I am trying to start my own novel, but I don't understand how to put my many planned ideas into actual chapters? If anyone can give any advice or a link on how to do this, can you please help me out? Also here is partial synopsis on my story, if it helps "To the unlucky or isolated scholars of many worlds, this is an invitation to "The Land of Advancement", in this world, knowledge means everything, status, wealth, trust, respect, it all comes from the thirst for knowledge! Try to keep up with the world, as you group together on a never-ending journey, or you will be left in the dust. Only by striving for greatness, can you compare to those before and after you, now: Do you accept? Yes No" I don't like being formal, so just thanks if you can give even the slightest bit of advice!
You just have to get in and focus. Start writing one page at a time and don't let yourself get distracted. There's no such thing as multitasking; just doing two things badly. You can always edit once your done but you can't edit if you don't write it first
Break them into words that you use then group what you want to be together. Find a starting point of the keyword you use and make it flow appropriately instead of appearing and disappearing like "That A guy was amazing! Wow!" and never to talk about that A guy again. On that note, try to skip/remove/avoid any idea that only appears but never resolved/talked about again
I'm nor a writer but why don't you check # writing tips on media social? My advice as a reader.. Spoiler Make sure the chapter can't be summarised by just 5 words. I hate novels that goes: MC fights. MC still fights. MC still fights. I like The Novel's Extra because in 1 chapter there's some POV variation so in one chapter in can go like: MC fights. Side character A watches in secret. Side character B have ptsd MC still fights. B's friends worry about them. C's relationship with their parents. MC still fights. A died. C misunderstood MC (drama flag) please make their name different, like really different. The Novel's Extra have lots of unrelated character with the same surname, it's confusing. each chapter should be about the same length. I usually don't read new novel until there's 15-50 chapters (depends on how long the chapter is), so stay determined even if there's not much viewers/support. 1st POV is better for 'multiple point of view' and 'misunderstandings' tag, but 3rd POV is more consistent. If you wanna put character's physical description, don't do it 20 chapter after they're introduced. I have mini theatre in my head & i don't like recasting. Unless of course their appearance changed (got hurt, in disguise, etc)
May i add, if your writing need world building, there's world anvi appl. They say you get these option for free But it's been a while, i don't know if anything changed
oh that looks interesting, for the time being ive been using Trello, which is pretty helpful, but ill check this out
Its fine, I checked it out, I think its a good place to store my actual finished ideas, but I usually will just fill Trello with my random character/setting ideas. Thanks for the app!
I've been "writing" for years, and though I love the world/character/plot-building aspects of writing, actually getting it all down on paper as a coherent narrative has always been the biggest hurdle that I sadly rarely get past. I actually asked for advice on this very thing a few days ago since I've had fresh ideas I'm incredibly excited about bouncing around, and one of the advice I got was to write the scenes that you want to see most as a collection of drabbles, and then work on connecting them all later. I plan on trying this out. I feel like for me personally, it's the introductory phase where I'm trying to show everyone this world I've been dreaming about for weeks/months to be tedious, and I just want them to simply KNOW the world already. I suppose it's similar to how teachers often tell students to write the introduction last. I think this would work best if you have at least a rough outline of the story before you get started, so you know when everything is chronologically.
some novel writers wrote the world building before chapter 1. For example, in cultivation novel Character list Cultivation levels Countries/kingdoms Prologue Chapter 1 It's one way if you wanna jump to the story. After all, not every reader cares about those things. It also helps forgetful reader like me
That's one way to do it, I suppose. But as someone who grew up reading published literature that have gone through multiple edits, everything about this screams WRONG to me :')
Im kind of doing it the way tak is, by creating an entire outline first. I do this for two reason though: 1. I don't want to have many plot-holes in my story, so I do it like this to ease my mind. 2. Im scared that I won't be able to put out chapters consistently, due to things like writers block. I also just have no trust in my imagination to be able to consistently create new ideas.
