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formulating ideas - Where do you start?

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Vernacula View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vernacula Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 12:04am
Originally posted by NilesPerry NilesPerry wrote:

Originally posted by lisafox10800 lisafox10800 wrote:

And I am fortunate to have amazing beta readers.
I hope the people I beta for will someday say the same of me.
LOL


You're a fantastic beta reader! Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MissKeister Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 12:05am
Originally posted by Vernacula Vernacula wrote:

Originally posted by NilesPerry NilesPerry wrote:

Originally posted by lisafox10800 lisafox10800 wrote:

And I am fortunate to have amazing beta readers.
I hope the people I beta for will someday say the same of me.
LOL


You're a fantastic beta reader! Wink

I second this!  :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Vernacula Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 12:13am
I do a lot of work in my head. I don't sit at my computer searching or taking notes right away, unless the genre is Drama; for some reason that one's the most effortless for me.

My approach is pretty much coming up with unique setups, and matching them to a twist if I can. It doesn't even have to be a big twist or gotcha - I just like knowing what the button is going to be. The rest can all be finessed.

Eventually I'll sit down and write out loose sketches of these setups, and see if any characters spring to mind. Sometimes I get an idea of who someone is, and if they start to become firmer and more clear (and persistent) in my mind, then I know I'm probably going to be able to finish their story.

I have tons of email drafts filled with very specific setups. Sometimes I go back through them, like a scrap heap, digging to see if there's anything usable for a piece I'm working on.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joni Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 12:15am
Originally posted by MissKeister MissKeister wrote:

Originally posted by Vernacula Vernacula wrote:

Originally posted by NilesPerry NilesPerry wrote:

Originally posted by lisafox10800 lisafox10800 wrote:

And I am fortunate to have amazing beta readers.
I hope the people I beta for will someday say the same of me.
LOL


You're a fantastic beta reader! Wink

I second this!  :)

Fantastic beta reader/Life saver = Potayto/Potahto. 

Thanks so much for all your help with mine!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 12:46am
I pick the prompt that is gong to be worst to work into whatever genre I get and try and come up with any story that could use that prompt.  Then I try and work the other prompts into one of those ideas.

What I have found is that since my first entry into short story, where I was left aghast at having to write something that I had never ventured into, each time has been easier as my mind has adapted I guess.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote manifestlynot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 12:52am
I tend to approach it like a puzzle. I make columns of all possibly characters and themes, then cross reference them to each other and to the selected genre. I reference genre tropes and read examples of said genre and try to do enough research that something gets hammered out.

Then I wake up in the middle of the night with a completely different idea and go with that one instead.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Tim G Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 2:09am
Sometimes I just think of something and know it’s ‘the one’ and away I go.

Most times I start writing out single sentence summaries (loglines minus any wit!) and then go with the one that feels most promising in that kneejerk basis.

I’m always about the plot though. Characters come after I know the story.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote northernwriter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 2:30am
Originally posted by Tim G Tim G wrote:


I’m always about the plot though. Characters come after I know the story.

That’s so interesting! I was just about to post the opposite! I generally have to find a character I love. Then I think about their strengths and flaws and what kind of trouble they might get themselves into, and that’s where the plot comes from.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tim G Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 3:21am
Originally posted by northernwriter northernwriter wrote:

Originally posted by Tim G Tim G wrote:


I’m always about the plot though. Characters come after I know the story.

That’s so interesting! I was just about to post the opposite! I generally have to find a character I love. Then I think about their strengths and flaws and what kind of trouble they might get themselves into, and that’s where the plot comes from.

Yep, this is how you're supposed to do it. I wish I could!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote SisterRosetta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 5:21am
Originally posted by MissKeister MissKeister wrote:

Originally posted by Vernacula Vernacula wrote:

Originally posted by NilesPerry NilesPerry wrote:

Originally posted by lisafox10800 lisafox10800 wrote:

And I am fortunate to have amazing beta readers.
I hope the people I beta for will someday say the same of me.
LOL


You're a fantastic beta reader! Wink

I second this!  :)

Thirded! Isn't this just like the final scene of It's a Wonderful Life, where he finds out just how many lives he's impacted? Wink
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