Okay, so I have (what I think) a good plot and story line. I already know how the book will start and end, but I am stuck on the middle. Every time I start to think about it, Its like my brain just shuts down. Can anyone help me with this?
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juin 26, 2008 - 21 09
Well, I'm a big fan of outlines. Or timelines, really, just writing out everything that's going to happen in order. I find that once you start writing things down the next thing and the next just flow naturally and you may find out that the story doesn't actually end the way you thought it did.
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juin 27, 2008 - 20 31
I get that too, which is why I usually go for open-ended writing projects. Everything I write might be the end...
Ahm, but as regards your particular issue. I assume you're looking for general advice (eat chocolate, get eight hours of sleep) instead of specific advice, since you haven't given too many details.
So, when you say you know how it ends, you do mean that you know what has been accomplished, right? You know where your characters are. Romantically: hooked up; mentally: accepted that they don't need parental approval in choosing a career; physically: moved to Bristol.
So you basically know what's supposed to happen in the middle already. For example, if the whole plotline is about your characters overcoming jealous girlfriends, bad boyfriends, and disapproving parents to establish a steady relationship...then maybe you know that somewhere in the middle the girl has to break up with the bad boyfriend. Maybe in the beginning she is with the boyfriend and apparently happy on the surface, although really dissatisfied with a few things. So, somewhere she has to come to the realisation that her boyfriend is not supportive or something.
Once you know the events that need to happen to get the beginning to the end result, you can then start by deciding the catalysts. In the example above, maybe the girl wants to quit her highpaying but unfulfilling job and train to be a middle-school teacher. Her boyfriend doesn't understand why. She angrily calls him shallow and they have a big fight; even if this is not the decisive moment where they break up, you just set the stage for that decisive moment.
This basically means that you need to set out 'blocks', or big events that you know need to happen in the middle. I always like outlining stuff because I can't write without a clear idea of what will happen, so perhaps this will help you too. After setting out the big blocks, I usually gain momentum and start writing down the smaller events, like:
You basically just fill in the blanks in between the outline. So, I hope you figure out what to do (and I hope I helped). ;D Have fun.
----------Mirabile dictu, the world did not end.
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juin 29, 2008 - 17 20
That did help, and thank you. I am trying to work with an outline, unfortunately, I am horrible with thoes things. Do you have any way that you could send me a sample out line? I have tried outlining, but I think I get caught up in details rather than the Big Blocks you talked about. And you are right. I do know that to get from the begining, where she has to go to a former fiance for help to the end, where she gets shot saving him there has to be several instances that create not only emotional and sexual tention between the characters, but also to heighten the danger that they are in and what is at stake. I am just haveing trouble getting thoes generic Big Blocks into something more concrete.