Aight. I missed a bunch of questions, so imma try to answer all of them... Oh dear...
Ranger of the North wrote:anxious ghost wrote:I need some help? How do you guys come up with good plotlines? Cuz I've only ever really come up with one and I don't know how to recreate that process. I have at least one character, and a couple of random ideas. Any advice would be appreciated!
I'm having this problem, too! Help our poor afflicted souls, @everyone-else XD
Mainly, I think of a random idea and talk about it until it becomes a world, then I think about what kind of plot would fit in that world and what kinds of characters might be there. For instance, I was talking with someone about authors killing off main characters, and he said his author killed the mc in the second chapter. I thought about how an author could do that, start with a huge cast, and basically kill all of them off until the very last one becomes the hero because they're literally the only one left. Then, I thought about what kind of world that would be in, like some kind of horror or post-apocalyptic. Possibly even something involving a time machine. Then it's just "What if this character had this personality trait and met this other character with another personality trait?" like the first mc being overly confident, and the others are basically lackeys and their friends. Then, I start writing a basic series of events that would happen, and suddenly I have a storyline. Hope that helps? >^.^<
Have you ever written fanfiction? If yes, what was it of? If no, would you consider it?No, I haven't, mainly because the worlds aren't mine and I'm afraid of altering the characters. I have actually considered it, though, with a weird kind of super-mesh of all the possibilities that could ever happen and a kind of super character that could interact with the world of any book they read. It would have been cool, but the aforementioned fears took over and it's just kinda stayed in my head for now.
What is your favorite genre to write? Read?Fantasy and fantasy. Sometimes sci-fi, and hardly ever nonfiction. I prefer to disappear from reality when I write and create a new one
What is your least favorite genre to write? Read?"creative nonfiction" and "textbook" Both feel really dry when I read them, and I find nonfiction to be really boring to write.Also, if you're writing about things that really happened, how is that creative? Doesn't that just make you a reporter?
What are your thoughts on werewolves and vampires always being "hot" or "sexy" in YA novels?I personally find it about as appealing as Sleeping Beauty level "Damsel-In-Distress". That is to say, it feels like an overdone trope that could use some help and a revamp. They're fun the first, but after a while, it's just dull.
Can you listen to music with lyrics, or can you only listen to instrumental music while writing?If I try to listen to lyrics, I will literally stop writing so I can listen/sing/dance along to the song in question. I end up listening to orchestral, meditation, cultural, or just instrumental music
Out of the three stories above, which story seems the most interesting? What seems the least interesting and why?Honestly, I think I like the first one best ((Demon bit)). The third seems a little confusing at the moment, and the second as well, but they all sound like they could make for some great stories.
What's in your writer's survival kit?quiet, comfy, warm, blankets, sun-spot, books, music, water, and any notes I've taken on the world I'm writing in.
Are there any stories you're putting off writing? Why?Honestly, PTEN. I say school's in the way, or Mom's got my notes, but really I hit a wall. There's tons of stuff going on, and the scene's really exciting, and I have to get another character with the others, but to get that charrie from A to B is a really boring and necessary scene, since I can't just time skip, I don't think. Also, class is making me question if I should post anything online before it's been finished and drafted three or four more times. PTEN is very much a first draft, and I don't know how I feel about putting such an unfinished product on the interwebs anymore.
What would you consider your magnum opus?Had to look up the meaning for that allegedly fantabulous term, but I think it would still be PTEN. It's a huge project that I really enjoyed coming up with. I've put a lot into the world, and the characters are really fun, but it's not finished yet, so I'm not sure if it really counts.
What are your favorite character tropes to use in your writing? To see in other writing?In my writing, I like the whole idea of an apparently weak character finding out they're important and responding to that. Some of them run, others embrace it, but I like trying to write about what they might do. In others, though, I think I like the sassy characters who fly by the seat of their pants. It makes for some really fun action and consequences, and sometimes they even make me laugh.
Do you prefer developing characters or plot first? Why?As mentioned at the start of this long post, I usually make the characters first.This tends to lead to a stagnation in the plot on occasion, though, especially in cases where I'm not overly invested in the world. I'll get through the introduction and then into some of the rising action, but because I didn't plan out a plot, I have no idea where the climax would be, so the story peeters out on its own. I did try to make the plot first, and then fill in characters where they were needed to move the story along, and they felt way too bland and two-dimensional for me to write anything. I do know that at least Rick Riordan suggests developing both of them at the same time.
What do you do to help get you "in the mood"?Well, I'll start by reading my notes, then maybe reading older parts of the story ((Though this can lead to an accident called Editing Before Completion)) I'll find a quiet spot in the sun, imagine what might happen next, then put myself in my character's shoes, and then write. Of course, that doesn't always work, and I'll sometimes just doze off or get really distracted by a completely different idea and end up not writing at all.
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