Concept is there, but all in my head...

Just write, I think I don't know why I usually start with scenes, but that's how I jump in. The first scene that calls to me, order doesn't matter to me at that point. I think of characterization at first on the fly through my favorite first scenes. Of course, I might have to change things later, but that's how I jump in, anyway

Have fun!

For me, my basic pre-book creative session goes like this:

1. Get idea, figure out the who, the what and the why. Who is the hero, what problem do they face, why do they need to solve it?

2. Do basic world building to understand where this person lives and what social, cultural, and environmental problems I can use to mess up their life.

3. Pick other characters that fit into this problem and this world.

4. Create six to eight major turning points in the story between "gee, I have a problem" and "Now my problem is fixed." That gives me a basic framework of the story to guide me.

5. Write a summary of the story based on what I have so far, just brainstorming my way from major point to major point.

6. Break summary into rough chapter outline, with a paragraph per chapter. I concentrate on the "goal - try to get the goal - something keeps them from the goal" structure to keep the plot moving.

7. Start story.

I do think summarising is very useful. I started with chapter summaries, sketching out the main points I wanted to cover in each. Then I started fleshing them out and soon...boom...I was writing. Of course, you do end up changing the later summaries as you develop the earlier ones but that's just part of the process.

Good luck with it.

Start writing.

Some people find it useful to do an outline before you try to write the first draft. An outline is basically a somewhat "clinical" and dry play-by-play of the action that will happen in your story, scene by scene (as described by Danthia).

Once the outline is done and you've tweaked any problems you have with the storyline, you begin writing the first draft.

Don't let yourself get caught up in fiddling around with relatively unimportant bits like planning great details of your setting, making maps, doing detailed character profiles, etc. Those things are just going to stall you and prevent you from doing the real work. Details are important, but they will reveal themselves as you write the story; and you're writing drafts, not a finished product, so you can always go back and change things if you get a brilliant idea after you've begun to write.

I do the actual writing on a computer, but for notes I like a little notebook. I think differently when using my leetle notebook

Whatever works best for you, of course

s4ndm4n said:

thanks everyone for this input! One trivial question. Do you type on paper, on a computer or write with a pen? Just wondering if one medium feels best for flowing ideas? I know for myself with art itself, I do most of the creative work on paper with pencil and the technical work with color and details on computer later on.

Click to expand...

That all depends on what works best for you.

I write my outlines by hand, but type my drafts on a computer.

I don't know for other people, but for me the important place to get going on the page is a character. Always.

I start with paper and then move on to the computer. A try to type up at the end of each day. It helps as you get your first edit done along the way. But that's just me. It's really a case of personal preference.

Computer. My handwriting is terrible and I can't always read my notes. But I carry a pad and pen with me to jot down ideas when they come to me on the go.

Just wanting to put my two cents in here, don't know how far you have gotten. When I start something, I just start writing. Once I get into the "groove" of it all, it seems to start to fall into place. When I get to a certain point, I will stop and start working on "fleshing out" the basic concepts that I've come up with and keep adding to whatever raises questions.

Oh and I usually write it all out by hand on legal pads first before putting it into the computer. The typing out of it all also helps me find spots that need fixing and seems a little more "finalized" as I type.

Good luck to you!

You may want to look at Ywriter. It's a program written by one of our members. You can storyboard your ideas. It should work well for graphic novels.

Me personally, everything I write comes from an idea for an opening scene. I usually have no idea WHO my characters are, WHERE they are, or WHAT their problem is going to be.

Everything I write usually starts from one single sentence. Example from one of my current WIP:

Allie looked out the window at the school of Trigger Fish swimming past.

Seriously? Who the heck is she, and how on earth do fish SWIM past her WINDOW? This is how my story begins. From that point on, I go with the flow, my character's actions directing me on where the story is going, because I certainly don't know. I try to create the world, and let my character interact with it how SHE would. It's almost like reading the book. I only have a vague idea of where it may be going.

And I write on the computer. I find that I cannot keep my concentration while writing longhand. My brain works a lot faster than I can write things out on paper. Typing is much better for me keeping up with my brain. BUT I always print out what I am writing, and read it on paper. I use pen and paper for notes only.