Writing a Book

[Sgt. Foley]

Hey guys, I have a school project, our last one. We have to write a book, 10-15 chapters long. I want to make this a big one, something that is amazing. Perfect. Fantastic. I need some advice on this. My topic is about how a kid turns from a hipster on the street, to a superstar. Or my other topic is how a smart kid named Alex, turns from the beauitful Los Angeles life, to a dumpster in New York City.

 

So, any advice on what to pick. And maybe help me get started?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Ziggy455]

 

Hey guys, I have a school project, our last one. We have to write a book, 10-15 chapters long. I want to make this a big one, something that is amazing. Perfect. Fantastic. I need some advice on this. My topic is about how a kid turns from a hipster on the street, to a superstar. Or my other topic is how a smart kid named Alex, turns from  the beauitful Los Angeles life, to a dumpster in New York City.

 

So, any advice on what to pick. And maybe help me get started?

 

Thanks.

Every story starts with an innate design, a structure that you can work from. Let's say your character is a street-wise kid, and upon hitting stardom, he loses those qualities that make him a good kid?

 

Basic plotting of a story can be like so:

 

 

Act I

Act I or Part one focuses on the introduction of characters and setting up of the main conflict or 'change' in the story. So your basic character is a young street-wise kid, and the story develops into a story when he is launched into Hollywood stardom. This changes the characters world and such but it also brings conflict. We call this turn The committing act.

 

Act II

Act II or Part two focuses on conflict, conflict that gets worse and worse until it takes us into the resolution of the book. This for you would be the main intricacies of stardom. How does your character change? Does he leave his friends behind? Does he turn to drugs? Does he become just another soulless entertainer? Think of how you can make this story interesting. Perhaps his best friend gets jealous of how easy his friend ditches him? The possibilities are endless. However your character needs to make a change once more; does he stay in stardom? Does he give it up? Maybe his friend tries to kill him or does something completely selfless in order to make your protagonist realize how far from grace he has fallen? This can lead us into act III or The Resolution.

 

Act III

This is the big conflict, the final battle and the initial aftermath. Your character can't walk away from the issue at hand, he must stay and face it. Your characters resolution could be anything. Perhaps he realizes how better off he was when he was unpopular. The key word is change, what would make us want to keep reading your story? Do you want to kill or save your character? Your choice, with endless endings.

 

Well, there's my two cents.

[El Zilcho]

Scrap everything and spend a day re-thinking every idea you have. Make it original. Go outside the box, and then start planning it more closely. Or don't, if that isn't your style. It isn't mine - there is a great freedom in just taking the story as it flows, but it surely isn't for everyone.

[Ziggy455]

Scrap everything and spend a day re-thinking every idea you have. Make it original. Go outside the box, and then start planning it more closely. Or don't, if that isn't your style. It isn't mine - there is a great freedom in just taking the story as it flows, but it surely isn't for everyone.

Each writer has their own preference as you can see, Zilcho likes the thrill of spontaneous writing while I like to vaguely plan so I have a general direction of story while having freedom. No way is right or wrong as you can see from Zilcho's work.

[Sgt. Foley]

Thanks for the ideas guy! I'll get started tommorow! Wish me luck.

[Tyler]

Bit late, but it's worth noting. When you're writing, continue to scribble down every fresh idea and any unique thoughts that come to mind. Extend this to outside of writing, keep a notepad. Gather the contents of your mashed imagination and distil it. Spare your good descriptors for the juicy scenes; don't waste all those profound metaphors describing how your character is drinking milk. Keep your wording concise and eliminate anything that can be cut. Do not clog your narration, this will only lessen the impact of your story and as a result it will mean less to anyone reading (or grading) it.

 

Also, have fun with it. The project sounds like it can be quite fun.