So how do you write?

[B.R.Stateham]

An idea for a novel plops into your brain matter suddenly and unexpectedly. How do you begin? Is the idea a complete novel--or just an intriguing 'scene' that needs to be fleshed out? Is it an opening scene? A comment said?

So you begin writing--do you outline the entire book first? Or do you just plow into the first chapter and build from that? Do you edit each page as you finish or do you keep on writing? Someone once said Hemingway did one page a day. When someone asked him why it took so long to write a novel, he replied "I just want to get the words right."

How do you write?

[Eric Christopherson]

I was misunderstood, and I'm sure it's due to my own sloppy wording. I meant to say I think one of the advantages of writing without an outline is that the reader will have a harder time guessing what happens next if the writer also doesn't know from one scene to the next.

[B.R.Stateham]

Eric, I have to disagree with your statement about not knowing where you're going. If you have a strong character, the fun is taking that character down (as Chandler would say) those dark and mean streets to see what the heck happens. Sure, I have a general overall concept of where the novel is going---but very vague and nebulous.

The fun is discovering the characters have a mind of their own--and so does the plot!

[I. J. Parker]

But then the reader isn't supposed to know where the story is going in a mystery. :) Just as long as it all comes together in the end.

[Eric Christopherson]

Just finished my third novel, and each time I outline it less before starting. This last time I had the high concept premise and one major plot point before beginning, that was it. Then I added a co-author and we wrote seat of the pants for three hundred pages, then discovered we needed to outline the denouement, or the last 75 or so pages, to make sure we didn't waste a hunk of time and brought all the elements together. I imagine every new work it'll be a bit different.

I recall reading that Lawrence Block used to outline at the start of his career, but now just wings it, and I recall Stephen King saying his best books, with one exception, were the ones he didn't outline. The thing about not outlining is that if you don't know where the story's going, then how can the reader?

[Dianne]

Hi there,
My stories are triggered either by a place (good place to hide a body), a character (someone I've seen or met and can't get out of my mind), or a circumstance. As a nurse, I am exposed to people from all walks of life and do have some insight into what makes them tick. The opportunities are endless.

For some reason, a first line comes to me and I take it from there. Of course almost everything I write has some autobiographical content, unless, of course, someone has shared their own personal experience. I'll write until I run out of things to say and then sit down again the next day to re-read what I've written. If I find obvious "junk" I'll delete and then move on. The next day I re-read from the beginning again and so on, and so on, and so on...

I do find outlining very helpful but I don't always do it. It keeps me on track and helps me find my way.

~ Dianne

[I. J. Parker]

I'm slow. Not only do I not produce much in a given day, but I also revise continuously.
As for how I start: I look for a mystery plot that will lend itself to certain life events in the protagonist's career. (I keep a notebook filled with plot ideas). Twice, I set out to write a short story and found it got much too complex and had to be turned into a novel (The Hell Screen and The Masuda Affair). Sometimes the plot is a tad thin for a novel. In that case, I look for secondary plots.
Since my books are more closely related to police procedurals than other forms (the protagionist is part of the law enforcement system), it is reasonable to assume that more than one case could occur in a given time span. Intriguing scenes happen during the writing (one hopes). I don't outline. Every time I do, I abandon the outline within 3 or 4 chapters.

[Dana King]

I need to know where the story is going before I can start. I usually have a fairly detailed, but flexible, outline ready when I sit down to write. For the W about to be IP I'm trying to do without some of the outlining, but I still know the main things that have to happen, and most of the ending, if not the denouement.