Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hi! I'm new here and I have no idea how to use this thing but I think that's how it works. I need to write something but I just can't get the words flowing so I just need like a starter sentence and I can go from there or maybe just like a simple plot please? Thanks guys!!

It's definitely not as simple as someone doing that, in my opinion anyway! Try looking on websites for prompts, or go to a word generator and see if a group of words on there can inspire you.

Mostly though, in my opinion, reading and daydreaming are the best ways to get ideas! When I start a story, it's because I've got a couple of seems that I'm imagining all day long and I want to build a plot around them.

I know it's not what you asked for, but hopefully this will help a little bit! Reading around the genre you're interested in and seeing what's popular is another great way to get plot ideas.

It kinda did! Thank you xx

Yara wrote: "Hi! I'm new here and I have no idea how to use this thing but I think that's how it works. I need to write something but I just can't get the words flowing so I just need like a starter sentence an..."

Yara,

At the very beginning stage of writing, there is no need to obsess about a detailed plot or extremely effective first sentence. Apparently, you have a story to tell. Begin by just jotting down rough character descriptions and various scenarios in which you picture them becoming involved.

Writing a novel is a journey; often a very long and difficult one. Take the first step, and then the next, and then the next. Eventually you will reach your destination. There is an ancient Chinese saying: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step". I wish you success in this endeavor.

My advice: set the scene.

While people joke about "a dark and stormy night," conceptually, it's not a bad start (presuming you don't fetishize every detail and do get onto some dialog in the first two pages).

Try just sitting down with your writing tools of choice (be it pen and paper, a computer, or whatever) and just writing down whatever comes in to your head.

Don't think too much about it; just write!

Later, you can sort through what you wrote, and see what you can come up with from whatever you have in front of you.

Rudyard Kipling told us that there are nine and ninety ways to write. He was quite right.
Some writers plot everything out in advance. Outlines. Family trees. Time lines of major events. Character sketch sheets. Chapter summaries. I know of people who plot the work down to the paragraph level.
At the other end of the spectrum are the seat-of-the-pants writers. I am one. We don't plan. We just begin. If you make us plan, the work immediately dies on the vine. Her editor learned never to ask Diana Wynne Jones, a famous fantasy writer, how the latest book was going. Just the question was enough to throw her off for days.
Your job, as a young writer, is to find out where you fall on the spectrum. Try outlining. Try winging it. Try Scrivener. Try pencil and paper. One of them will work for you, but no one can tell you which. You have to find your own way.

I can't pull a mental image of the terrain around Riyadh, but if there are any quiet places nearby, whether a semi-secluded beach, hillside, a stream, or cliffs, a place of the silences might help you open yourself to the eternal moment long enough to see a story or a glimpse thereof.

May the pen be with you.

One of the first short stories I wrote had the basic idea of what I wanted to convey. Then, years later when I picked it up again, I did an outline of the entire story, expanded on it (and fixed a lot of major problems) and finally it went from a short story to a trilogy!

Point being, the story, no matter how short to start with, or outlining the story and characters, needs to be the first step. Write it until you finish it. Don't worry about perfection or missing flow or grammar. That will be fixed in the rewrites and edits.

If need be, just start with a little bit at a time.

Thank you all of you! This helped a lot. I like this goodreads group thing, it's actually very useful

C.J. wrote: "One of the first short stories I wrote had the basic idea of what I wanted to convey. Then, years later when I picked it up again, I did an outline of the entire story, expanded on it (and fixed a ..."


Nope. I never could do that. If I outline, that's it, no more of the story will ever appear until my dying day. I begin by writing the first sentence. And then the second, and so on until it's done. No planning whatsoever. You walk up to the edge of the cliff, jump, and flap your arms hard. The wings open and lift you.

I'm the same, Brenda. Besides, my characters don't like when I tell them what to do.