Writers! Come and Talk About Writing!

I'm heading off to college in a few months and I still haven't finished my novels; I just have a ton of rough drafts lying around, unorganized. However, I am still determined! The series is a fantasy with LGBT characters, and I feel that representation is an important thing that I hope to contribute to.

 

It's cool to see so many writers! Creativity is awesome!

I'm currently writing the final few bits and pieces of the first two books in a sci-fi series right now, but no telling! I'm keeping it all under wraps. ^^

 

I have a question about story structure. It's sort of complicated, so I had to explain myself a bit.

I'm working on a little series of stories myself, and I have a lot of the major events and plot points laid out. I also know how I want the series to end, and how I'd like it to begin. Basically I've got the skeleton, I've laid down some meat at the start, and I'm getting ready to set this monster up and rolling pretty soon. I'm looking forwards to writing every part of it. I wanna worldbuild. I wanna characterbuild. I wanna have the best goddamn magic battles in history and tell a hot-blooded tale.

But before I do that, I want to make sure I understand something about the "inciting incident" that I've heard about, or the "break in the status quo." As far as I'm aware, these terms means the same thing—the point in the story where shit hits the fan and everything STARTS. This is the event that causes things to change for the protagonist, and forces them into the "problem" of the story. My issue as a writer right now is I'm not sure where that is, what that is, or whether I'm fretting too much over it and I should just move ahead.

Let me put it like this: the problem of the world is an alien invasion which has been plaguing humanity for a few centuries, some Battlefield Earth type deal. Solving this problem involves taking down the big bad of the alien colony. Now, I intend for this to be a series that lasts for more than one book, so naturally the big bad won't lose in round one. I have an ending worked out for the first part which boils down to the protagonist having reached the point where they can progress forward beyond the world of a defenseless baby, having earned the "equipment" necessary for the battle to be taken to the next level.

Thing is, since this is an alien invasion that occurred some time ago, the invasion itself is pretty much old news and it wouldn't make for much of a starting incident that would kickstart the story. Sure, it's the "problem" of the world, but it's also the status quo. People are used to living under siege. Some fight to defend, and others fight in hopes of a victory. My protagonist pretty much has their goal charted out from page one in terms of what they want to do: big dreams of being the one to bring down the leader of this enemy alien force. While details about their attitude or approach change as the story progresses, even from a fairly early point, I can't say I have a clear understanding of where the break in the status quo is. As far as I can tell, the goal of the story is spelled out from the start and it just trucks forward from there.

I actually have the starting chapter done that spells out what path the protagonist will take, which I made clear from page one-two onwards. I didn't want to waste any time keeping readers guessing as to what this story will be about. I know where I want to take it and I'm more than ready to move on. My last piece of hesitance was just in wondering whether I did it right, if I can't pinpoint the inciting incident. It just gets up and goes. I dunno if I'm doing something wrong ... please give me your two cents about whether you think I'm overthinking the need to have a clear inciting incident that can be structurally pinpointed, or if you think I'd be better off going to the drawing board on this one.

 

You can follow the classic hero monomyth structure.

What you are describing sounds like the "crossing of the threshold" (if we follow Campbell's structure), the point where the protagonist is thrown into a new world/new situation vastly different that where they have been in the beginning of the story. This means it would be right after they receive "supernatural aid" - either a mentor or items that would help them set out to their journey, and before they going to the deep end of the new world they find themselves in.

The crossing could be voluntary, or involuntary, but either way, they will first hand experience new problems face to face, and will have to deal with it using the aid they just receive. If you think of it in video game term, the crossing of the threshold is almost like the first enemy you encounter after you get your weapon. Or the first testing room in Portal after you have the Portal Gun. The experience changes your character's world view, and signal the readers that, from this point on, nothing will be the same anymore for the protagonist.

So then, the break in status quo that you seek, could the point where the protagonist fought their first enemy, or the moment they step into the enemy's territory, or the time they witness the aftermath of an enemy attack, and so on. Anything that breaks away from what the story has been like since the beginning of the story.

Here is a short video that will help you understand the hero monomyth more:[YOUTUBE]Hhk4N9A0oCA[/YOUTUBE]

 

^^I could be wrong, but Jell seems to me to be pretty educated about the structure of the Hero's Journey already. It's fitting the story to the template that's causing confusion.

The break in the status quo is the point at which the hero is committed to the adventure. I like to think of the scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Frodo recognizes the desperation of the quest, and indecision of all others involved about who will carry the ring. He says "I will take it!" and is in it for the long haul.

In generic terms, it's where your hero knows exactly what must be done and turns from "competent but unmotivated" into a real power player in the story. Does this sound like your intention for the end scenario of the first book?

