Do you have ideas for a book, but don't
know where to start or don't know how to
write a novel? Or maybe you've written
several manuscripts in the past and
you're looking to standardize your
process. Learn how in these eleven easy steps.
Heya, book nerds! I'm Meg LaTorre, and
on this episode of iWriterly, I'm
excited to launch a three-part series on
how to write a book. Today we'll focus on
plot and characters. As you may be aware,
every writer has their own unique
brainstorming, planning, and writing
process as they're creating a book.
No one process is "right," but if you haven't
figured out what works best for you yet,
or maybe you've tried writing a few ways
but you want to learn or dig a little
bit deeper, here are a few launching
points for your story.
All books start as an idea a spark of a story that
will eventually lead to a full-fledged
novel. The first step is to flesh out
your idea. Maybe you have the plot or the
characters or the setting visualized in
your head. Now, dig deeper and decide what
your story is ultimately going to be
about. Is it a futuristic society where
people are forced into factions?
Is it the journey of many houses vying
for the same throne? Is it a wizard
trying to find his place in the world
and learn what happened to his deceased
parents? Sound familiar?
Now you will need to
figure out who the reader will follow
throughout the story. Who is your
protagonist and what makes him or her
tick? Learn the nuances of your
character's personality, such as their
favorite color or how they like to spend
their free time. Next, you need to
determine what your protagonist wants.
This will be what drives the story. This
is where the protagonist is trying to
achieve what he or she desires. This
could be finding a soul mate, rescuing a
kidnapped sibling, getting revenge on the
person who ruined their career, and so on.
What is preventing your protagonist from
achieving his or her goal? This is where
your antagonists come in.
For Harry Potter,
Voldemort, the person who murdered
Harry's parents, is trying to
resurrect himself using the Sorcerer's
Stone; and thereby threatening his new
family and friends. Meanwhile, Harry wants
more than anything to have a family.
As you can see, Voldemort is therefore
preventing Harry from getting what he
ultimately desires: a home.
To make your characters
three-dimensional, you as the author need
to know them intimately in order to
portray them on the page. The process for
getting to know your characters differs
for everybody. For me, personally, I love
outlines. I'll write out the characters
physical descriptions, their tendencies,
such as if they're impulsive or stubborn,
and so on, as well as their ultimate
goals in the book. What they're trying to
achieve could be freedom for themselves,
bringing back magic,
seeing a rebellion win, etc. Some writers
use character mapping tools in order to
get to know the characters. My friends
over at Writers Helping Writers have a
character profile questionnaire, a
character art progression tool, as well
as a bunch of other awesome tools. I'll
leave links in the description below so
you guys can check that out. Thanks so
much for tuning in to this three-part
series on how to write a book. This has
been part 1: determining plot and
characters. Keep an eye out for part 2,
which dives deeper into outlining.
Be sure to let me know in the comments below
if you have any questions about the
process of writing the book. If you haven't
already, subscribe to my channel and give
the video a thumbs up. It lets me know
that you like this type of content and
want more. Keep writing!
Character mapping tools...
This has been plot 1... Oh gosh, part 1. This has been part 1...
Keep an eye out for part 2... Keep an eye out for part 2... Keep an eye out for part 2, which dives deeper...
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