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Do you need to have an idea before you write?

majordan92

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My specialty is fiction, but I come to my notebook/word processor without any idea of what to write about; I'll write about random stuff until I find something that sounds good enough to be a story. So I guess you can say that I freewrite before the actual process begins.

That's got me wondering do you need to know what you're going to write about before the work begins?
 
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Enlightened

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I like grand series. I start by creating assets (characters, locations, whatever). The characters develop their own relationships, secrets, plots, mini quests (from magic items, whatever), subplots, and so forth. Conflict drives the interaction between characters, settings, and plot. Probably not recommended for others; it's a big time commitment, but it works for me.

I always begin with setting though. It helps me develop assets that help me design characters. I like big casts.
 
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Ari Meermans

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All I need is an interesting character and a general idea of what their story is about. I've said it a gazillion times and most folks here (probably) think I'm cracked but it really is as though the character just shows up and says, "Let me tell you my story"; I start transcribing from there. Sometimes, though, it's true that their idea of what constitutes a great story doesn't match mine and the whole thing soon peters out—or I'll say the story's a dud and the character will answer, "Okay, what about this, then?" and we're off and running.
 

mccardey

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All I need is an interesting character and a general idea of what their story is about. I've said it a gazillion times and most folks here (probably) think I'm cracked but it really is as though the character just shows up and says, "Let me tell you my story"; I start transcribing from there. Sometimes, though, it's true that their idea of what constitutes a great story doesn't match mine and the whole thing soon peters out—or I'll say the story's a dud and the character will answer, "Okay, what about this, then?" and we're off and running.
Yes to this.
 

ap123

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All I need is an interesting character and a general idea of what their story is about. I've said it a gazillion times and most folks here (probably) think I'm cracked but it really is as though the character just shows up and says, "Let me tell you my story"; I start transcribing from there. Sometimes, though, it's true that their idea of what constitutes a great story doesn't match mine and the whole thing soon peters out—or I'll say the story's a dud and the character will answer, "Okay, what about this, then?" and we're off and running.

Yes, the character, vague idea of story, but I need the character's voice before I begin writing.

Also yes to cracked (speaking only for myself, of course)
 

Chris P

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Hey, cracks are how the light gets in.

I really like that. It . . . explains some things.

To the OP, I've done it all kinds of ways. Usually a scene comes to me, and serves at the nucleus for a story. Or a situation pops into my head, and this can sometimes be inspired from something I read and I write how I think the story should have gone. However, some of my best stories have come from writing prompts. There's no telling where the ideas come from.
 

Woollybear

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My specialty is fiction, but I come to my notebook/word processor without any idea of what to write about; I'll write about random stuff until I find something that sounds good enough to be a story. So I guess you can say that I freewrite before the actual process begins.

That's got me wondering do you need to know what you're going to write about before the work begins?


Yes.

I need:

1: the main hero

2: the main villain

3: the climactic scene

before I start. Then I start and realize I need a hell of a lot more, and slowly I get those pieces in place before the draft is complete.

(My relationships and conversation with my characters are 'real' but also less about their story per se and more about the things that broke them or shaped them or lifted them up. I might sit with a character and ask her why she is so well-behaved, for example, and she gives me this amazing backstory about familial expectations and tradition and whatnot, and I say "that'd be an info dump," and she says, "Well, it's true" and I work with it. )
 
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Ari Meermans

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I really like that. It . . . explains some things.

I told mccardey that it isn't original to me and I'm sure I've read it somewhere. Turns out I first heard it in Leonard Cohen's "Anthem".

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in."


Louise Penny also uses a reference to the lines in the titular How the Light Gets In, one of her Chief Inspector Gamache novels, which is one of my all-time favorite series.

I knew I had to have picked it up somewhere. :)

ETA: So, yeah, iffen a bon mot sounds even half-way clever, it ain't mine.
 
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Chris P

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I told mccardey that it isn't original to me and I'm sure I've read it somewhere. Turns out I first heard it in Leonard Cohen's "Anthem".

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in."


Louise Penny also uses a reference to the lines in the titular How the Light Gets In, one of her Chief Inspector Gamache novels, which is one of my all-time favorite series.

I knew I had to have picked it up somewhere. :)

ETA: So, yeah, iffen a bon mot sounds even half-way clever, it ain't mine.

Cohen was such an amazing songwriter. It's a shame "Hallelujah," as good as it is, overshadows his other excellent songs. I had "Everybody knows" stuck in my head a good portion of the day today.
 

Kjbartolotta

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Cohen's whole funky synthesizer phase was an acquired taste for me, but it really featured some of his best work.
 

Klope3

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Yes.

99% of the time, when I sit down to write, I'm continuing a project I've already started, and recently I've really thrived on writing from an outline. So in these cases, yes, I have to have an idea before I start writing actual pages. I need to have a general idea of what's going to happen in a scene before I actually get going on it. Otherwise, I just meander, and make extensive rewriting necessary later.

The other 1% of the time, I'm starting a new project (and I've only started a few big projects so far in my young life). In those cases, I pretty much always have an idea I can start working on. I have a whole backlog of ideas in Google Drive that I think would be cool to turn into novels/series one day, so I just pick one of those. And I come up with new ideas a LOT faster than I finish projects, so I guess they're just going to keep accumulating for the rest of my life.

It's not hoarding if it's in the cloud, right...?
 

KML Quinn

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I carry a notebook with me everywhere I go. I find myself just writing anything that comes to mind, and then extracting the things that interest me the most. It usually starts with a character and I work from there!

KML
 

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That's got me wondering do you need to know what you're going to write about before the work begins?

I often think I know what I'm going to write about before I start, and then the story has its own ideas as I write...
 

Bufty

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You only need to know where you are and in whose head you are. As to what happens next? Write and find out. Listen to the characters.

That's one way that many folk find works for them but it's not the only way.:snoopy:
 

Cephus

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I've got so many ideas that I never have a problem sitting down to write them. I already know the next 15 books I'm going to write. I may not have all of the exacting details down yet, but I know the main characters, I know the plot and I know, in general terms, where every story goes. Being a writer is about being a storyteller. There are a billion stories out there waiting to be told.
 

LucindaLynx

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You only need to know where you are and in whose head you are. As to what happens next? Write and find out. Listen to the characters.

That's one way that many folk find works for them but it's not the only way.

I agree! That's what I do. I just let the characters speak to me, and I do my best to listen what they have to say.
 

talktidy

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For me past experience tells me I need more detail, including a potential ending, before committing to making a start.

I frequently am struck by what ifs and ideas for characters, but unless I have something a little more developed and an ultimate goal in mind for the characters to work towards before starting, then I will grind to a halt after the first few pages.
 

Sonya Heaney

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Sometimes something in life severely annoys/angers me, or I see something spectacular. I just write about that and eventually it turns into something I can incorporate into a book. I finished work on a manuscript last week and decided it was high time to clean up my office. I found dozens of notebooks full of snippets I'll use in books some day ...
 

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Not so much for hobby or expression, but yes if I'm writing for something that is intended for publishing.
 

milotry

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For the actual idea, I definitely need to know what it is before I sit down. It can be super vague, but it has to exist. As a kid I used to write without an idea or without a plan a lot, but I never finished anything, so I don't think it really worked for me.

Then for the plot, I usually need at least a small outline. Usually it's just a few bullet points per scene, and I'm absolutely fine with diverting from them, but if I don't have a general idea of where I'm going I can find it tough to get started.
 

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I play around with an idea in my head until I have a beginning, an ending and a few major 'stepping stone' scenes to guide the way. Then I start writing and the characters and other elements arrive.