How I Put A Story Together

[Satan_Klaus]

First of, there are different ways I go about creating a story. It’s never the same but there are some patterns that I have recognized:

1. Like Dean pointed out, stories are a lot about problems and solutions. Struggle is an integral part to my story writing and some start by envisioning an imaginative or arousing struggle/problem/conflict or two and the story evolves around it. Characters appear, develop a personality and interact or solve the problem in their own way. Along the way background and further problems to be solved pop up.

2. I never start with the ending but sometimes I write about a captivating problem/struggle or just stumble across a powerful sentence and in that moment I KNOW that I want my story to end with this conflict resolved or this sentence answered. Sometimes it will take half a page to get there, sometimes several chapters and it doesn’t matter because its fine either way. (hope this makes sense)

3. I rarely start a story based on a character. If I do, it’s usually not the protagonist but a central figure (usually in a position of power), that the protagonist and other main characters interact with. So he is more a living part of the background.

4. I have started several stories from the background alone. After creating a world setting, I just thought about what people in my world might do and thus a story was born. (Maybe this tendency of mine is explained by my background in roleplaying.)



Once my characters emerge from the setting, they quickly develop a personality and take over. Basically the background, that sets the rules of the world and the characters, who decide how to act in it, take control of me and I become a chronicler, simply writing down WHAT HAPPENED. There may be set goals (i.e. problems that I want to see addressed or scenes that I have planned out) that have to be reached but the characters will go there on their own time.

To flesh out all of my story ideas, no matter on what they are centered (including the fixed assignments of the writers block, I lean back and set my mind adrift (something I’m very good at ). Hopefully, after a while, problems with my initial idea pop up and are solved, additional details are revealed and a theme and tone emerges as I envision sentences and fragments of dialogue.

In this stage, the flow of the story that makes the thrill reading it, as well as basic erotic content is established.

Satan_Klaus

PS: I also want to comment on rabbits posts on outlining in this thread. I chose this single post becasuse I think it pretty much sums up his ideas.

Do you use a written outline or try to do it all in your head ----how do you keep up with a with who is doing what to whom----
do you write your story in long hand first --or type it as you go

So far, I have only done short stories and I was able to juggle the outline (if one existed) in my head. More often, it is just a collection of background details, topics that are to be adressed and personalities.

I keep a list of tiny details at the bottom of my digital drafts including names, ages, hair and eye colours, secondary characters, places and the like for reference but the important things I keep in my head.

I have started work on a longer story (25000 words at the moment) and I realize that an outline might have been a useful tool. However, when i started writing, I did not know myself in which direction it would develop so I could not have written it in the first place. I guess I will stick to my "background and key event" method for the time being.



I'm a child of the digital age. I do all my writing directly in electronic format. All of it. I still have my school handwriting because I never used and evolved it.

Sometimes I write a sentece or paragraph I like very much only to realize that it needs more built up before it can be used. I just cut/paste it down and keep it in store until it is ready to be used.

If I'm unhappy how a paragraph sounds, I cut/paste and move around the sentences and replace words until I'm happy.

For highlighting and comments to self I use the editing fuctions of my word processor.

Satan_Klaus