need advice

SleightOfHand562
SleightOfHand562 Posts: 477
edited February 2004 in Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
i'v been writing poetry for a while, but i think i want to write a novel. anyone have any advice for someone just starting out? it's just that i've had this idea in my head for a while and it keeps developing, i just can't help but feel that no matter what i do it'll suck because i don't know the first thing about writing a novel.
There have been shows where maybe the whole first half of the show my eyes have been closed. and then you'll look out in the crowd and there'll be somebody totally lost in their head, in exactly the same place you're in. That, to me, is the essence of music

~Jeff Ament
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • bambi girl
    bambi girl Posts: 406
    just write down all your idea, if you havent done yet....and remember you dont have to start at the beginning, you can do it in any order, and fill it in if thats a way that would help you.
  • savannah66
    savannah66 Posts: 65
    Originally posted by bambi girl
    just write down all your idea, if you havent done yet....and remember you dont have to start at the beginning, you can do it in any order, and fill it in if thats a way that would help you.

    yeah, the important thing is to get it down on paper. If this idea has been developing for awhile, write it down before you lose it. Take the inspiration as it comes. You can always edit & revise it later. :)
    Good luck!
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    Originally posted by SleightOfHand562
    i'v been writing poetry for a while, but i think i want to write a novel. anyone have any advice for someone just starting out? it's just that i've had this idea in my head for a while and it keeps developing, i just can't help but feel that no matter what i do it'll suck because i don't know the first thing about writing a novel.

    Start from the basis of a journal. Collect records of how you felt and compensated in your heart and mind for the drudgery of all those mundane chores you do, as well as deep insights that you have. Then, think about whether you want a first or a third person narrator. Then, and only after you've worked out what you think is your main character's psychology and the way they behave in certain situations, should you start to formulate a story, a setting and other characters (protagonistic and antagonistic). In other words: Don't just go to Vladimir Propp's "Morphology of the Folktale" to get ancient mythological or story patterns, to work as a coathanger around which you'll fit the "clothes" of characterisation etc. Start from the same subjectivity that produces the poem. Let your work formulate its own theory of fiction.
  • SleightOfHand562
    SleightOfHand562 Posts: 477
    thanks a ton folks!
    There have been shows where maybe the whole first half of the show my eyes have been closed. and then you'll look out in the crowd and there'll be somebody totally lost in their head, in exactly the same place you're in. That, to me, is the essence of music

    ~Jeff Ament
  • SleightOfHand562
    SleightOfHand562 Posts: 477
    any more advice?
    There have been shows where maybe the whole first half of the show my eyes have been closed. and then you'll look out in the crowd and there'll be somebody totally lost in their head, in exactly the same place you're in. That, to me, is the essence of music

    ~Jeff Ament
  • Schlitz
    Schlitz Posts: 141
    I've just started writing down my thoughts. I don't know if they make sense to anyone else.
    i have to remain at top sassiness, even though my inner sass is struggling
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    Identify your audience. If you're writing for yourself, write for yourself. If you're writing for friends or loved ones, or for a broader audience, know who they are. This isn't the same as that reductive notion of "recognizing your demographic". This is more central to artistic expression. You have to think to yourself whether you want people outside of the settings, culture, history, actions, happenings and revelations of your narrative to relate to what you say, or whether you're deliberately writing for a specific group.
  • SleightOfHand562
    SleightOfHand562 Posts: 477
    Originally posted by FinsburyParkCarrots
    Identify your audience. If you're writing for yourself, write for yourself. If you're writing for friends or loved ones, or for a broader audience, know who they are. This isn't the same as that reductive notion of "recognizing your demographic". This is more central to artistic expression. You have to think to yourself whether you want people outside of the settings, culture, history, actions, happenings and revelations of your narrative to relate to what you say, or whether you're deliberately writing for a specific group.
    your advice truly is priceless and i want you to know it really means something. thanks a lot.
    There have been shows where maybe the whole first half of the show my eyes have been closed. and then you'll look out in the crowd and there'll be somebody totally lost in their head, in exactly the same place you're in. That, to me, is the essence of music

    ~Jeff Ament
  • EvilToasterElf
    EvilToasterElf Posts: 1,119
    The first key to writing is to read as much as you can - I also have aspirations to begin collecting story Ideas into novels, you just have to keep reading, see whose style really strikes you, what successful authors are doing right, and what bad books are doing wrong - as long as you are honest about your characters and their interactions, as long as your story is believable or has a solid message with its suspension of disbelief, you should be ok. Don't be afraid to stop and start another project in the middle either. You can always come back to where you were.
  • SleightOfHand562
    SleightOfHand562 Posts: 477
    Originally posted by EvilToasterElf
    The first key to writing is to read as much as you can - I also have aspirations to begin collecting story Ideas into novels, you just have to keep reading, see whose style really strikes you, what successful authors are doing right, and what bad books are doing wrong - as long as you are honest about your characters and their interactions, as long as your story is believable or has a solid message with its suspension of disbelief, you should be ok. Don't be afraid to stop and start another project in the middle either. You can always come back to where you were.

    priceless advice. thanks!
    There have been shows where maybe the whole first half of the show my eyes have been closed. and then you'll look out in the crowd and there'll be somebody totally lost in their head, in exactly the same place you're in. That, to me, is the essence of music

    ~Jeff Ament
  • deadnothingbetter
    deadnothingbetter Posts: 2,202
    Tolkien never used a synopsis or never even used an outline to write LOtR. He simply wrote it.
    This isn't the land of opportunity, it's the land of competition.
  • SleightOfHand562
    SleightOfHand562 Posts: 477
    bump
    There have been shows where maybe the whole first half of the show my eyes have been closed. and then you'll look out in the crowd and there'll be somebody totally lost in their head, in exactly the same place you're in. That, to me, is the essence of music

    ~Jeff Ament

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