 

Well, from what Jell posted with the story so far, it seemed to me that the protagonist already went past the call to action.

With the setting as the alien invasion in the past, the moment the protagonist decided to do something about it, they are already answering the call, and that is the first break in status quo (not doing anything and just try to survive), and it seems like the character is already on that, from what I read.

So, now that the hero has answered the call, and is now embarking on their journey, it became a sorta-limbo status quo, a transit stage between light action and heavy action. And breaking from this is what I thought Jell was asking. So we need to ramp up the action and raise the stake, and to do this, we need to take our protagonist beyond what they have been doing and put their limits to the test. As this story is the first part of a larger epic, we can't just throw something too powerful in there that it pales other dangers, so the first fight with the enemy, the realization of their danger, or something that let the reader really realize what is at stake, will provide the break we need and set the gear to the next stage.

 

Argentwing, I do happen to be pretty knowledgable about the hero's journey structure.

I guess the main problem is that instead of "competent but unmotivated," my hero is "motivated but incompetent." Maybe though, it can translate to something very similar, where the moment my hero gains a certain degree of competence they can incite that break in the status quo?

I'm a little less worried about this problem now because I've been doing some more thinking on it, and I've started to realize this basic fact: the break in the status quo, inciting incident, whatever you want to call it, exists for the purpose of getting the action going in the story.

I've looked at what I've got so far, and someway or another, it's moving forward. I know the dude who wrote the script for Braveheart had no clue where the singular inciting incident was, and yet the product itself was still rock solid. I guess I'll leave it to readers to decide what they think is the inciting incident. I can see people making arguments for various stages of this first story being the inciting incident. I guess I'll leave it to the technical experts to decide. For the time being I'm just going to push forward with writing as much as I can.

 

I am currently writing a book, it's a bit of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. There is some drama in the beginning. (Because I like to make people care about my main characters before I do major story changes. lol Though, I still add suspense at several points.)

The book is about an organization that can use energy and technically-magic from a substance that was found in ancient times - to shapeshift anything and distort peoples perception of reality.

8 people ranging from 10 to 20 years of age are forced to abandon their normal lives to be recruited into the organization. A lot of things begin to happen from this point. This goes really in depth. If this book all works and stuff, I'm planning on this being a series.

I have a few mystery/fantasy/sci-fi ideas for books written down somewhere. I also tend to write about romantica and erotica when I'm just doing not much of anything, or when I lack motivation otherwise. lol

 

Dude this sounds intensely like my original idea from when I first started working on my story. Organization, the age group, magic from a substance found in ancient times ... if you're like me (... which you appear to be to an unnerving degree) then you probably see the use of the "sci-fi/fantasy" label as a safe choice for your story because from one perspective this story could be seen as sci-fi, the "rediscovering of the old is viewed as something magical," or as fantasy because physics are defied by the strange energies in the story, sometimes in totally inconceivable ways.

I even started with 8 characters too, in my very first planning stages of the story which began as more of a fanfiction than an original product ... over time I shortened that to 7, and these days I think I'm best off sticking with 5.

I downsized because I had a hard time building them into the story from the beginning, and I found that my narrative was really unfocused switching between a bunch of POVs at first. Now I have 1 main character nailed down, and 4 other big players that can be introduced as the story goes on.

I guess my one major piece of advice for you, is remember that a story is well-served when it's told from one particular character's perspective. It becomes THAT character's story, tempting as it may be to cover more ground and tell a broader story with lots of major characters who share screen time, it takes skill that I didn't have and I still don't. Best of luck for you if you try this out, but I had a hard time with it and eventually it made me start from square one trying to make things work again.

 

I'm on Chpt. 3 of my story. I'm pretty sure I'm going to re-write some but the first 2 to 3 Chapters are pretty much similar to drama with a few Sci-Fi references.

Mostly because I'm introducing the 8 characters and building onto their story with things that will be filled in and strengthened on later.

I am using several POVs in a Chapter, and I think using one or two main characters would be very helpful and easy. So I may go along with that.

I'm still kind of getting over the fear and myth of: "rewriting = failure" lol, my goal is to be published with my first book before I graduate High School, and this is the beginning of the summer - after my Sophomore year. I still roughly have 2 years to write a book, but this is a complex idea to work with.

However, I know you can't rush good art, so I'm going to write a good bit of my story up to a certain point, and then I may rewrite some of the story and continue on.

On the other hand, I may just restart back to chapter 1 and see how much I can go from there.

 

I think it's good of you to do your best to get over the idea of "rewriting = failure." Because it's true that you can always learn something valuable from the experience! And more writing, period, makes you a better writer. So I'm trying to get in the habit of writing more frequently.

