what to think about before you start writing

SpAm · Dec 12, 2005

Ok when u want to write a new book

1) what do u think about before u start writing???...like plot or what?

2) when u finish your book/novel how do you get it to look like a book?..like when u finish do u bring the regular printed papers to a publisher and they make it look like that or what..?

3) could a 16 year old get published and her/his books out in a store...would the take the 16 year old fareal?

RubyRoo · Dec 12, 2005

Lots of teens get published. I have met the author of the LionBoy trilogy who is like 10 and really nice and she got published. I'm 13 so getting published is even hardere for me...but I think the older you ge the more people take you seriously.

James D. Macdonald · Dec 12, 2005

SpAm said:
Ok when u want to write a new book

1) what do u think about before u start writing???...like plot or what?

I think about the ending, and about the characters. Other authors do other things ... there isn't a right answer to this question.

2) when u finish your book/novel how do you get it to look like a book?..like when u finish do u bring the regular printed papers to a publisher and they make it look like that or what..?

Print it out in standard manuscript format. Most of the places that can actually get books into stores take printed pages rather than electronic files for submissions. Follow the publishers' guidelines explicitly.

3) could a 16 year old get published and her/his books out in a store...would the take the 16 year old fareal?

Yes. Your age is irrelevant. All that matters is the manuscript.

You might want to find three books, and take them to heart:

Chicago Manual of Style (yes, I know that's the 14th edition, not the 15th)
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The Elements of Style

You might also consider Fowler's Modern English Usage (NOT the recent revision!) and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

Now, go over to the Online Writing Lab at Perdue.

Best of luck.

DamaNegra · Dec 12, 2005

1) When I start writing a novel I usually have a vague idea for a story. Endings give me the worst headaches imaginable, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out.

2) Ditto on the standard manuscript thing

3) Although age doesn't matter, experience surely counts. I would advise to wait a little before submitting, gather experience and edit your manuscript as many times as you want. After all, you are still young and you still have time. However, if you think your manuscript is ready, go for it.

AdamH · Dec 12, 2005

1) This answer is different for everyone and all of them are correct. It all depends on what works for you. What I think about is a general plot line and a potential end. It's really rare that I actually get to the end I originally started thinking about. Nine times out of ten, I like the new ending better.

2) I think Uncle James pretty much put it in a nice concise nutshell for you. Check out Writer's Market at your local bookstore. It'll give you what each publisher is looking for and how to submit to regular publishers. Then there's places you can self-publish like Lulu.com. Self publishing costs money. So instead of a publisher accepting your manuscript, you pay these companies something and they'll make your story into a book.

3) Without a doubt a 16 year old could do it. A great story can be written by anyone at any age. That's all it takes.

loquax · Dec 12, 2005

The author of LionBoy was that girl's mum. The girl came up with the story. It's a publicity stunt, even if they didn't mean it to be (like a one Mr Paolini)

But seeing as it's fashionable to have young authors, I think they're in more of a chance now than ever before. Just don't be disappointed if you get more attention than your novel (IMO authors should be silent masters of mystery)

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 12, 2005

what do u think about before u start writing???...like plot or what?

I usually don't think about anything. I type the first sentence and then just keep going. Sometimes it turns into something, more often it turns into a dead end, but as far as plotting or creating a synopsis, I don't do any of that.

RubyRoo · Dec 12, 2005

loquax said:
The author of LionBoy was that girl's mum. The girl came up with the story. It's a publicity stunt, even if they didn't mean it to be (like a one Mr Paolini)

But seeing as it's fashionable to have young authors, I think they're in more of a chance now than ever before. Just don't be disappointed if you get more attention than your novel (IMO authors should be silent masters of mystery)

She actually dictated her mum some of the story to write, but you can tell she didnt write it herself.

Linda Adams · Dec 12, 2005

SpAm said:
Ok when u want to write a new book

1) what do u think about before u start writing???...like plot or what?

For my genre, Thriller, the first thing I have to come up with is the Big Motive--the thing that drives the bad guy into doing all the bad things he does. For Thriller, the stakes have to be really high to make all the mayhem that follows worth it.

Sage · Dec 12, 2005

I tend to know where I'm going when I start a novel. I don't outline it like some people do, but I generally have a plan. I brainstorm with my friend over IM & save those messages so that if I don't revisit a scene that I told her about for a long time, I still have a record of what I was planning. Then I can use it or discard the idea as needed (tho sometimes she'll get confused when I talk to her later, & she'll be like "well, what about blah blah?" & I have to explain that I chose to get rid of "blah blah"). Scenes & characters refuse to leave me alone & bug me at work when it's slow & at night when I'm trying to fall asleep, so that I sometimes have whole scenes planned out (though nothing comes out exactly when I get around to typing it, unless I absolutely adored a way something was put & made myself memorize it).

On the other hand, then I find that all that planning makes me feel so involved in the story that I stress over every criticism (tho I use them). Whereas, the one novel I wrote w/ no plan for National Novel Writing Month, I have been very open to criticism (& somehow ended up w/ less... I don't know how that worked

)

I think someone had just asked about the publishing at 16 thing, & the overall concensus seemed to be that the biggest problem you'd have is that your parents will have to co-sign the contract with you. Your queries should not mention your age, & if it is a good novel, by the time your age is revealed, it won't matter to the publisher (except maybe as a marketing tool).

Stevi Cotton · Dec 12, 2005

RubyRoo said:
Lots of teens get published. I have met the author of the LionBoy trilogy who is like 10 and really nice and she got published. I'm 13 so getting published is even hardere for me...but I think the older you ge the more people take you seriously.

Dude, I'm 13 and hope to publish my book soon. It's awesome to meet another 13 yr old that writes!

ChaosTitan · Dec 12, 2005

For me, novel ideas tend to percolate for a while before I ever begin the manuscript. I almost always begin with a character (or two, or five), and then the plot comes from how those characters interact. Once I know who is in the book, I start keeping notes about possible scenes, bits of dialogue. I spend days, even weeks, living with these characters and ideas in my head, getting to know them.

I do outline before I begin writing, and it works for me. I like to know where the story is going to end up, where the charcters will be, who will have changed and why. Things will always change as I'm writing. Scenes move, timeframes are altered, characters are eliminated or divided up. I learn new things about the characters as I go, often information I didn't realize I needed to know about them (just ask my roommate/beta reader, I'm always going "guess what I just realized?"

).

-Kelly the Chaos Titan

Jamesaritchie · Dec 13, 2005

Thinking

I think about the opening scene, the opening situation, what kind of mess I'm going to drop my protagonist in. For me, the rest of the novel grows from this scene, so I think about it quite a bit. . .but I usually do my thinking as I'm writing it.

what to think about before you start writing

SpAm

RubyRoo

The pretzel in an egg!

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

DamaNegra

Mexican on the loose!

AdamH

Pumped Up Kicks

loquax

I verb nouns adverbly

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

RubyRoo

The pretzel in an egg!

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

Stevi Cotton

ChaosTitan

Around

Jamesaritchie