes along with the character -- what made him/her into the person they are, or what's happening to them currently, or whatever.

heyjude · Jun 3, 2008

For me it's always a character. The plot usually flows from their own weaknesses and mistakes.

Kalyke · Jun 3, 2008

I always work with character, which moves into his or her "world." Often the last thing I come up with is a plot. Isn't that strange?

sunandshadow · Jun 3, 2008

I have more or less the same cast of characters that I just reincarnate for different stories, so the inspiration for a new story is generally a new piece of worldbuilding I think would help get at new angles of the characters' personalities and emotions.

TrickyFiction · Jun 3, 2008

Usually, it's a character or scene I find interesting. They'll come out of weird dreams or random writing exercises. Then, I'll set out to write a short story and end with a novel. My short stories rarely stay short, but it's less intimidating to start out thinking, this will be a short story.

Kitty Pryde · Jun 3, 2008

For me I'd say it's a situation that sparks my interest and develops into a story. Situation + inspiration falls out of the sky and hits me upside the head saying "write about it!" my current WIP I'm editing on now was sparked by a little girl in a lift line at a ski resort making a comment about my (adaptive ski school) student that i didn't quite hear. i woke up the next morning with the book in my head, thinking, no one has written this book yet, I'd better do it!

My goal is to be able to write something starting with an intriguing character, but characters are my weak point right now.

tehuti88 · Jun 3, 2008

I can't give only one answer. I never seem to come up with novel/story ideas based on just a character, a scene, an idea, or whatever...it's just a bunch of combined factors that come together over time. This might be because I write in series stories, meaning that after one ends, another one will follow. So maybe my novels/stories are born because there has to be something to follow what came before them? Don't ask me where the very first ones came from, though, because then I would go on forever.

Edited to add:

"Here's an alternative way to look at your answer for this poll, for those who may not have a USUAL. When you want to begin writing a new story, what's the first one of these aspects that you USUALLY think about? What kind of protagonist or antagonist you want? What situation you want to write about? etc.,"

Again, seeing as I write in series (which use the same characters and settings), what I work with is already there from the start. So when I start writing a new story in these cases, I guess the first thing would be the situation--what situation are these characters and setting going to be in for the next story in the series?

Mumut · Jun 3, 2008

My idea for my first published novel came a long time ago when I discovered that Stonehenge is not necessarily a subset of what it looked like thousands of years ago. If you look at a picture of the ruins painted by John Constable, you'll see what it looked like in 1835. The Victorians were very tidy people and set up the stones the way they thought was right.

I have a bad habit of always asking 'what if?'. I started to imagine what could happen if they got it wrong. And so the story idea started. A lot of my work germinates this way.

t0neg0d · Jun 3, 2008

Oddly enough, I usually have no idea what I am going to write until I sit down to begin.

I pick a voice, usually tied to the mood I am in, start writing and see what happens. Usually, the voice will speak to me (louder than the others that make me bury the bodies out in the back yard) and a story will form out of it. Once the story begin, I usually delve into creating histories, legend, lore and any other tidbit I might pull from as I write on. After a certain point, the story has built in the ol' noggin and I tend to outline it in its entirety.

Then comes the painful rework of what I have so far, followed by all the other crap that everyone else has to do as well. Not sure if this is unique, but it is ALWAYS the voice first, story second until they naturally reverse roles.

The Birth of a Novel

What USUALLY gives you the motivation to begin a new story?

A great character.

A title you can't let go of.

The perfect beginning scene.

An end that no one could resist.

A lesson or theme.

An action, such as murder, a vacation or getting a dream job.

A situation, like a grandmother who wins the lottery on her deathbed.

I can do this...

Great Scott Member

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

has finally arrived

I'm evolving

Pasture-ized

And thus we begin the edits

Mexican on the loose!

I'm evolving

I can do this...

Slowly does it.

I can do this...

twiftie

Fear the Death Ray

Momma Wolf

Making my own sunshine

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Who?

i luv you giant bear statue

Mackinac Island Fanatic

Well begun is half done...