So, some of you may know that when I have an idea pop inside my head i recklessly just do it without thinking of what to do next...basically i have no clear guide or image to follow through so it usually ends up just going on hiatus but now i look back on some stuff I've learned from them that I thought i should share and hopefully me myself follow in the future. So without further ado,let's start.
Preparation
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1) Motivation- You dreaming of making your stories come true? Well first of all, you need to get clear with yourself...are you sure you have the motivation and drive to do this? cause if you don't it may end up falling apart before you even started. If you really want to follow through with this, you gotta make it one of your goals for you to achieve in your checklist. Whether you have time for just once a week or even just a few hours, make sure you have what it takes to keep this up, otherwise you could just stick with oneshots.
2) Story Ideas- You can't start your own fiction stories if you don't have at least an idea of what it's going to be,whether a story about zombies and aliens taking over the world or Atlantis suddenly being transported into space--you gotta have that spark of creation that you want to build up on. Getting story ideas could very well come from anywhere,based on your real life, your friends' experiences and even your dreams, you can write them on a paper or something and maybe as ridiculous as some of those sounds, they may become your golden piece.
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Planning
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3) Fleshing it out- So what's a good story if you just keep doing it on impulse everytime you get an idea pop in your head? Well, as some of you who is messy in doing notes (especially in classes), I had somewhat of a hard time progressing in a story without a clear direction. It could be applied in my role as a writer in our School Publication, because if you don't have a clear image in your mind on what to write and how it will flow out--you get a not so neat article with various erasures and cringe-worthy paragraphs. So basically you need to be *sigh* organized. How? Well, let's put a bit of "News Writing" into this and introduce to you the 5 W's and 1 H. So what is the 5 W's and 1H? Well, it basically stands for: Who,What,When,Where,Why and How.
"So...then how does this work?" You ask, well simple. You create and put details in each category as much as you like. For easier understanding,look at this:
What- What is the story going to be about? (eg. Zombies taking over the world w/ aliens...etc.)
Who- Who are the characters going to be? (eg. OC's or in case of being a 'fanfiction' characters from canon)
When- When will this take place? (eg. modern,future...etc.)
Where- Where will this take place? (eg. modern city of Tokyo,your own made up city/country...etc.)
How- How did this event happen? (eg. a nuclear factory accidentally spilled chemicals near a cemetery,a made up major event...etc. basically some background info.)
Why- Why did this happen? (eg. the chemicals made a violent reaction to dead flesh...etc. functions almost the same as 'how' though with more details,or maybe it's the other way around.)
4) Character and Bios- Well, now that you cleared out on a concrete story idea, you would think that you're done---well no. Every story needs to have interesting characters to back it up, you can't have people supporting your story if your characters are Mary Sue's and aren't remotely relatable. Make them based off yourself or maybe even a friend so that they won't be 'perfect'. Again, let's put the same principle from above into this.
What- What does your character/characters look like? (eg. a 10 year old brunette girl with striking green eyes, a blond man with a mask...etc.)
Who- Who are your characters supposed to be? (eg. Clair,Shade of the Mask...etc. It can also be taken as a question about their personality.)
When- When where they born? (eg. September 1st of the year 2XXX,the night of the blood moon...etc.)
Where- Where were they born? (eg. modern England,a manor at the top of the XXX mountain...etc.)
Why- Why are they like that? (an abusive family,will to be free...etc. take it as a question for details about their personality.)
How- How did their life came to be? (fairly normal,'a kill or be killed' situation...etc. basically their Bio)
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Execution
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5) Flow of the Story per episode/chapter- Now that you're finally starting, you gotta be as organized (if not more) as you did with the overall story/idea. Alright, so yeah, you can also apply the 5 W's and 1 H into this but this time let me show you 2 ways (though not limited) for you to plan out your chapters. First, the one you are all familiar with Outlining and the Second is one normally not applied in this...Flowcharting. Yes,yes I know it's supposed to be an algorithm for 'work' and stuff but I started developing my style on this okay! Besides, for some reason I really suck at doing outlines.
Outlines- so from what I remember this is how this thing works. 1) The space at the top would be where your title is going to be, though in this case, an episode title., 2)The Roman numerals are the ones representing each paragraph in your chapter., 3)The letters are the supporting details in each paragraph and 4)The numbers would serve as a sort of sub-detail for your supporting details although rarely used.
Here's an example of an outline from: link
It's not exactly a 'chapter' sort of outline but I hope you understand anyway...sorry, I really did try to make an example of my own but like I said,I suck at outlining.
