Writers collaborating
- Thread starter BillC
- Start date
I actually was more interested in sci fi, fantasy, and horror. A good thriller.
I'd suggest writer's forums, not unlike this FCN forum.
Writing is actually the easy part.
Coming up with an idea big enough to get a whole novel from is and always has been the the biggest challenge facing writers.
With 8 completed novels behind me now, I think I do know a little on the subject.
This is a sample of how my thought process works when I an searching for ideas.
A little while ago, I had some free time after completing my last novel so I stopped in at the local 2nd hand book shop to get something to read. I walked out with 4 paper backs for $10 and when I got home, I picked one and opened it.
The novel was a sword and sorcery fantasy, 'Conan' by Robert E Howard and the first line began thus.
In the time between when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Arryus, there existed an age undreamed of by man.
That got me thinking, 'what did sink Atlantis?'.
A quick google search reveals that according to Plato, the island was was created by the God Poseidon as a utopia where his human love, Clieto could live.
So, using that rationale, if Poseidon created it, surely, it would be him to eliminate it.
Why would he do that?
Someone obviously annoyed him.
That was how it began.
I thought up an 'annoyance' to cause his wrath and that led me to 'what happened afterwards?'
7 months and 245k words later, I typed 'The End' on yet another novel completed.
Now, the mind is open for the next idea. You can't force ideas to happen. You just need to ask questions about any basic ideas you get and with any luck, the answers will see you head down pounding the keys and typing that idea out.
Good luck
Ls x
Writing is actually the easy part.
Coming up with an idea big enough to get a whole novel from is and always has been the the biggest challenge facing writers.
With 8 completed novels behind me now, I think I do know a little on the subject.
This is a sample of how my thought process works when I an searching for ideas.
A little while ago, I had some free time after completing my last novel so I stopped in at the local 2nd hand book shop to get something to read. I walked out with 4 paper backs for $10 and when I got home, I picked one and opened it.
The novel was a sword and sorcery fantasy, 'Conan' by Robert E Howard and the first line began thus.
In the time between when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Arryus, there existed an age undreamed of by man.
That got me thinking, 'what did sink Atlantis?'.
A quick google search reveals that according to Plato, the island was was created by the God Poseidon as a utopia where his human love, Clieto could live.
So, using that rationale, if Poseidon created it, surely, it would be him to eliminate it.
Why would he do that?
Someone obviously annoyed him.
That was how it began.
I thought up an 'annoyance' to cause his wrath and that led me to 'what happened afterwards?'
7 months and 245k words later, I typed 'The End' on yet another novel completed.
Now, the mind is open for the next idea. You can't force ideas to happen. You just need to ask questions about any basic ideas you get and with any luck, the answers will see you head down pounding the keys and typing that idea out.
Good luck
Ls x
Very nice Lakeside. I always liked Piers Anthony's "Xanth" novels. The first I got was Centaur Isle and then Night Mare. Or maybe the other way around. It's been a while. I believe knowing a little of families histories, I think there was a "Conan" early on in the Merovingian lineage. Your comments are always welcome.
btw what type of writing have you done in the past. Any ghostwriting?
Nope, I've only ever written my novels, usually action adventures, usually a tad violent and usually featuring some erotica.
It's not about what you like to read, it's about what you like to write.
History can be a good source of inspiration, use what has happened with your original characters and just use the events as a basis for your tale.
Many writers plan everything to the N'th degree. I work a bit different to that.
That example I showed a couple of posts back, the only plan I had was:
Sink Atlantis (happened in ch 1) then take the 'sole survivor' on a series of adventures.
I didn't have to over-think it. I started off mild with an encounter with brigands then wrote that. Then I thought up the next adventure and wrote that, then the next, then the next with the final objective to explain (fictionally) why sorcery no longer exists in this world.
Each sentence I write tells me what the next sentence should be. Then that one reveals the next, and so forth. Don't try to 'over-plan' it or you'll end up with 1/3 of a manuscript that you can't complete.
For me, I start by getting the basic idea down.
Example:
The ship left the harbour. << that's the basic idea, now expand it.
With the raucous cries of the sea-birds wheeling overhead, the ship left the harbour. << expand more
With the raucous cries of the sea-birds wheeling overhead and the brisk sou-easter whipping whitecaps from the deep blue sea, the ship left the harbour. << more
With the raucous cries of the sea-birds wheeling overhead and the brisk sou-easter whipping whitecaps from the deep blue sea, the tall ship, with all her canvas set, heeled hard into the turn on clearing the breakwater and struck a course towards the pale orb of the soon-to-set sun.
That initial 5 word idea of what the basic thought was is now a sentence that paints a vivid picture for the reader.
Ls x
I've found that one of the most important things about writing, be it creative, fiction, non-fiction, a school report, whatever, is simply to start writing. Don't demand perfection from the first word you put on the page. Don't stress, just start writing, because the reality is you are probably going to rewrite it at some point, you're going to make changes, you're going to edit and polish. Winston Churchill said that there is no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing.
One other thought, reading and writing go hand in hand. A wise man advised me once that the more you read the better you will write and the more you write the better you will read.
One other thought, reading and writing go hand in hand. A wise man advised me once that the more you read the better you will write and the more you write the better you will read.
I was taught, also read this online, to write every single day. It can be a paragraph, a sentence, a word. Just as long as you write
That was one of the basics I was taught also.
Know what you write; write what you know.
This was another adage from my writing beginnings.
The best way to write anything begins with you starting to write it.
I've seen forum threads where 'wannabe' writers post idea after idea without ever tacking the writing of it themselves.
It doesn't have to be well-written at first. Its more important to get the idea translated from your mind onto the paper/screen than worrying about perfect grammar and all-encompassing descriptions. You can go back and turn that boring and hum-drum sentence into a literary master-piece at anytime.
If you just add a little to your story every day, you'll almost be surprised how quickly the time to type/write 'finis' arrives.
Ls x