What are some good tips for getting started with writing a book? I have a concept but i can't put it into place.
Getting Started with Your Story
Thereâs no one way to start writing a book. For some people, itâs enough to just jump in and start writing to see where the story takes them. If youâre not too keen on that idea, then here is one process (as in, not the only process) that might help you move beyond your concept.Â
Many writers mistake concept for plot, but theyâre actually two very different things. A world where everyone grows up with superpowers is a concept; the plot is what you decide to write about within that concept - the specific characters and what happens to those characters; who your antagonist is and what conflict arises when that antagonist goes after what they want. All of these things contribute to your plot.Â
So first, define what it is you actually have at this particular point. Do you just have a concept? If so, youâll need to take the necessary steps to develop that concept into a plot.Â
If youâve decided that all you really have is a concept, then how do you take it and turn it into a plot? You brainstorm. All brainstorming really amounts to is expanding your ideas. All youâre doing is asking questions about the concept and delving deep into the answers.Â
The most simplistic way to start this process, especially if youâre struggling, is to ask one of two questions (or both, if applicable). These two questions: What could go wrong? What could go right?
Going back to my example about a world where everyone grows up with superpowers. If I were to ask the question âwhat could go wrong,â Iâd end up with a whole list of possibilities.Â
The powers suddenly disappear
People start abusing their powers
Someone figures out how to steal powers
A hierarchy of strong vs. weak powers develops, creating superiority/inferiority dynamics
Someone is born without a superpower
There are many more possibilities I didnât even think of here, but any one (or more) of these could become a plot. Choose one that sounds interesting, and then ask yourself âand then what?âÂ
Say I choose: Someone figures out how to steal powers. Then what does that person do? Do they recruit people to do the dirty work for them? Do they work alone? Do they hoard these powers and barter them for other goods? Do they attempt to enslave people? Do they attempt to take control of institutions? What do they do?
Your goal is to take your ideas and turn them into actions taken by characters. People doing things. And each piece you add will usually lead into another. If you went with the idea that this character is stealing powers and essentially selling them for other goods, youâd have to ask yourself follow-up questions. First, who are they selling to? Why would anyone buy a new superpower if they already have one? What uses would they have for additional ones? What is the key demographic that this person is trying to reach? Secondly, what are they selling them in exchange for? Money? Favors? Souls? What is this character getting in return?
Now that youâve examined potential actions that the character takes, youâve also exposed potential new characters.Â
People theyâre stealing from
People theyâre bargaining with
People that try to police these crimes
People that try to copy this characterâs process
At the beginning of this section, I talked about using âwhat could go rightâ as another optional jumping off point. This is a good path to follow if your concept is already really negative. For a concept where someone is killing people for some pointed reason, you might ask âwhat could go rightâ and explore ideas where the killer is caught and brought to justice.Â
The point of all this is to think about change as a means of taking your idea from concept to plot. A concept is static - it doesnât move, evolve, or change. By developing a plot, youâre forcing the concept to be challenged in some way. If you think about it that way, youâll be able to formulate conflicts, and the people that orchestrate and fight against those conflicts.Â
On that note, I think weâre ready to move onto the third piece of my graphic above.Â
Plot = Character Actions and Consequences
At this point, you have sketches for characters. Youâve got this nameless, faceless person that is stealing the powers, and all these other nameless, faceless people that I listed above. In essence, we have character concepts. And just like we turned our initial concept into a plot, we have to turn these character concepts into actual characters.Â
The basics are the easiest way to start. You figure out their name, their gender identity, their age, their appearance, some brief backstory and personality traits. I personally prefer the simplest questionnaire that I put together back in the early days because it hits on the poignant pieces of a character without overwhelming you with 100s of questions.Â
Now that youâve given your character concepts names and faces and potential behaviors, you start to consider how one characterâs view of the world inspires them to take certain actions, and you then think about how those actions affect your entire story.Â
We already kind of talked about the motives of the power thief in our example, but definitely delve deep here. On the surface, this character seems bad - stealing from people and then selling what they steal. But depending on what it is theyâre getting in return, could we not argue that this character is a supernatural Robin Hood? Maybe instead of selling, theyâre giving, and maybe the characters theyâre stealing powers from are people that abuse and misuse their powers. Character motives can take a plot and turn it on its head, forcing you to reconceptualize everything. And thatâs okay! Thatâs part of the process.
But separate from that idea, if we have a character concept of someone whose powers were stolen, and after developing their basic backstory, we discover that personâs name is Rose, and she has an especially close relationship with her brother. So when her powers are stolen, how does this affect her life? Was she using her powers to keep her brother alive and protected? What she using them to keep a roof over their heads? Was she using them as part of her job, as a means of providing? What happens to her life when her powers are stolen? And what will Rose do about it? Whatever Rose does will impact the story. If she does nothing to get her powers back, how does she solve her problems and does that make for a good story? If she does decide to act, then youâve moved onto a new plot point to dive deeper into.
My point is, character concepts come from plots, but characters themselves often create plot, as their decisions and mistakes and successes create new outcomes. So if I could modify my original flow chart:
Before you develop something, you conceptualize it. You have a concept, then you make it a plot. You have concepts for characters, then you make them characters. And those characters end up driving your plot, to the point that this happens:
Plot inspires character. Character inspires plot. And it just keeps going around and around and around. Breaking it down into these pieces helps organize the process, but developing a story is rarely this neat and tidy. Youâll get ideas that donât make sense, ideas that arenât cohesive, characters you donât need, characters that piss you off, problems you canât solve, or plot points youâve committed to that you no longer likeâŚit will be messy. But itâs your mess, and the more you work on developing your own process, the more itâll make sense to you. And itâll become easier to know how to go about fixing it when somethingâs not right.Â
Have fun with this process! Itâs supposed to be fun. When the pieces start to become clearer, youâre able to put them together in a rough outline. And once you have a rough outline, you can start writing, and really see it take shape.Â