Plot/Character Brainstorming
October 21st 2009 12:26
Today you're going to think about plot and character. Obviously the two are very deeply entertwined. A quiet character with no will to stand up for herself isn't going to lead an army into battle; and a stubborn character who's used to getting what she wants and is just a little bit mouthy isn't going to just let another character walk all over her.
So think about character.
Questions to consider:
~What kind of character are you comfortable writing in the perspective of? (A writer wants to push themselves past their comfort zone; but if you're doing your first Nano, you probably already are in terms of word count-and doing it in other arenas might botch your word count.)
For this question think about the person you are, the people you get along with, the people you identify with. You're going to want a main character that you can easily identify with.
~What kind of characters do you enjoy writing about? If you've never really written a novel or significantly long story before, think about what kind of people you enjoy talking to and the stories they tell about themselves. Think about historical figures who intrigue you and why.
~What kind of characters are likely to be in your world? You probably have a class system of some sort. There will probably be the poor, and then the middle class (in Jihad the middle class is the priestly orders; they have all they need but nothing too extravagent), which is probably small, and then the Really Rich Folk, a smaller group, and then the Powerful Folk, the dukes and big landowners and political people, a tiny group, and then the Really Powerful Folk, kings or queens or what have you.
Think about the challenges that a person of each class might face. The poor might not starve because there might be magic to keep the crops good; but it might fail some years. The poor are likely to spend almost all hours of their day farming or working for food and shelter, whereas the rich are likely to spend their days taking lessons and having tea. The poor will likely be uneducated, small and quite possibly frail, whereas the rich will probably be learned and strong because they can afford to eat better. Those challenges will largely shape a person's way of talking, walking, and thinking.
Think about plot:
~What kinds of plots do you think you would enjoy writing a novel about? Why?
~What kinds of characters are likely to be active participants in the types of plots you want to work with?
~What are some likely subplots that could work with the main plots you're looking at? (Try to come up with a subplot for each plot)
~What plots could be made more interesting by the cultures/climates you've invented? A traveling story might be more interesting in a harsh desert. A war might be more interesting between two different species, or if it's begun by Gods and just played out by humans-war could be like the Gods playing chess. Especially with fantasy you have a lot of room to explore different ideas and themes.
Don't make any crucial decisions today. Your goal is just to think about characters and plot.
Prompt
Today's prompt is a little bit different. I want you to experiment with point of view.
First person point of view is where you tell a story from the perspective of an 'I'. You use the word 'I' rather than 'he' or 'she' and you are deeply entrenched in a person's thought processes.
Third person point of view is 'he' or 'she', which is what you usually read. It can be told as either third person limited, which may move through a few characters over the course of a story or novel, but which is always only in one character's head, or third person omniscient, which is usually told by a narrator describing the events.
Today I want you to write eight hundred words. I want you to write four hundred of these words in first person, and four hundred in third person. And you're going to be writing a specific scene:
A girl is lost in a forest and stumbles upon an old ceremonial ground. (Think a medicine circle, or a labyrinth, something that was religious and is now abandoned) She is exploring when a mysterious man steps out of the forest...
The man can be anything you like; he doesn't have to be human, but he should appear so at first. You can start when the man walks in or when the girl first stumbles upon the place. You can write as much as you like.
Post a few sentences from each the first person scene and the third person scene in the comments and you'll get... bonus points? A mini-critique where I discuss if your opening line works as a story starter or not? Or maybe I'll critique the first chapter of your Nanovel... stick around and find out. There will be SOME sort of reward for posting some of your work from the workshop.
Thanks for reading,
~Dianna
So think about character.
Questions to consider:
~What kind of character are you comfortable writing in the perspective of? (A writer wants to push themselves past their comfort zone; but if you're doing your first Nano, you probably already are in terms of word count-and doing it in other arenas might botch your word count.)
For this question think about the person you are, the people you get along with, the people you identify with. You're going to want a main character that you can easily identify with.
~What kind of characters do you enjoy writing about? If you've never really written a novel or significantly long story before, think about what kind of people you enjoy talking to and the stories they tell about themselves. Think about historical figures who intrigue you and why.
~What kind of characters are likely to be in your world? You probably have a class system of some sort. There will probably be the poor, and then the middle class (in Jihad the middle class is the priestly orders; they have all they need but nothing too extravagent), which is probably small, and then the Really Rich Folk, a smaller group, and then the Powerful Folk, the dukes and big landowners and political people, a tiny group, and then the Really Powerful Folk, kings or queens or what have you.
Think about the challenges that a person of each class might face. The poor might not starve because there might be magic to keep the crops good; but it might fail some years. The poor are likely to spend almost all hours of their day farming or working for food and shelter, whereas the rich are likely to spend their days taking lessons and having tea. The poor will likely be uneducated, small and quite possibly frail, whereas the rich will probably be learned and strong because they can afford to eat better. Those challenges will largely shape a person's way of talking, walking, and thinking.
Think about plot:
~What kinds of plots do you think you would enjoy writing a novel about? Why?
~What kinds of characters are likely to be active participants in the types of plots you want to work with?
~What are some likely subplots that could work with the main plots you're looking at? (Try to come up with a subplot for each plot)
~What plots could be made more interesting by the cultures/climates you've invented? A traveling story might be more interesting in a harsh desert. A war might be more interesting between two different species, or if it's begun by Gods and just played out by humans-war could be like the Gods playing chess. Especially with fantasy you have a lot of room to explore different ideas and themes.
Don't make any crucial decisions today. Your goal is just to think about characters and plot.
Prompt
Today's prompt is a little bit different. I want you to experiment with point of view.
First person point of view is where you tell a story from the perspective of an 'I'. You use the word 'I' rather than 'he' or 'she' and you are deeply entrenched in a person's thought processes.
Third person point of view is 'he' or 'she', which is what you usually read. It can be told as either third person limited, which may move through a few characters over the course of a story or novel, but which is always only in one character's head, or third person omniscient, which is usually told by a narrator describing the events.
Today I want you to write eight hundred words. I want you to write four hundred of these words in first person, and four hundred in third person. And you're going to be writing a specific scene:
A girl is lost in a forest and stumbles upon an old ceremonial ground. (Think a medicine circle, or a labyrinth, something that was religious and is now abandoned) She is exploring when a mysterious man steps out of the forest...
The man can be anything you like; he doesn't have to be human, but he should appear so at first. You can start when the man walks in or when the girl first stumbles upon the place. You can write as much as you like.
Post a few sentences from each the first person scene and the third person scene in the comments and you'll get... bonus points? A mini-critique where I discuss if your opening line works as a story starter or not? Or maybe I'll critique the first chapter of your Nanovel... stick around and find out. There will be SOME sort of reward for posting some of your work from the workshop.
Thanks for reading,
~Dianna
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