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Post by airbournebearcarcass on Feb 28, 2015 17:36:25 GMT
I am pretty sure just about everyone here has more experience in writing than I do, and I need advice from all of you-----how do you develop your ideas? For the two measly chapters I wrote for both of my fanfics, they are creations of impulse and not elaborate planning, I just suddenly had those ideas that I knew exactly how to put them into words and so I did. Nevertheless despite my four successful attempts at impulsive writing (my definition of successful is finishing the chapter, the bar I set for myself is very low), more often than not my ideas are like shooting stars; they briefly flashed across my mind and I think they were brilliant but by the time I gathered enough spare time to sit in front of a computer I had no idea how to develop them into words, the ideas by then have faded in the night sky gone forever.
Right now the idea which just flashed my mind is a story in which the boss of a criminal syndicate, unrelated to BO or MK organisation, has a personal vendetta against certain characters in the DCMK universe and the boss is trying to destroy the lives of these characters. These characters can be people such as Kaitou KID, Kudo Shinichi, Akai Shuichi, Hakuba Saguru, Hakuba Senior, Suzuki Jirokichi, they are some possibilities. When I sit in front of my computer my fingers refused to budge because I knew this time round I cannot write without planning everything out. This idea is stronger than the others and I have a feeling it is not fading away soon, I already have a logical explanation as to why a boss of a criminal syndicate has a personal vendetta against certain people (emphasis on personal, BO and MKO's actions against the protagonists are not personal). I don't know how to develop this idea into a story, like the action sequences. That's why I need the advice from the other writers on this forum, how do you develop and brainstorm your ideas into a story, like are there any tips and helpful techniques?
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Post by ichthyophobia on Feb 28, 2015 18:02:16 GMT
There are a couple things I've found helpful:
OUTLINES. Yes, your high school teacher probably told you to do this, and yes it's horribly boring, but it does help. Get the major points you want to hit down on paper, then figure out how to connect them. If you don't know what order things need to happen in or if you keep changing your mind, what you can do is write down events on slips of paper so they can be rearranged. It also helps to keep in mind that the events that happen need to be set up in some way. For example, if someone gets framed for stealing important documents, those important documents need to go missing first. Those establishing events can help build plot and fill out the story.
WISHLISTS. Make a wishlist! Just list out the things you want to have in the story. That can be events, or themes, or particular conversations. This'll help spark ideas and keep your interest in the story. Also helpful is a not-wish-list, where you list the things you don't want. For example, you might want something to have Kaito and Shinichi interacting, but not be romantic. Or you could want to avoid angst (or focus on angst). Anything that you know you want or don't want would be something you write down.
I know a lot of people swear by mindmaps, but they've never really worked for me. With those, basically you take your central idea and write down everything that comes into your head, then draw connections. Then whatever of those things you like, you write down everything that comes into your head, and draw more connections, and repeat until you have way more ideas than you could ever use. Like I said, I don't use this, but it does help some people.
Hopefully that helps.
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Post by assasin8 on Feb 28, 2015 19:26:44 GMT
One thing I would tell you is to just give a little bit of thought to the story when you're bored. I personally keep a small note book on me at all times, so no matter where I am, I have somewhere to put any idea that comes to mind. (I'm much more of an editor than a writer though ^_^ A tip I learned from an author's website is asking questions. What would this person do if this happened? What would force these characters to do this? Why would this person help his enemy? Is there a way to get these two to fight? Let one question lead to an event or action and keep going from there. Putting things into words just like that may be more difficult when you don't feel that strong-once-in-a-lifetime spark of motivation though. If at that moment, you really can't write, take a small break. Get up, walk around the room, and while you're moving around, just let your imagination loose on your storyline. Imagine it as a movie, and the VoiceOver is narrating the event you were stuck on. When you're ready, sit down and write the narrator's script. It's hard to be satisfied with forced writing, so try to avoid it!
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Post by Mikauzoran on Feb 28, 2015 21:30:15 GMT
Well the way that I personally do it is kind of like Ichthy was talking about. I really love outlines, but mine are kind of messy and handwritten. Basically what I do is I get a blank sheet of paper and then write all my ideas on it. I just scribble and scratch the hell out of that first sheet, writing in the corners, drawing arrows, starring stuff. It's a total mess. I call it "artistic vomit". It's super helpful for me, though because that way I get all of my ideas out and see where I stand.
Then, I take a clean sheet of paper out and put the ideas into an outline. Then I'm able to see where the gaps are, where the weak parts are so that I can go back and find connections, ways to flesh it out and sew it all together. When I say outline, I don't mean that it has to be super complicated. Sometimes I just write down a word or a phrase, an idea for a scene, or some piece of dialogue that I want to work in there. It's a very rough outline, and that's usually how it stays unless I'm writing something super involved.
I like to keep the outline rough because I'm always having new ideas or little sparks of inspiration, and that way it's easy to slip things in or take things out. I always like to give myself some creative space, so I don't like tying things down too much. Like, an example of my "outline" (extremely, extremely rough) that I'm working off of now for this crazy HakuShin fic that Starlight inadvertently inspired me to write simply reads:
-doesn't like fish -talk about how first met -ring around neck -about Conan -Helen coming -Kaito's visit -start DA together
As you can see it's super rough. I'm just crossing out ideas as I get to them since I'm not married to any set order at the moment. This is more of a "wishlist" setup, I guess, like what Ichthy was talking about. I haven't heard that term before, but I kind of like it. Usually my outlines are in chronological order, so I guess this is a sucky example, :/ but, anyway, as you can see it doesn't have to be elaborate. I just write down a word, phrase, or scrap of dialogue that's meaningful to me, that will jog my mind about the rest of the scene.
That's how I do things, anyway. You're probably going to want to have a strong timeline for this fic. It sounds pretty ambitious. I wish you luck! If you need help brainstorming ways to get from point A to point X, just let us know. We'd be more than happy to hash things out with you!
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neonquincy1217
God
Note to self: Be kind to yourself. Be patient. Embrace the random. Life is not instant noodles. :))
Posts: 1,339
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Post by neonquincy1217 on Mar 1, 2015 8:46:14 GMT
*files away for writing purposes*
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Post by airbournebearcarcass on Mar 1, 2015 13:48:30 GMT
Thanks a lot, great advice. I have managed to plan out the revenge against Hakuba Senior as well as the motivation for revenge...it is really devious and evil...I feel like an evil mastermind as if I am planning my own revenge!
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