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RE: Any novelists out there? - 10/31/2008 10:20:30 PM
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Dancre
Posts: 1305
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I recently took a writing class from Patty Hickman. She talked about knowing the characters first, then filling in the questions regarding the plot. It really really does help to know what scares the characters, makes them happy, sad, what makes them their own worst enemy, etc. It might help.
I did it and learned things about my characters that I never knew and was able to fill in so many blanks. If you would like me to send you my character profile, I will. Some stuff in the profile is from Patty, other stuff from the net. Good luck!
kim
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RE: Any novelists out there? - 11/2/2008 7:38:10 PM
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mvic
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I agree with Kim,
I first create the characters. Describe them to myself in my mind, their likes and dislikes, their age, stature etc ... and how they would react to a situation.
Then, as the story unfolds, I ensure they remain in character.
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RE: Any novelists out there? - 11/6/2008 6:38:09 PM
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Ganheim
Posts: 129
Joined: 4/25/2008
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I start with the characters, too. Of course, before I go very far with the characters, I have to have a world for them to inhabit and a goal for them to struggle for. All three of those things develop as I write.
Unfortunately, that's about all I can think of to contribute with what's stated. How I proceed depends quite a lot on what my framework is. With my sci-fi novel Isle of Dreams, I ended up doing a lot of work on the plot(s). Characters came and went pretty quickly because that story was one of many that emphasized the large scale of the world they were in and how one person can tip the balance but not change the world all on his own (hence why so many died). With my first fantasy novel Life of the Silver Tear, I found myself doing a ton of character work. There were wars and corporate schemes and inhumane magic research, but that particular story centered on just a small band of people (of course, to my surprise and consternation, as I wrote the story refused to center itself on the one who was supposed to be the core character). Sometimes funny things happen as you're writing, and most of the time I count those as blessings because it tells you the story is starting to take on a life of its own.
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Writer on Fiction Press, Fan Fiction, Deviant Art.
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RE: Any novelists out there? - 11/7/2008 11:29:24 AM
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Kathrynpagecamp
Posts: 38
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Chicago Area
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To give you some background, I have published one non-fiction book but no fiction yet. I have finished a novel that I am currently shopping around, and I am working on a second. So here is what I do for whatever it's worth.
I start with a very bare bones plot (mostly the main goal and the main obstacle) and then come up with the characters that are essential to the plot. I write my first draft (free flowing and very bad) from beginning to end. The next drafts run from beginning to end on the whole, but I do jump around a lot as ideas pop into my head. Subplots can develop at any point in the process.
Everyone does it differently, but I have to have a very basic plot idea, not just a character, before I begin. For me, that's what keeps the story from wandering all over the place.
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Kathryn
Author of In God We Trust from FaithWalk Publishing
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Here's how I do it. First I come up with a "what-if" scenario (doesn't matter at this point how outlandish it is, the main point is to get the juices flowing). When I finally get a tenable one, I then come up with a master character. Then I give him a goal of the one thing he must have, which also happens to be the one thing he cannot get (that sets the story's tension). 
