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Rubbish to Published: Writing chapter one – Writing Stream Recap

Rubbish to Published: Writing chapter one – Writing Stream Recap

Published by Scott on February 3, 2018

Last stream we continued our Rubbish to Published series, where we start from absolutely nothing and create something “publishable.”

We picked our tense and POV in the previous stream, so it was finally time for our last step: writing chapter one.

When most people imagine writing a book, they think writers just get an idea and then start writing from the beginning to the end. But through this series, we’ve shown that isn’t the case at all. We’ve have ten steps before we were ready to write chapter one! So if you have an idea that you want to write, but you’re having trouble starting chapter one, no worries. There’s plenty of stuff you can do to get the juices flowing.

Since we’d done so much already, starting our chapter one was pretty easy. Chat voted for the opening sentence they liked best, and then we came up with this:

Rubbish to Published: Creating your idea toolbox – Writing Stream Recap

Rubbish to Published: Creating your idea toolbox – Writing Stream Recap

Published by Scott on January 15, 2018

Last stream we continued our Rubbish to Published series, where we start from absolutely nothing and create something “publishable.”

We’d already come up with our story idea in the previous stream, so this time we took the next step: creating an idea toolbox.

An idea toolbox is basically a bunch of brainstorming. You come up with lots and lots of ideas by following these steps:

#1. Ask a question about your story idea
#2. Write whatever answers pop into your head (you can have multiple, even contradictory answers!)
#3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have about a page full of information
#4. Read through your page and pick out the parts that “spark emotion,” things that get you excited to write
#5. Compile all your favorite parts together, then go back to step 1

As always, chat came up with some great questions and answers based on the idea we came up with. Here’s where we finally ended up:

Rubbish to Published: 4 ways to come up with a story idea – Writing Stream Recap

Rubbish to Published: 4 ways to come up with a story idea – Writing Stream Recap

Published by Scott on January 12, 2018

With the last stream we started a new series called Rubbish to Published. As requested by the chat, we’ll go along step by step with the process of coming up with a story idea, fleshing it out, and actually writing it to the point of being “publishable.”

And what better way to start than by discussing how to come up with a story idea?

Today we went over four ways to come up with a story idea: (1) a “what if…?” (2) an image, (3) a character, and (4) something/someone from your life.

After taking about each method in detail, we opened it up to the chat for suggestions in each category. Here’s the great stuff everyone came up with:

Writing Stream Recap: Hamster Samurai

Writing Stream Recap: Hamster Samurai

Published by Scott on January 3, 2018

Over the past couple streams, whenever we browsed the Writing Prompts Subreddit, lots of people in chat would suggest even better ideas for prompts than the ones we were choosing from.

So for our most recent stream (with special guest Abbey), we decided to go ahead and create our own writing prompt, and then write it.

To help with that, we came up with a formula for creating a good prompt: normal idea plus twist equals prompt. For example, robots take over the world (normal idea) plus ducks (the twist) equal the prompt: “A.I. robots have taken over the world but have formed a pact with one species: ducks.”

This was a good exercise not only to come up with a prompt, but also for any story you want to write. We’ve all read sci-fi adventures, time travel mishaps, and romance drama novels before, so having a good twist to hook the reader can really make your story stand out.

After coming up with a bunch of fun prompts, we narrowed it down to these three:

Tips-y Tuesday: Write Your Synopsis FIRST

Tips-y Tuesday: Write Your Synopsis FIRST

Published by Scott on November 15, 2016

Last week on Tips-y Tuesday we talked about the benefit of writing your query letter before starting your manuscript. In a similar vein, today I’d like to talk about flipping another idea on its head: writing your synopsis first too.

For those unaware, the synopsis is typically a one page summary of your novel’s plot from beginning to end. When you send out your query letter to prospective literary agents, many of them will also request a synopsis as well.

Again, similar to a query letter, writing a synopsis may not seem so bad… until you actually have to do it. At least with the query letter you’re supposed to not tell everything that happens and leave a little room for mystery and intrigue. With the synopsis though, you literally have to condense your book into one page. Double spaced.

Tips-y Tuesday: Write Your Query Letter FIRST

Tips-y Tuesday: Write Your Query Letter FIRST

Published by Scott on November 8, 2016

Last week on Tips-y Tuesday we talked about how to stay on track and write every day. This week I’d like to talk about a strategy for writing novels that I’ve recently employed: writing the query letter first.

For those unaware, the query letter is the short letter you write to prospective literary agents once you’ve finished your manuscript. It consists of a short greeting, a back-of-the-book summary of your novel, any writing credentials you have, and that’s about it.

Now that may not sound so bad, but writing the query letter can be one of the most frustrating and stressful parts of writing a novel. I used to tell my writing group that writing the manuscript is the easy part, afterwards comes the hard part.

Tips-y Tuesday: How to Schedule a Hot Date (With Writing!)

Tips-y Tuesday: How to Schedule a Hot Date (With Writing!)

Published by Scott on October 11, 2016

Last week on Tips-y Tuesday we looked at how it can take a while to find “The One” when you’re trying to publish, but you’re not alone in that struggle, and getting there eventually is worth it.

This week I’d like to talk about one of the few things I’m actually decent at when it comes to writing: consistency.

I may not be so great when it comes to painting vivid scenes and bringing characters to life and even just putting words together nicely on a page. But as far as setting aside time to write every day and actually sticking to it, I’m practically Einstein.

Tips-y Tuesday: Writing Warmup

Tips-y Tuesday: Writing Warmup

Published by Scott on September 6, 2016

So I’ve been writing for a whole bunch of years now (some years better than others…) and I’ve accumulated a bunch of crazy ideas that I use myself and have shared with others at writing groups. Since they work well for me and some other similarly crazy people, I’ve decided why not share them with the internet as well.

I’ll do my best not to advise you to burn down your house, but I make no promises.

Category: Getting Started