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March 30, 2017 at 9:11 pm #29008
@that_writer_girl_99 Howdy! Or, āWelcome to the bestistest place on the internetā as we like to say.
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March 30, 2017 at 9:13 pm #29009Hello!
Iāve already heard that several times haha. Itās rather funny.
Do you mind if I ask you a question? Iām trying to plan out my book Iām working on and Iāve hit a snagā¦Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 30, 2017 at 9:27 pm #29010Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 31, 2017 at 8:45 am #29023@that_writer_girl_99 Sure, so is the question how to plot, or something else?
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March 31, 2017 at 9:49 am #29024Welcome to the site @that_writer_girl_99! Have you read Batsonās Sword in the Stars series? Thatās my favorite series heās done and, in my opinion, probably one of the best works of Christian fantasy out there. What type of science-fiction do you like to write?
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. Guiding authors at Story Embers.
March 31, 2017 at 10:45 am #29025@that_writer_girl_99 hi! Welcome to Kingdom Pen! Iām pretty new myself. š What are your favorite books? What do you like to write?
March 31, 2017 at 12:55 pm #29032Erm, yes, I was wondering how you plan out your chapters?
Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 31, 2017 at 1:02 pm #29033Hello Josiah!
@aratrea
I read the first book in the Sword in the Stars series a few years ago, but didnāt like it as much as the Door Within books. My copy of the Sword in the Stars is actually signed by Batsonā¦I met him at a homeschool convention in Orlando four years ago.Regarding your second question, Iām not exactly sure what to classify my sci-fi works asā¦the idea Iām planning out now is sort of a dystopian type world, with people who have enhanced abilities.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Elizabeth.
Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 31, 2017 at 1:09 pm #29035@Daeus to clarify, the question about planning/outlining your chapters is for youā¦
Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 31, 2017 at 1:12 pm #29036@That_Writer_Girl_99 I havenāt read any of those books, but Iāve heard good things about āem. š
March 31, 2017 at 1:14 pm #29037Both series are pretty good.
Most of the books I read arenāt faith-based, do you have any favorites in the realm of Christian fiction?
@emma-flournoyWriter. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 31, 2017 at 1:31 pm #29042@that_writer_girl_99 Welcome, welcome, and thrice again, welcome! Iām the local elf, so if I ever accidentally dissolve into glitter or creepy poetry, just give me a poke, and Iāll snap out of it. š
Ooh, you got to meet Wayne Thomas Batson? How fun! My cousin met him once at a library book signing (ācause he only lives about an hour away from us, which I think is too cool for words). Have you read his Dream Treaders Trilogy?
Whoās your favorite superhero? Ever attempted reading the Lord of the Rings?INTJ āøYour friendly neighborhood mastermind. āøhttps://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
March 31, 2017 at 1:49 pm #29045Hello! @ethryndal
I absolutely love the Dream Treaders books. The concept is so cool!
Iād say my favorite superhero has to be Captain America. There are a lot to choose from, but Captain America was my first introduction into the Marvel universe. Heās definitely my favorite.
Ah, Lord of the Ringsā¦Iāve seen the movies, and read a handful of the books, but I canāt say that theyāre my favorite. I must applaud Tolkien for his writing skills, though.
Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
March 31, 2017 at 2:06 pm #29048@that_writer_girl_99 Ok, well long answers are good answers, so here we go.
It starts for me with knowing my ending. The ending is normally the first or second thing I get down when planning a book. Itās the most important part of the story from a plotting perspective and it gives me a lot of guidance in planning out the rest of my story, just like knowing I want to go to Washington state instead of Texas will help me plan my route in the most efficient way.
When I know my ending and have a few other major points of my story down, it will help me know what type of story Iām writing. I should be able to identify the main conflict that my story is going to have as well as what my theme is going to be and what types of characters and setting Iām dealing with.
From there I can develop a basic outline for my story. All stories follow a similar structure. This doesnāt mean theyāre all the same, but they all develop according to similar principles. For instance, about halfway through any good novel, you can expect there to be a major turning point in the story. An excellent book on the subject of story structure is K.M.Wielandās āHow To Structure Your Novel.ā I highly recommend it. I used that system for plotting my current novel. In my next one, I plan to do the same thing, only Iāll also be following some of the outlining principles taught in our (KPās) course āTheme Mastery: Writing Christian Literature That Captivatesā (that course isnāt out yet, but weāll be releasing it soon).
Once I know the major events in my story, itās easier to fill in the gaps. Thinking ahead helps with figuring out all the technical details I need to present in a chapter.
Now when I actually sit down to write and I have a basic idea of where I want to go, hereās how I fill in the details (not necessarily in order of importance):
1. Consider where youāre starting in a scene. Suppose a child is kidnapped. If I start with the child making cookies for their mom, the kidnapping could be really sad and maybe a bit creepy too. If I start at the kidnapping, I have immediate action. If I start after the kidnapping, I create mystery. Thereās the question of, āWhat in the world?!?! Whatās Tommy doing in this hoodlumās pick up truck?ā Actually, any of those could be pretty good options, but normally some will be great, some good, and some not so good and youāll have to choose the best one. Now, say if Tommy had been making mud pies before he got kidnapped, that doesnāt create as much empathy as if he were making cookies, so timing as well as what is going on at the opening are both very important. That leads me to another point.
2. Look for contrast. That makes things stand out more. Always. Like the selfish hoodlum and the generous little boy.
3. Related to this, you need to ask whose POV is it best to tell the scene from. Do we want to talk about Tommyās kidnapping from Tommyās POV, the hoodlumās, or from a neighborās who saw it all from their window? It matters.
4. Your character needs a scene goal. Characters who wander around waiting for change to meet them arenāt very interesting. Characters need to have goalsāmeaning goals that they actively pursue. On top of this you need conflict, which means an opposition to the characterās goal. The conflict should lead to something going wrong leading to your characterās reactionāthe adjustment in how theyāre going to approach the situation now that theyāve met this disaster.
5. Try to develop character relationships. No man is an island. Even in books.
6. If I remember any more, Iāll tell you. I think thereās more, but theyāre not coming to me right now.š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢š¢
March 31, 2017 at 2:11 pm #29049 -
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