One of the most important things about a book is its genre. Everybody has a preference of genre, and we usually use that as a decision-making tool in whether or not we should read/write certain books. A statistic from Para Publishing states that "81% of the population feels they have a book inside them" so it's just a matter of knowing what genre you belong to!
Take a look through the books you have at home, or write down a list of your top ten favorite reads and see what they have in common with each other. Do they have a hint of mystery? Or an element of romance to them? Usually (if you don't know your favorite genre already) the books you read will speak for themselves. Once you figure out a genre they all have in common, you have your genre! Now it is time to start planning out the rest of your story.
Next, is writing out your characters. This part is extremely important because your characters are what make the story come to life for readers! We create emotional attachments to them, and more often than not can heavily relate to at least one character in every book. It seems like a daunting task, but no worries! We are multidimensional beings so there is no right way to categorize and write out your characters personalities, but you should incorporate a variety of characters (of course).
If you're anything like me, this is the hardest part of brainstorming because how in the world do you magically create all of these complex creatures?! Birth charts. That's exactly how.
I like to include bits and pieces of myself into my characters because like novelist Paul Theroux says: "Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us." So in order to learn about my characters, I have to learn about myself first. One way I like to do this is through astrology, and if you're not a die-hard believer like me, going ahead and figuring out your birth chart anyways can still be useful in this process.
All you have to do is go to http://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php and fill in the information as shown in the box below, then bam! A full synopsis of your personality at the touch of your fingertips. I read through this information then decide how many characters I want, and gain an overall sense as to what I want them to be like. I then write this all down into my notebook for safe keeping and decide on names later.
Now that I have my characters down along with their personalities, I move onto the actual plot! This is fairly easy, all you have to do is break it down into 5-6 simple parts: Introduction, conflict, rising action, climax, declining action, and solution unless you want to leave the audience with a cliffhanger. Now, filling in those sections are completely up to you. While there is a structure in writing, it is mostly pure imagination and the plot is one of those things where imagination is required. But no need to fret, if you find yourself stuck you can find inspiration in practically any literature from magazines to dictionaries. The possibilities are endless! Go wild!
Take a look through the books you have at home, or write down a list of your top ten favorite reads and see what they have in common with each other. Do they have a hint of mystery? Or an element of romance to them? Usually (if you don't know your favorite genre already) the books you read will speak for themselves. Once you figure out a genre they all have in common, you have your genre! Now it is time to start planning out the rest of your story.
Next, is writing out your characters. This part is extremely important because your characters are what make the story come to life for readers! We create emotional attachments to them, and more often than not can heavily relate to at least one character in every book. It seems like a daunting task, but no worries! We are multidimensional beings so there is no right way to categorize and write out your characters personalities, but you should incorporate a variety of characters (of course).
If you're anything like me, this is the hardest part of brainstorming because how in the world do you magically create all of these complex creatures?! Birth charts. That's exactly how.
I like to include bits and pieces of myself into my characters because like novelist Paul Theroux says: "Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us." So in order to learn about my characters, I have to learn about myself first. One way I like to do this is through astrology, and if you're not a die-hard believer like me, going ahead and figuring out your birth chart anyways can still be useful in this process.
All you have to do is go to http://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php and fill in the information as shown in the box below, then bam! A full synopsis of your personality at the touch of your fingertips. I read through this information then decide how many characters I want, and gain an overall sense as to what I want them to be like. I then write this all down into my notebook for safe keeping and decide on names later.
Now that I have my characters down along with their personalities, I move onto the actual plot! This is fairly easy, all you have to do is break it down into 5-6 simple parts: Introduction, conflict, rising action, climax, declining action, and solution unless you want to leave the audience with a cliffhanger. Now, filling in those sections are completely up to you. While there is a structure in writing, it is mostly pure imagination and the plot is one of those things where imagination is required. But no need to fret, if you find yourself stuck you can find inspiration in practically any literature from magazines to dictionaries. The possibilities are endless! Go wild!
Muchos Gracias
ReplyDeletewhat a helpful post!!!
ReplyDeletelol
ReplyDelete