A lot of the time writing is spent thinking about the world, maybe even the greater plot. Imagine you are the main character and imagine where you want to go. How do you go there by train or by bus? Will you pay for it or will you steal? A more advanced level is why you steal or pay for it that's backstory and motivation. The simple part is the imagining all the cool stuff and how you'll determine it all. Then comes the technicals if you did a good outline then you have a rough idea of the setting for the story. Think of the settings as isolated parts that come together to form a whole thing. So at the top of your chapter, write the place then think about your length. Are you aiming for 1500 or 2500 or maybe less? Depending on the length you can introduce your character and your setting according to where you want the story to start. Do you want it to be in the middle of a battle, or maybe after the main character dies, either way, you know where you are and how that leads to everything else. After that its commitment and following the story you set for yourself, there's discretion for changing the path. But not too radically you can't change the genre but you can change the order of some event and write your way out of a plot hole and that's all I got.
This great advice, thanks, but I have a question My story centers around 5 main characters that move as a group for most of the time. There is no one main character, all 5 are equal in terms of importance. Of course some of the arcs are going to be centered around one character or only a few out of the five. So how should I imagine them all moving?
In a way, im quite similar. With most of my stories, they usually start from a single spark of inspiration and i just start writing what comes up until i reach the point where the inspiration (and scenes) come to a stop. Usually at that point, and sometimes before, i'll actually get the spark for the next story portion (that's usually set further into the story) so i'll start writing that. I find that writing as separate chunks actually helps me to build the connections even if i cant put it directly to mind, usually the connection come along naturally while writing the progression (if that makes any sense, which it might not). My two oldest stories are actually quite long and reasonably fleshed out, it's just that they are in separate chunks (1 has 3, the other has 4) which havent been completely and properly connected in writing. Some of my stories might have an introductory bit explaining basic things in a simple manner, but mostly i tend to leave it so that the reader ideally ends up learning as they go through the story. It's easier than trying to have characters explain things that, to them, are common knowledge.
Not enough information. Basically this is all you've got: world where knowledge is #1. The characters: nothing. The plot: nothing. The setting: nothing. The tone: nothing. You need something. You got nothing. You don't have a character? Use a stereotype. You don't have a plot? Copy a folk tail's. You don't have a setting? Copy Tolkien's, or fuck it, just copy your neighborhood. No tone/style for your writing? That should come to you as naturally as breathing. I'm honestly shocked that people were able to give you advice with the amount of information given.
No, I have a lot of other stuff, I just gave the synopsis as a small form of reference I have a lot of characters, setting, etc I just don't know how to put a lot of the fleshed out ideas into a coherent story.
I would start off with a better synopsis. Okay, you've established that it's a very, uh, mmm, um, competitive world for knowledge. It's very bare. How about focusing on one character as he/she strives for greatness. And for that character flesh out their motivation. And for that motivation flesh out their backstory. Orrr you set it in a school where the students (main characters) compete with eachother. Orrr you set it in a hunger games esque scavenger hunter game where the competitors (main chararcters) compete with one another. Orrr you start in the middle of a battle (could be a battle of the minds too). Orrr you start with one of the main characters entering a building of some significance. Orrr you could start with a group of characters going through their daily routine. Orrr you could start as the omniscient narrator that explains the various inner mechanisms of the world. Really, you can start it any way you like. I mean, come on, you gotta throw me a bone here. Give me something other than the idea of a competitive world. A character, a plot, anything of interest or capacity to be expanded upon. You must know that you're not giving much to go on. It's like askin' a person to fish without a rod.
There is 5 main characters it focuses on and since its pretty much an isekai, all 5 have been summoned but from different worlds. Somebody messes with the teleportation process and instead of the five each ending up somewhere random within the world, they all end up in a mansion, with a hologram of an old man in robes. He pretty explains why the five of them have summoned here, while also explaining what normally would happen. Thats pretty much the synopsis of the first chapter. The problem im having, is extending from a synopsis of the chapter into a 1500+ word chapter. Im sorry if that wasn't clear, from what I said earlier. Im asking more how to actually write the chapter then the series of events that happens within the chapter.
I'm pretty much in your boat regarding starting my own story and this is the best way to put it depending on which type of person/writer you are: 1) Technical Writer - Generally the type who write everything with a purpose, thus little to no filler. This is me and since you're having trouble I'm guessing you. I follow the plan of writing out the very core of the chapter, or as much will flow, then go back and look at my word count, then add detail with regard to world building, etc till I'm at the count and level of detail I like. Harder and longer process to do but that's my concept. 2) Intuitive Writer - Faster and easier as you have an easier time writing more before switching into editing mode and condense the word count and necessary details. Before getting full blast into writing, intuitive writing practice is probably best to a degree. We can't help which type we are, but can practice different ways.