Flowchart- Now...flowcharts are normally used as a guide for work processes but here, since I'm not that organized and tend to get headaches instead when using Outlines, I go for my version of a flowchart. Anyway, here's how flowcharts work: 1) An oval serves as both a starting point and an end point., 2)The arrows connects the shapes,sorta like a chain., 3)A parallelogram serves as the 'Input/Output', although I rarely if never use it., 4)A rectangle represents a process, here we'll put 'actions' or events instead and 5) A diamond represents a decision to be made "Will XXX die in this chapter?" Yes/No, with the arrows connecting to each outcome...basically it's like that one theory about timelines.
Here's an example I made:
Note that it's just a quick sample, so please don't mind the obvious plot hole and the sloppyness of the structure. Although I made it as simple and easy to understand as I can.
Anyway, i guess both of these could also be used in the overall storyline though i could image that it would look pretty complicated to look at,I recommend doing some of these chapter outlines/flowcharts prior to posting them,maybe two at a time,because you never know when you actually want to introduce a certain event in 'that' chapter or save it for the future ones.
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Polishing and Publishing
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
6) Revise and Rewrite- Okay so now you're down to this...BUT although it's a pain, one thing that my teachers and even fellow writers advice is to Revise and Rewrite,why? Because even if you are the one who wrote that certain chapter, there is still a possibility that you may have overlooked a particular part in your story. May it be typos or even unintentionally writing/hinting out a plot twist 2 chapters too early...you can never be sure. Who knows, maybe you could find something too cringer worthy but be able to change it beforehand.
It also helps if you have a proofreader,as some writers say, because while some chapters seem 'perfect' for you, other's could find it a bit lacking...after all "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder", and what you may find to be acceptable may not be what others think. Everybody's opinion counts on this one, whether a professional or even just a friend, it could help to have some outside advise for your chapters to improve. If a person says that your character became slightly Mary Sue, instead of taking offense, get advise on how to make him/her more grounded and relatable.
...and finally 7) Publishing your work- You worked hard for this so now it's time to see how the world takes it. After all those headache inducing planning and organizing you can finally show people your creation! Gives yourself a pat on the back because you did it! :D
So here you go! These are the stuff I've learned from my time failing. Hopefully it works out for you as well as for me...oh! and thanks for reading this long freakin' article and until next time. Have a good day,guys. :]
Preparation
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
1) Motivation- You dreaming of making your stories come true? Well first of all, you need to get clear with yourself...are you sure you have the motivation and drive to do this? cause if you don't it may end up falling apart before you even started. If you really want to follow through with this, you gotta make it one of your goals for you to achieve in your checklist. Whether you have time for just once a week or even just a few hours, make sure you have what it takes to keep this up, otherwise you could just stick with oneshots.
2) Story Ideas- You can't start your own fiction stories if you don't have at least an idea of what it's going to be,whether a story about zombies and aliens taking over the world or Atlantis suddenly being transported into space--you gotta have that spark of creation that you want to build up on. Getting story ideas could very well come from anywhere,based on your real life, your friends' experiences and even your dreams, you can write them on a paper or something and maybe as ridiculous as some of those sounds, they may become your golden piece.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Planning
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
3) Fleshing it out- So what's a good story if you just keep doing it on impulse everytime you get an idea pop in your head? Well, as some of you who is messy in doing notes (especially in classes), I had somewhat of a hard time progressing in a story without a clear direction. It could be applied in my role as a writer in our School Publication, because if you don't have a clear image in your mind on what to write and how it will flow out--you get a not so neat article with various erasures and cringe-worthy paragraphs. So basically you need to be *sigh* organized. How? Well, let's put a bit of "News Writing" into this and introduce to you the 5 W's and 1 H. So what is the 5 W's and 1H? Well, it basically stands for: Who,What,When,Where,Why and How.
"So...then how does this work?" You ask, well simple. You create and put details in each category as much as you like. For easier understanding,look at this:
What- What is the story going to be about? (eg. Zombies taking over the world w/ aliens...etc.)
Who- Who are the characters going to be? (eg. OC's or in case of being a 'fanfiction' characters from canon)
When- When will this take place? (eg. modern,future...etc.)
Where- Where will this take place? (eg. modern city of Tokyo,your own made up city/country...etc.)
How- How did this event happen? (eg. a nuclear factory accidentally spilled chemicals near a cemetery,a made up major event...etc. basically some background info.)
