A different way of writing a story

My featured image is a photo I found in a junk shop and I am intrigued by the faces of the fourteen men, boys and dog staring out at me. I’m sure I am going to write about them, but not yet, many other stories to write first… but having a challenge of so many characters in search of a novel, got me thinking about how I plan my writing, and how other people plan theirs

Every writer, particularly novelists, must have their own particular way of writing and telling their story.

The planner: Some people like to plan the whole thing in meticulous detail, almost writing a whole other book of the proposed structure, plot, characters, location – together with back stories, family trees and detailed descriptions, with a gazetteer of locations with photos and attached research – some people have box files full of this preparation (although maybe they are virtual box files now!

The wall-charter: there are writers who have walls and noticeboards dedicated to their novel, with different coloured tapes following different strands of the plot; graphs of every sort, boards looking like the sort of thing you see in TV police procedurals, or films about scientists working on mathematical and scientific calculations. These are often a thing of mystery and beauty, decipherable only by the writer

The see-where-it-goes-oh-I’ve- run- out-of-steam/boxed-myself-into an-impossible-corner-plotter – this is the opposite of the planner and wall charter, a writer who sets off at a random gallop and sometimes has to have a most improbable plot-twist to get out of the writing mire and on to the conclusion.

The whole-story-already-in-my-head – this is a similar writer to the planner in that the story is complete and just needs to be written, but research is undertaken as it is needed, and only what is needed. Sometimes this way of writing is not very exciting – for the writer, the actual completed tale might be full of excitement!

The plan-follower – this is a different writer from the planner; the plan follower has a prescribed outline of what course a novel, any novel should take – a little more sophisticated than beginning, middle, end… Something along the lines of opening with its setting; characters, the build-up with events, intrigue and clues; the puzzle, problem or dilemma and impediments to progress; the diagnosis and action to resolve the previous; the resolution where all is revealed, sorted, unpicked, explained; the conclusion… This can sometimes lead to a formulaic novel, and is sometimes a little constricting for the writer’s imagination – unless it is set free, liberated from the plan!!

There are of course as many different ways of writing as there are writers, and it is interesting to compare notes with other people and see how they attack the challenge. A real challenge is  The National Novel Writing Month where people sign up to attempt 50,000 words in the month of November; I guess for most people doing it, structured plans and timetables fall by the writing wayside, as participants race to keep up with the 1600+ words a day target needed to reach the end!

And me? I generally have a little idea based on a tiny event or incident, and I play with it as I go along and rarely have any clear idea where I am going at all in my writing! It’s often as surprising to me as it is to my readers, I hope!!

To see where my inklings took me, here is a link to my books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lois+elsden&sprefix=lois+e%2Caps%2C147&crid=10S5DDWBBQ

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