What comes first on a new story of yours?

HourglassMemory · Nov 8, 2007

The theme or the story?
What I mean by this is if what you get in your head first is images and scenes from what you immediately transform into a potential story...or do you start with "A story about growing up" or "Love sees no boundaries".
I seem to always start my stories with images and only later do I start to understand what the story is about.
I seemed to write my main story as a seuqence of scenes which would lead me to more exciting scenes. Only recently did I find a "deeper meaning" to my story.
I think I don't have it all very clear in my head yet. What would you advise, and how does this issue go for you?

Devil Ledbetter · Nov 8, 2007

I start with a character or two and let them interact.

TrickyFiction · Nov 8, 2007

Characters come first for me also, then story. Theme comes last. I usually just sort of realize what it might be half way through writing the thing.

kristie911 · Nov 8, 2007

It usually starts with a character and a problem. Then I just start with the first word, and the second...pretty soon I have a sentence or two and there you go.

wayndom · Nov 8, 2007

I can't imagine starting with a theme -- it seems that could only lead to a stilted, artificial work, more like heavy-handed propaganda than a story.

lkp · Nov 8, 2007

I definitely start with a character and/or a situation, but themes start popping almost immediately after. Them, plot, characters, and setting all grow together to make the story.

Hummingbird · Nov 8, 2007

I start with a character or two, a situation, and a couple scenes. Yay

JamieFord · Nov 8, 2007

Story first. All the way.

JLCwrites · Nov 8, 2007

I start out with a scene or visual notion. Then I get out a pencil and paper and do a rough outline of where I want the story to go. ( I will also draw pictures of scenes or characters that really stand out in my mind) After that, I need to make sure there is a character arc, plot out some main points, then start typing to connect the dots. (bringing those main points together.) But I don't think I write like most. I have to go back after every chapter is completed, and polish it before I can continue to write another chapter. For me the rough draft needs to be really polished before I can jump into a second draft. But at least, all my original scenes and visual concepts are down on paper, so I don't loose sight of them while spending so much time writing the rough draft. (A lot of writers like to get everything out into the rough draft quickly before the story in their minds die. Which is a great tactic, but one I can't seem to do)

nevada · Nov 8, 2007

I guess I work backwards. I always start with the feeling that i want to resonate with the reader after he/she finishes the story. Happiness, love, betrayal. Some feeling. and then i work back from there. Who would feel that? So first feeling, then characters. then i just write. That is for my short stories. My novels are a little different but they are roadmapped by feelings again. Always feelings first. I like to mess with people's emotions. lol

kellytijer · Nov 8, 2007

characters and story have been first for me so far.

Wolvel · Nov 8, 2007

My current wip started out as nothing more than a paragraph stuck in my head. Now I am three chapters into it.

The theme did not come until I understood the first paragraph. Weird hunh?

Manderley · Nov 9, 2007

First novel: Theme (it was shite and quickly binned)
Second: Concept (unfortunatly, it was a short story concept, not a novel length concept.
Current WIP: Character.
Next book: Setting and genre.

Enzo · Nov 9, 2007

A scene, an event.

Say, a man jumping off a cliff. A car exploding in the narrow streets of a Central-European town. Two women fighting at a tearoom.

Ok, so I write action thrillers. I see some huge action scene, and after that I wonder about why things are happening, who's involved.
By the time I have the outline for the story figured out, the first thing I thought of is only going to be a small part of the whole anymore.

Ageless Stranger · Nov 9, 2007

Always the character or setting. I work up from there.

JimmyB27 · Nov 9, 2007

I usually start with a cool idea. Like, say, what if someone was using magical drugs to gain control of the population? Then I sit back and wait and see what sort of character would do something like this, and Natasha Slee pops up and says "That would be me.".
Then I think, right, who's going to stop you then? And Cornelius pokes his head around the door and says "Um...well, I might have a little try...but I'm not nearly as powerful as she is."
So I say, don't worry my friend, you're going to learn a whole new way of controlling magic that's going to make you much stronger. And he says "Cool! Will I be famous?" And I say, yep, but only for all the pain and anguish you inadvertantly cause. And he says "Oh." and then goes away to sulk for a bit.

Evaine · Nov 9, 2007

I started off my latest story with a character I'd used before, and started wondering what Hallowe'en was like where she lived - and now she's chasing off halfway across the country looking for her mother....

willietheshakes · Nov 9, 2007

What comes first for me?

Generally, a deadline.

maestrowork · Nov 9, 2007

Characters and a general idea of what the story is about. The plot and the themes come later.

Azure Skye · Nov 9, 2007

Character(s) and situation first. Theme comes in a lot later.

Momento Mori · Nov 9, 2007

I start with an idea (e.g. in a classroom fight between a boy and a girl, the boy's knocked into a coma without the girl laying a finger on him, but she doesn't know how)and then think about characters and story from that. But it takes me a long time to let everything mulch into something that works before I start writing and I find that as I write, a number of themes usually come through.

MM

nessam · Nov 9, 2007

In my current wip the mc is in complete despair. You have to read it to understand why.
Is that theme or plot? I'm not sure.

Shadow_Ferret · Nov 9, 2007

I haven't written a theme on purpose since Composition class in High School.

I start with characters and a problem.

I leave the theming for those who read my book and decide to interpret it.

Perle_Rare · Nov 9, 2007

This is my first attempt at writing a novel but I started out by thinking of a main character, a setting, and a few beginning scenes and situations. I then sat at the computer and it all refused to come down onto the virtual sheet of paper on my screen. Instead, I found myself typing about a completely different character, setting, and situation. The resulting story so far is much more fascinating and satisfying than my original idea.

So what came first? A different story entirely. Where will this story go? Wherever my MC leads me since she's taken over from the get-go and it's kind of fun to follow her and see what she does next. It will be a while before I can report whether the technique (or lack thereof) actually works though... but I'll have had fun trying it out!

Robyn · Nov 9, 2007

Hmm for me it depends but mostly.. an idea will come to me... thoughts, images etc.... and from there it will transform into the story. Generall i won't take just an idea and run with it. I have to 'see' the basics of the story first. But this can be as simple as a image in a movie or something that will trigger a storyidea.

What comes first on a new story of yours?

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