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Other aliases: NeoDude, Return of Neo

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Neo's Writing Clinics > Clinic #1

Starting a Story

Hiya, Neo here.  This is the first in my writing assistance series, so if you want (or need!) help, this is a good place to start if you don't know anywhere better.  First, I will mention that I am not perfect, nor am I a published writer.  I'm also not always the best person to turn to, so feel free to look somewhere else if you need it.  That said, let's get started where YOU should get started.

So, revving up to write your first story?  Excellent!  There are a few things to consider when you do so.

First, think about your audience.  Are you gearing this towards the grade school crowd?  Adults?  Adolescents?  You need to know who you're writing for before you write.  If you're talking to an adult, you don't want to use teen slang (1337 and such).  Teens won't care for boring, droning descriptions of the scene, they tend to want action.  Mostly kids just want something interesting to keep their focus.

Next, think about the genres this will fit into.  You want to complement the primary genre with one or more secondary genres that fit.  For example, if you're writing drama, you may want some humor mixed in.

OK.  After all that, you've probably forgotten what you wanted to write.  Not to worry, because there's another way to write if you're not able to think in coherent sentences at the moment.  If you have the gist of what you want to do but not the details, one thing to try is to write a barebones story with the core pieces inserted, then fill in the details later.  For example, say that you have a story in which Jane will meet Bob at the end of the street.  So, let's say that you have three plot points figured out: she stresses out about her clothes, she burns her toast and sets the house on fire, and she gets to the end of the street and meets Bob.  You'd put those down.  Now, add the details: WHY is she stressing about her clothes?  HOW did her toast start a fire?  WHAT happened when she met Bob?  The details answer the questions that you create.  Shape the story by asking questions.