When you say the story you're working with is a complex idea, I think I get what you mean. Like, with potential for a series, you're touching something that can really develop and change a lot from what it started off as in the first book, and because of that there's a whole lot of planning involved. You think about what needs to be built in earlier for the later parts to make sense, sequentially ... where you want certain characters to be in the future.

One tricky part I had starting off was a very loose grasp on who I wanted the antagonists to be. I flip-flopped on that a lot. And the backstory got more and more complicated too ... lots of times I had to look back at my big complicated idea, and cut a few corners. Simplify. Look at what would have the best effect you hope to achieve, and then run with it.

I remember working with my original 8, there was one of those 8 characters who wasn't really introduced "first" and was not the most key player, her arc mostly revolved around a friendship with one of the other 8 characters. However I slowly and steadily realized that she was my favorite and honestly I should be writing the story about my favorite. Taking that into account, she became my main protagonist because I was really interested in examining that deep friendship/relationship and bringing it into the forefront of the story.

 

Yup, that's basically it. It's a lot to think about, is there a way I can send you what I have of the story so far and we could discuss? O:

I tend to have a defined, very strong main antagonist that isn't usually revealed very early in the book. (At least, that's what it will be like in this)

All other antagonists are people who are end up developing in a way against of the protagonist(s), but they aren't necessarily evil or anything. (Not all the time)

Oh wow, I just realized 2 or even 3 out of the 8 protagonists are potential antagonists down the road. lol....

There are 2 people I definitively have as favorites, and would give them POVs more frequently. I want to see how the story develops from that. Maybe if I rewrite then I'd show the story from their POV more exclusively(It is a boy and a girl.)

Also, the 8 people - there are 4 boys, and 4 girls. ;p

 

I used to write pretty prolifically, but I haven't written in at least 2 years. I have no confidence in my writing. I feel like I have completely lost my style and ability to write even half decently. There's been a book in my head that I've been planning and writing bits of since I was 12, but I've given up on that.

 

You can make it happen if you bring passion to the page. Write with your soul!
If it's been with you since you were 12, it must be important to you, right?
Who gives a shit if it's bad or good the first time? Better to make it than not at all.
There is always room for improvement later.

 

I have a Great Idea for a Book that I want to Write. Its called Dangerous Love. The Story will involve to High School Boys, Ones Gay and the other is "Straight". When they two meet the straight one starts to question his Sexuality and soon enough numbers of problems start to occur in both if their lives and putting both of their lives in Danger. Haven't figured out the Details yet but that's the basics of it.

 

I love this thread! It's so awesome to see all the writers on this site

I'm writing a fantasy series about a girl with mysterious powers who's abducted by a clan of sky pirates. Sounds bonkers, but there's more to it than that - I promise I think the biggest struggle I have is putting everything into a neat plot structure. I'm a very scatterbrained person so planning and structuring has always been difficult for me :S

If anyone wants any tips on character development, I recently read this cool tip: Try to imagine FIVE items you'd find in your character's bedroom. What are they and what is their history/ connection to your character?

Happy writing everybody!!><

 

I'm going to get back into writing and hopefully finish something. I'm going to start something new, it's going to be a fantasy book set in my own universe which I am going to create while I write it. So I don't just focus on the universe itself. I'm going to restart the Legacy series and apply a different more vast world to it. I am a bit inspired by the Elder Scrolls at the moment.

So I'm going to make a vast world like the Elder Scrolls world but it's not going to be a copy. the main plot is that a young peasant (whatever race I want this character to be) is negatively affected by the Emperor of an Empire(unnamed as of yet). The negative effect will be a big negative event, the young peasant decides to rise to prominence as leader of the region they inherit, (political games, a really big focus on political games). The young peasant directly challenges the Emperor of the Empire and thus it begins. It will be a combination of politics and the usual warmongering in how I write it. So yeah I'm going to try and make it a series, but first Book One

 

I study creative writing at university. My final year starts in September and I'm so excited for my dissertation because it's gonna be about gender identity and sexuality and my aim in life is to be a writer that brings positive representation but also real life. So it's not all freakishly happy and good (because real life isn't like that). And I haven't been able to write what I want to write properly since I started uni, so I can't wait to get started. And I hate that it can only be 10,000 words. I want to write a novel.

Outside of school, I plan to finish the sequel to a novel I finished a couple of years ago. It's book two of five and it should be finished already, but last year I wrote a different novel from the same universe instead. So I'm looking forward to finishing this.

I recently realized that this protagonist for the five book series is my only straight protagonist (thus far, I follow my characters and my plot ideas, so one never knows). That kind of made me smile.

 

Thought I'd share this little tidbit I wrote some time ago. Comments are eagerly accepted.