Hi everybody!
I posted this question on the r/writing Reddit, but I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter too.
My question:
"Hi,
I'm someone who writes music and wants to get into writing his own stories too. I have a question about translating a (simple, but effective) writing process for composing music to one that works for writing fiction.
Since the beginning of this year I have been reading a book about musical composition and I came across an interesting way of going about composing a piece of music. So, I tried this way of working and in short I noticed that, after experimenting a few times, it really helps me to stay focused in my writing process. The writer has a Youtube channel too, and recently I stumbled upon a video where he explained this way of composing very well.
I have been struggling with writing stories for a while now, and am now searching for a way to translate this way of working to my own writing process for writing fiction. I was hoping that maybe someone on this sub would be interested in taking a look at the video and think about how this process of composing music could be translated to writing stories.
The video is 8 minutes long and you don't need to know music theory to understand the process, but a little knowledge about the different things that make up music would come in handy. So, without further ado, here's the video:
Alan Belkin - Analysis for Composers #9
I also tried to write down the process, because the audio in the video is a little off. I hope I can explain it well enough, but the process basically goes something like this:
Now how would someone translate this process to one for writing fiction?
If you have any ideas on this topic I would love to hear them!"
Someone then shared his thoughts on the process:
RiteCraft:
"Most writers I personally know write in one of two styles:
a) Outline then expand -> This is when you start with short outline of your story (for example a sentence for each major event) and then you expand on it incrementally (For example you turn each of the sentences into a paragraph, then each paragraph into a chapter etc.)
b) Rough Outline / no outline but a general direction and just write -> It's where you have a rough idea of what you want to do and then you write towards that goal
What you propose is a process I actually used before but in writing RPG adventures, not stories. If I were to translate it for a story writing purpose I would do it like that:
The issue I see with the process is that it's a little fuzzy around the edges - filling gaps and expanding characters sounds nice in theory but it's not that easy in practice.
It's much easier if you can leave some stuff fuzzy (like in RPG adventures where you can leave things to be handled by the DM)"
Which was really helpful.
(Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/cbpmbh/translating_a_writing_process_for_music_to_one/)
I would be really interested in hearing your thoughts on how this would work too. And thank you very much for reading!
Btw, please tell me if the formatting is reading okay. I'm new here.
I posted this question on the r/writing Reddit, but I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter too.
My question:
"Hi,
I'm someone who writes music and wants to get into writing his own stories too. I have a question about translating a (simple, but effective) writing process for composing music to one that works for writing fiction.
Since the beginning of this year I have been reading a book about musical composition and I came across an interesting way of going about composing a piece of music. So, I tried this way of working and in short I noticed that, after experimenting a few times, it really helps me to stay focused in my writing process. The writer has a Youtube channel too, and recently I stumbled upon a video where he explained this way of composing very well.
I have been struggling with writing stories for a while now, and am now searching for a way to translate this way of working to my own writing process for writing fiction. I was hoping that maybe someone on this sub would be interested in taking a look at the video and think about how this process of composing music could be translated to writing stories.
The video is 8 minutes long and you don't need to know music theory to understand the process, but a little knowledge about the different things that make up music would come in handy. So, without further ado, here's the video:
Alan Belkin - Analysis for Composers #9
I also tried to write down the process, because the audio in the video is a little off. I hope I can explain it well enough, but the process basically goes something like this:
- What are the constraints that are imposed on you? For example, if it's a commissioned piece: what instruments are you writing for and how long should the piece be? If it's for a scene in a movie then what kind of tone/feel does the music need? Every piece you're writing will have different constraints. In writing fiction this could be the main theme/thing your story is about.
- Now that you know what your constraints are, try to brainstorm lots of musical ideas. Try to hold off on judging the ideas as much as possible. You just need to gather a lot of material. We're not thinking about the structure of the piece yet. Maybe you could see it as creating rough Lego blocks to build with later.
- Now that you have a lot of ideas, try to see what the possibilities are in each idea and work them out individually. Throw out the ideas that you don't like. You're now creating some details in the Lego blocks. Maybe there are already some possible combinations of ideas becoming visible.
- After working out your ideas, try to experiment with different combinations of them. Idea X works very nicely after Y, but what about placing Z in between them? Little by little a structure should be unfolding.
- It may be needed to compose some transitions and to tweak some ideas so that they fit better into the whole of the piece. Also, some ideas may still need some filling out in orchestration or other aspects.
- You should now have a rough sketch of the piece.
Now how would someone translate this process to one for writing fiction?
If you have any ideas on this topic I would love to hear them!"
Someone then shared his thoughts on the process:
RiteCraft:
"Most writers I personally know write in one of two styles:
a) Outline then expand -> This is when you start with short outline of your story (for example a sentence for each major event) and then you expand on it incrementally (For example you turn each of the sentences into a paragraph, then each paragraph into a chapter etc.)
b) Rough Outline / no outline but a general direction and just write -> It's where you have a rough idea of what you want to do and then you write towards that goal
What you propose is a process I actually used before but in writing RPG adventures, not stories. If I were to translate it for a story writing purpose I would do it like that:
- What are your constraints? What theme do you want to convey / what is your genre / what sort of person the MC is?
- Invent stuff for your story - maybe you have an idea for a scene that fits the theme / genre. Maybe you have an idea for a supporting character fitting for your MC idea etc.
- Experiment and expand stuff from point 2 - maybe write some more scenes for the characters, or expand on the scene you invented earlier.
- Now it's time to write a rough outline - from point 2 and 3 you should have some major events and characters selected - try to fit characters to scenes and put scenes on a rough timeline of events.
- This is where you turn your timeline into a more complete one - you should fill the gaps between the events selected in point 4 and bring some life to your characters if needed - figure out motivations and history of the more important characters (or all of them if it strikes your fancy)
- You have a pretty good outline of a story.
The issue I see with the process is that it's a little fuzzy around the edges - filling gaps and expanding characters sounds nice in theory but it's not that easy in practice.
It's much easier if you can leave some stuff fuzzy (like in RPG adventures where you can leave things to be handled by the DM)"
Which was really helpful.
(Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/cbpmbh/translating_a_writing_process_for_music_to_one/)
I would be really interested in hearing your thoughts on how this would work too. And thank you very much for reading!
Btw, please tell me if the formatting is reading okay. I'm new here.
I do wonder if you are trying to reinvent the wheel here. 
