Creating Fiction Part 1

Creating Fiction Part 1

          Hello everyone! Today I'd like to take a moment to break down how I come up with the things that I do. Every author has different ways, and each of them are unique and interesting.

Step 1: Pick a Genre. This may seem obvious to most, but as soon as the ideas start swimming in your head, narrow them down to a few choices. You can always decide on this later, but the sooner you get it out of the way then the sooner you can get to the real fun which is writing. If you have a lot of ideas about space then choose Sci-Fi, if you want to create an entirely new world then maybe Fantasy would be best. The internet is your friend, so feel free to do your research as you go along.

Step 2: Choose an Audience. Ultimately if you are writing to be successful or for profit, then you definitely want to cater to a specific demographic. You won't want to target an audience of children if your book is going to be a 300 page novel about war. If however you are choosing just to write for fun, then by all means you can skip this step.

Step 3: Begin Planning. Planning is sometimes either the most fun or worst part of any project, but as the saying goes 'fail to prepare and prepare to fail'. Although both genre and audience are part of planning, planning encompasses so much more. Have characters in mind? Jot them down quickly. Maybe you have a fantastic idea for where the novel will take place, or just a very specific moment you want in your book. Planning can be done anywhere and anytime. I know when I first started Tales of Grandeur, I took about a day and wrote tons of ideas down in the notes section of my phone. I incorporated most things I wrote down into my book, but some didn't quite make the cut and that's okay because they gave me the motivation to move forward. The first few nights I began writing I could hardly sleep at all because so many crazy ideas were popping into my head; luckily though my phone was right next to my bedside and I was ready. Whether you choose your phone, a notebook, or even your computer, planning will help you in the long run. 

Step 4: Characters. One thing I've learned from writing my first book is that you can never plan enough for characters. Will your characters evolve over time? Stay the same throughout? What type of personality are each of them? These are all questions you must answer throughout your book by storytelling. I've heard numerous ways of doing this such as keeping a document and writing down every detail of every character, or when they first appeared in your book. Always remember that personality is everything! Have you ever watched a movie or read something where the main character is just completely unrelatable? Well that's something you definitely want to avoid.

Step 5: World Building. World Building is a must in fictional tales. More than likely, your story exists outside the normal real world, and because of that you must explain the differences to your audience. Which century does the plot take place? Or does it even take place on Earth? These types of things can really help build suspense and a sense of mystery for the reader. Some authors even build maps for themselves in order to fully grasp where all the characters are. Take for instance George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire AKA Game of Thrones, there are so many different places that exist in that world that without a map it can be very confusing.

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That does it for today's first 5 steps on writing fiction. Comment below and share with friends if you found any of this to be helpful!

~ C. J. Strong