Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Which comes first...

Well it’s been at least four weeks since I posted anything new...but I can say since then I've been working on characters and a plot for my first original fiction. In fact I've been working on a short story based on two characters from this new original fiction. On that note I thought it was probably a good idea if I explored one of the steps that I myself am still working through myself. Not that I've got it together at all but it is worth working out the sort of author you're working toward being. It will be beneficial for not just you but me as well.

So I guess the question that I ask is this, what comes first...is it the plot or was it the characters? This is in and of itself an interesting question. There are two types of people in the world of writing, the Plot-driven novel writers. Then there are the character-driven novel writers. I'm going to investigate each and come to conclusions. I will clarify from personal experience of my own opinion.

The general consensus is that most short-stories and novels are plot driven works of fiction. This means that quest or journey that your character is on drives the story. There are some genres that will be easier for the writer to write the plot driven novels. Fantasy and historical are both easier genres to write plot driven novels, for example the main character in a fantasy (must) go through the heroes journey in which he must destroy a particular object or find an object and use it so that good triumphs over evil. Along the way they will have failures and sucesses but in the end they succeed in the quest. The same applies to history based novels, because history is to wit 'set in stone' as it were. The character's journey already has a backdrop and plot established so the character can only follow a certain path in which the establish plot allows them. You could pervert history by going the alternative route and creating fantasy history but even so, you will still need to be aware that it is still established and plotted course of action for your character it is still a plot driven novel.

The other side of the story, pardon the pun, is to write about your novel with less of a plot and more about the characters themselves. Every decision the main character or even his nemesis makes will weigh on every direction the plot takes. This is essentially true for romance novels, there is usually have little plot and more story between the hero and the heroine. They focus on the character’s emotions, their desires and their reflections and that means that the development and growth of the characters outweighs the development and growth and the movement of the plot. These stories tend to focus on why characters do what they do, and how they react in certain ways through their actions. This isn't always true but more often than not it is.

Can you have both? Yes I think that you can have a mix of both. Provided you don't focus on the feelings of your characters to the detriment of the plot. I have fallen into the trap where you're main character and his potential love interests destroy the exciting plot. In my opinion having learned from my mistakes, I would always focus on the plot first up then focus on your characters as they grow later on. You need a BANG to start with. Establishing a plot and hooking your read should be the first priority. Having said that in order to progress the story you'll need to get to know your characters at some point. Just be sure that you have a balance going one way or another can lead to an absolute flop. Either with the storyline or having cardboard characters...

Ultimately you have to write out the plot of your story so that you can create the characters that you need to drive your story. Plotting your story is a good way of knowing how you can best use each of your characters. It gives you the ability to decide whether you are going to write a plot driven novel or character driven novel. You may even try to write a bit of both but that will be what you have to decide. I challenge you to try both; it will give you an idea as to which you are stronger at writing. I know I’ll be trying to work this out for myself. Good luck we’ll both need it...

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Research, Research, Research...

Yes...research has to be the most important thing you do when you begin writing anything. Whether you are writing a work of fiction, a Non-fiction or even a Fanfiction piece. Research makes everything plausible it captures the imagination and in the end it provides you with the backdrop for all characters.

In reality research essentially defines the characters, settings, plot and even the direction of the novel which the author is working towards. That being said, you don't have to be Tom Clancy and use copius amounts of detailed research to convey your story. It helps but you don't ultimately have to use all your research. Some authors can get away with less is more like Matthew Rielly, his novels are always fast paced and even when he writes his exposition he still only puts in enough detail to keep you interested before he places you back into immediate action. In the end it is really all up to the Author's own discretion to begin with.

Research can take all forms, whether you are searching through old news articles or interviewing people first hand. Depending on the author and their ability to jetset around the world in order to do research certain locations, interview certain people and certain organisations. I've read some FAQ's from author pages like Kyle Mills in reagrds to research and travel http://www.kylemills.com/faqs.html now its all well a good if you can travel particularly if you have time and money, sometimes you may not get the chance. Matthew Reilly for an example http://www.matthewreilly.com/faq.html spends his time pouring over books and using the internet. So never think that you can't research if you can't travel. Ultimately you are the Author, that means you are ultimately in control of how you research and what you use within your writing.

I'm currently researching the US Navy SEALs using a book By Dick Couch called the The Warrior Elite due to a main character's background. It isn't easy either, I've not been very disciplined in sitting down and just pouring over the book there is just so much information within its pages that sometimes you just look at it and groan. I going to use it? Now looking at it I may not use any of it, then again I probably will as the first chapter or Prologue will comprise of a Navy SEAL mission. Until I read through the pile of books that I have sitting on my desk I'm not sure how much use I'm going to need from them. I have also spent my time emailing the FBI, CIA so far the FBI has been kind enough to email me back with general information which I'm very grateful to them.

When looking at characters sometimes research can be hard, particularly if you're trying to create a character who has flaws and is not a cardboard hero. For me at the moment I find that looking at characters through a series of books often helps. I also find that Tv show characters that have been around for a while help and even characters from movies provide decently detailed character types that I try to use and a base for characters.

On the subject of research though for me though I feel that I can't start a novel until I have enough information in my head to feel comfortable in writing something that makes sense and is at least 50% factual. Once again however it does depend on the particular author and the genre that the author is writing for...

Thursday, November 4, 2010

In the Beginning...

Welcome to my first ever blog,

This is all new to me but I thought I'd start by saying that I am an aspiring author. It is my desire to be published by a Publishing company and whether I'm ever famous or not I don't care, I do this not for anyone save myself.

A little bit about me, I started writing when I was really young. Over the years I've spent a lot of time writing Action/Thriller type espionage stories. Some that I finished, others that I had the idea for but never reached completion. I think that happened because I couldn't push through the desire not to write at the time or I couldn't capture the creative juices that sometimes are there and other times allude me. I also have written a Star Wars novel that I originally wrote as a trilogy but I never finished it, I originally wrote the first book as a challenge in which I could prove to myself and others that I could write a novel.

In the last 5 years I've been working on my writing skills through Fan fiction. Going by the name Kandon Kuuson on http://www.fanfiction.net/u/879140/Kandon_Kuuson

I will say one thing, I have found people on there that if they wrote a novel themselves they would become bestsellers. They're truly talented people who really should be writing novels...if any of them read this the they will know who I'm talking about. On www.fanfiction.net I have written about 30 stories on there, varying from NCIS, Bones and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. My Longest was a 50,000 word NCIS story that was part of a series and it took me two years of on and off writing to complete it. But I think it was well worth the effort, I have to say that it was my best one. I really enjoyed writing it and I think the people who read it really enjoyed it too.

Since then I've started researching for a my first original fiction. As well as writing a few more smaller Fan fiction stories when I've had time. The goal at the moment is to have enough insight into the FBI, CIA, US Navy SEALs as well as how to be a better author.

I've started to write up character profiles, which has been a task in and of itself, who knew it would be hard! I'm just glad that I'm beginning to grow my skills not just in detail of the story but creating characters with depth who are human, who have emotions and feelings and aren't just Hollywood cardboard characters. I still have new characters to create and I still have yet to create my nemesis who is truly evil but I'm sure that will happen soon, right now I just want to have a solid foundation for when I do actually start writing my first draft. But that's another story...