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Q&A When writing a novel where do you start?

This sounds kind of basic. But I start at the beginning. Think of how the story needs to start. DO you need a certain amount of character development to tell the story? Where do the characters come...

posted 7y ago by user26176‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:52:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29654
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar user26176‭ · 2019-12-08T06:52:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
This sounds kind of basic. But I start at the beginning. Think of how the story needs to start. DO you need a certain amount of character development to tell the story? Where do the characters come from. I teach a class in report writing for law enforcement officers and one of the things I teach them is; start with why you were there. So if you character is going to steal a space ship and fly off to another galaxy, start with how he got to the place he stole the ship. Did he hitch hike? Parachute in? Maybe he stowed away in a service truck.

I also find it helps me get to the end if I already know how the story ends. My mind tends to ramble off in strange directions when I write fiction, so having a destination helps me stay focused.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-08-09T16:16:08Z (over 7 years ago)
Original score: 0