Why- Why did this happen? (eg. the chemicals made a violent reaction to dead flesh...etc. functions almost the same as 'how' though with more details,or maybe it's the other way around.)
4) Character and Bios- Well, now that you cleared out on a concrete story idea, you would think that you're done---well no. Every story needs to have interesting characters to back it up, you can't have people supporting your story if your characters are Mary Sue's and aren't remotely relatable. Make them based off yourself or maybe even a friend so that they won't be 'perfect'. Again, let's put the same principle from above into this.
What- What does your character/characters look like? (eg. a 10 year old brunette girl with striking green eyes, a blond man with a mask...etc.)
Who- Who are your characters supposed to be? (eg. Clair,Shade of the Mask...etc. It can also be taken as a question about their personality.)
When- When where they born? (eg. September 1st of the year 2XXX,the night of the blood moon...etc.)
Where- Where were they born? (eg. modern England,a manor at the top of the XXX mountain...etc.)
Why- Why are they like that? (an abusive family,will to be free...etc. take it as a question for details about their personality.)
How- How did their life came to be? (fairly normal,'a kill or be killed' situation...etc. basically their Bio)
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Execution
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
5) Flow of the Story per episode/chapter- Now that you're finally starting, you gotta be as organized (if not more) as you did with the overall story/idea. Alright, so yeah, you can also apply the 5 W's and 1 H into this but this time let me show you 2 ways (though not limited) for you to plan out your chapters. First, the one you are all familiar with Outlining and the Second is one normally not applied in this...Flowcharting. Yes,yes I know it's supposed to be an algorithm for 'work' and stuff but I started developing my style on this okay! Besides, for some reason I really suck at doing outlines.
Outlines- so from what I remember this is how this thing works. 1) The space at the top would be where your title is going to be, though in this case, an episode title., 2)The Roman numerals are the ones representing each paragraph in your chapter., 3)The letters are the supporting details in each paragraph and 4)The numbers would serve as a sort of sub-detail for your supporting details although rarely used.
Here's an example of an outline from: link
click to enlarge
It's not exactly a 'chapter' sort of outline but I hope you understand anyway...sorry, I really did try to make an example of my own but like I said,I suck at outlining.
Flowchart- Now...flowcharts are normally used as a guide for work processes but here, since I'm not that organized and tend to get headaches instead when using Outlines, I go for my version of a flowchart. Anyway, here's how flowcharts work: 1) An oval serves as both a starting point and an end point., 2)The arrows connects the shapes,sorta like a chain., 3)A parallelogram serves as the 'Input/Output', although I rarely if never use it., 4)A rectangle represents a process, here we'll put 'actions' or events instead and 5) A diamond represents a decision to be made "Will XXX die in this chapter?" Yes/No, with the arrows connecting to each outcome...basically it's like that one theory about timelines.
Here's an example I made:
also click to enlarge
Note that it's just a quick sample, so please don't mind the obvious plot hole and the sloppyness of the structure. Although I made it as simple and easy to understand as I can.
Anyway, i guess both of these could also be used in the overall storyline though i could image that it would look pretty complicated to look at,I recommend doing some of these chapter outlines/flowcharts prior to posting them,maybe two at a time,because you never know when you actually want to introduce a certain event in 'that' chapter or save it for the future ones.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Polishing and Publishing
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
6) Revise and Rewrite- Okay so now you're down to this...BUT although it's a pain, one thing that my teachers and even fellow writers advice is to Revise and Rewrite,why? Because even if you are the one who wrote that certain chapter, there is still a possibility that you may have overlooked a particular part in your story. May it be typos or even unintentionally writing/hinting out a plot twist 2 chapters too early...you can never be sure. Who knows, maybe you could find something too cringer worthy but be able to change it beforehand.
It also helps if you have a proofreader,as some writers say, because while some chapters seem 'perfect' for you, other's could find it a bit lacking...after all "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder", and what you may find to be acceptable may not be what others think. Everybody's opinion counts on this one, whether a professional or even just a friend, it could help to have some outside advise for your chapters to improve. If a person says that your character became slightly Mary Sue, instead of taking offense, get advise on how to make him/her more grounded and relatable.
...and finally 7) Publishing your work- You worked hard for this so now it's time to see how the world takes it. After all those headache inducing planning and organizing you can finally show people your creation! Gives yourself a pat on the back because you did it! :D
So here you go! These are the stuff I've learned from my time failing. Hopefully it works out for you as well as for me...oh! and thanks for reading this long freakin' article and until next time. Have a good day,guys. :]
