Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity. A Simple Novel Outline - 9 questions for 25 chapters & H.E. Roulo - StumbleUpon. Just as every tree is different but still recognizably a tree, every story is different but contains elements that make it a story.
By defining those before you begin you clarify the scope of your work, identify your themes, and create the story you meant to write. At Norwescon 2011 I sat in on a session called Outline Your Novel in 90-minutes led by Mark Teppo. I’ll give you the brief, readable, synthesized version. Answer 9 questions and create 25 chapter titles and you’re there. Here are the 9 questions to create a novel: 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) Now, with those 9 questions answered to your satisfaction, try to fill in a 25 chapter, 75,000 word outline. Chapters 7-18 are the middle of your book. Chapters 19-25 depict the heroic act to victory. Wasn’t that easy? Okay, sure, the work isn’t done yet. Using the idea that there are 25 chapters, I outlined my current work in progress. I hope that was helpful. Tell me what works for you.
Related 6 Steps to Masterful Writing Critiques. 25 Virtues Writers Should Possess. 1. A Wild And Unfettered Imagination This one goes up front: the bubbling turbid stew that comprises your brain-mind combo must possess an endless array of unexpected ideas. Your head should be an antenna receiving frequencies from the furthest-flung reaches of Known Creative Space. You want to survive, you’ve got to have an imagination that won’t lay down and die. That fucker’s like a North Korean 9-year-old: up all night, smoking cigarettes, working his fingers to the bone.
He never cries. 2. Given that we’re creative types prone to art-o-leptic fits of imagination, if we’re given no leash we’ll just wander off into the woods to create our masterpiece. 3. The only way you’re going to stay on target is if you believe this thing you want to do can actually happen. 4. By the same token, realistic expectations are the order of the day. 5. Here’s where you say, “Wait, wuzza? 6. 7. Writers are liars who use those lies to tell truths. 8. 9. 10. 11. You will have deadlines. 12. 13. 14. 15. How to Stay Inspired (for Writers and Artists): 12 steps (with pictures) Edited by AJ Knight, Krystle, Amanda, Brendan and 11 others Creative inspiration is magical when you have it and frustrating when you don't. For anyone who has had writer's block, who struggles with agent rejections, or who has thrown in the paintbrush, here are some fresh perspectives on what creativity really means. Art is a passion that has many forms of expression. Invite the Muse to not only visit but to stay a while!
Ad Steps 1Go to writing or art critique groups. 12And the most important words to inspire you are: Just do it. Tips Re-think your eating habits. Top 10 Sentence Slip-Ups. Good writing comes down to two totally different factors: solid prose and “it.” The latter is that special something that brings stories to life, infuses vibrancy into characters and themes, and just basically makes stories work. But an author who has been blessed with all the “it” in the world still won’t make it if he isn’t also able to convey the essence of his genius in well-ordered, properly structured sentences and paragraphs. Creating correct sentences is a technical process that offers set guidelines for getting the structure right.
Within those guidelines, we have the opportunity to flex our creative muscles in all kinds of unique ways (and even to occasionally burst the bounds of those guidelines if we have good reason for doing so). 1. What is it? Example: Grabbing her pet flying monkey, Jana jumped onto its back. What’s wrong with it? 2. What is it? Example: Jana grabbed her pet flying monkey, she jumped onto its back. What’s wrong with it? 3. What is it? 4. What is it? 5. 6. Fifty (50!) Tools which can help you in Writing. Cracking the code of writing. What’s the secret to good prose? What makes it work—not just on the aesthetic level of vivid and poetic word choices, but on the deeper and ultimately more important level of functionality? In short, is there a method authors can learn to create clear and powerful prose—or is it all luck and gut instinct?
All prose—whether it’s the elaborate poetry of William Faulkner or the straightforward sentences of Cormac McCarthy—will always be instinctive on some level. Our word choices and sometimes the direction the sentences themselves end up taking can surprise even us sometimes. But if the structure that underlies our sentences and paragraphs is going to effectively convey our thoughts to our readers it will always adhere to the logical pattern of cause and effect.
What’s a motivation-reaction unit? Dwight V. For all that it sounds like part of an airplane engine,motivation-reaction units are an insanely simple concept. What’s a motivation? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What’s a reaction? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The 4 Story Structures that Dominate Novels. All stories contain four elements that can determine structure: milieu, idea, character and event. While each is present in every story, there is generally one that dominates the others. Which one dominates? The one that the author cares about most. This is why the process of discovering the structure of a story is usually a process of self-discovery. Which aspect of the story matters most to you? Let’s take each element in turn and look at the structure that would be required if that were to be the dominant element in your story.
STRUCTURE 1: THE MILIEU STORY The milieu is the world—the planet, the society, the weather, the family, all the elements that come up during your world-creation phase. Milieu stories always follow that structure. This structure is most common in science fiction and fantasy, but it also occurs in other types of novels. Likewise, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz doesn’t end when Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West.
Most mysteries follow this structure. Eight Secrets Which Writers Won’t Tell You. Image from Flickr by Lazurite This is not particularly relevant to the post, but I’m getting an awful lot of comments telling me, often a little snarkily, “it’s ‘THAT’ not ‘WHICH’”. The “don’t use which for restrictive clauses” rule comes (as far as I can tell) from Strunk and White. Plenty of authors, including Austen, have used “which” exactly as I use it in the title. It’s very commonly used like this here in England, so I’m guessing my comments are coming from US readers.
There was never a period in the history of English when “which” at the beginning of a restrictive relative clause was an error. I thought about putting “that” in the title – but I like the sound of “which” between “secrets” and “writers”. And with that out of the way, enjoy the post! A few years ago, I’d look at published writers and think that they were somehow different from me. They were real writers. I’m going to go through eight secrets. Secret #1: Writing is Hard The truth is, though, that writing is hard. Kibin Offers Free Editing and Proofreading for Your Papers and Other Writing.