I like to start with a memory that inspires me to write a scene!
How Do You Start Writing?
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Posts 1 to 11 of 11
Share22019-05-19 08:10:35
That's interesting! How do you make yourself remember the details (like where you were, what the setting was like, how it felt)? Or do you have to make them up as you write?
I'm not good at getting details in when I first draft something-- I have to "layer" them in later.
I often have scenes "flash" into my mind like they are memories... but they never actually happened to me. They kind of appear like memories, though! I never really connected that experience to memories, but it does feel like that.
Share32019-05-20 03:01:25
Details are not my strong point! I remember the event and write down how it was important or changed my life (or the character’s life) somehow. Then I have to layer in details later, too. I like to think about what started it all – and then I try to remember how and what happened.
For Funny Girl, it all started when Maestro (her friend and her music teacher) challenged here to audition for a dinner theater cabaret show.
When I can’t sleep, and I let my mind freely wander, that’s when I remember details and get the best ideas!!
Share42019-05-20 06:15:51
Me too-- i get my best ideas lying in bed. <G> My most imaginative time is right before I wake up officially, when I'm half-asleep... the subconscious and conscious mind are really joined then and work productively.
The maestro's challenge is the inciting event for Funny Girl! I love a good inciting event. 
Share52019-05-20 22:53:00
I start with characters. Individuals appear in my head. Name, gender, physical appearance, age, occupation and the world they live in. It's a visceral feeling, and hard to describe. When this happens, I build a character profile using a questionnaire while mentally figuring out a general plot. I usually know where the story starts and how it ends. And of course, a plot twist--something the reader isn't supposed to see coming. But this story? This story is different. I know my characters, I know the main character's arc. I know how the story ends. I have my plot twist. I just can't figure out where it starts.
Share62019-05-28 13:47:24
Nancy, that's interesting that the characters appear! I've had that happen with some characters-- it's like they suddenly just pop into existence.
Then of course the next step is figuring out, I guess, why they are who they are, and as you say, building the plot around them.
I love that experience of the person just coming to life. It's almost magical, even if we know we're actually somehow creating them.
Share72019-05-28 13:48:33
Not to get negative, but what are some things that stop you from starting to write?
I often get bogged down on the first freaking paragraph. I have to remind myself I don't actually have to start on page 1!
Alicia
Share82019-06-11 20:25:52
I'm one of those folks who does a notebook with characters and settings and all that entails.
Share92019-06-12 22:48:37
DML, do you also have pictures? I used to keep a "head book", with photos of people who looked like my characters (I thought).
Share102019-06-24 00:19:51
I usually start writing when a "what if" question comes to me. It's usually when I'm ending the last manuscript and my brain has jumped ahead to what I'm going to write next. Questions like "What if you went to a wedding and ran into the twin sister you never knew you had?" or "What if you seemed to have the perfect life until you couldn't carry a baby to term, so you gave up your entire life including your perfect husband, and now your pregnant sister needs you to come back to town to help her through a pregnancy she hadn't planned on?" BUT the story I'm writing now came to me differently. This time the young widow started telling her story in first person--something I've never written before.
Share112019-06-24 18:14:09
Alicia Rasley wrote:
DML, do you also have pictures? I used to keep a "head book", with photos of people who looked like my characters (I thought).
I use pictures of everything that comes up as I go along. I'm an extremely visual learner.
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