The process of writing a story *cries*

[TheFirstForgottenSoul]

yes, I am new here, as of today, since today is when I completed my registration. So, with that out of the way.... I often end up getting ahead of myself in my mind when writing. I have never finished a single story, but this one I will. I get a lot of my inspiration from shows I watch, and the current story I'm working on gets its inspiration from Code Geass. I'm hoping that I can get some help with this, as well as tips for voice acting and drawing anime. Yes, that means I hope to make it into an actual anime, something good to.

I seem to be straying from my topic. My question is.... how should I go about this? I have the story played out in my head, and it races ahead faster than I can write it down. How do I get these ideas down while still continueing my story in a forward motion? Also, I have trouble piecing together different parts of the story, but I think every writer has problems with that.

First, I'm going to write it as a story. Then, when I'm at the point where I can start forming an anime out of it, then I'll write the script and visual details later. Yeah, I can't remember the word for that... screenplay? nah, that's not it. oh well.....

[Tylec]

-Write continuously. It doesn't have to be elegant, and your first draft will rarely look like your final. Just be sure to get your ideas down on paper.

Methods for drafting include:

-TREE DIAGRAMS. Write down one event, draw an arrow and then write down the next subsequent event in the plot. This is great if you ever come to a point of uncertainty - you're not sure where to take the story next, or how to fill in a certain detail. Jot down all the possible outcomes you can think of, and continue seperate "trees" for each case.

ex. event 1 --> event 2 --> event 3 --> event 4
.................................--> event 3b


-DIALOGUE ONLY. Scribble out conversations as they come to mind, and add the visual details later.


-NON-STOP BRACKETS. My personal favourite: write a bit of description, and keep writing. If you start to slow down because you're racking your brain for the perfect word, just sketch in a set of brackets. They can be empty, or full of all the synonyms you could come up with. Then keep going. You can pick the choice details at a later stage of drafting.

ex. "The monster [howled/screamed/wailed] in his ears until he was [sobbing?] on the ground."

later: "The monster howled in his ears until he was shivering on the ground."


Keep a notepad and pencil with you at all times. You never know when inspiration will strike. Have some looseleaf handy at your bedside, because they even hit in the middle of the night.


If you want to transcribe your story into an animation, I recommend finding some actual screenplays for movies or scripts for theatre, and studying the conventions. How do you present dialogue and emotional cues? How specificly should you describe environments and on-screen action? How do professionals present inner monologues or narration?

[Z-Che Chan]

There is actually a thread in the works for that at the moment. It's just a lot of research involved due to differences in style and optional applications.

But what Tylec said is a great start ^-^

[TheFirstForgottenSoul]

thanks tylec. Yeah, I've been doing basic. That bracket idea is pretty good, since I can't thin of a name for a school, or an action, or whatever. Brackets, I guess can help me say to myself "Hey! You! This might need some more thought!" Then I'll proceed to edit when i can. thanks everyone!

[dragonknighttara]

You know how teachers are constantly bugging you to outline everything? At times, they're actually kind of right. I completely sympathize with your feelings of having everything in your head but the instant you sit down you just feel overwhelmed by... absolutely everything. My recommendation is just sit down and maybe use paper or the computer (maybe the opposite of your usual writing tools) and scratch down the basic plot as thoroughly or vaguely as you chose so it is sitting in front of you in some form however complete.

Once you have even just a sequence plotted/outlined out, make sure you have a good chunk of time to work with and force yourself to sit down and work. Now that you have a goal of writing from a very distinct point A to point B as determined by your outline or gameplan, unhook your computer from the wireless, make sure your homework (if you have any) is finished, and that you have no other obligations - do as many of these as possible to keep your mind on task - then just sit down and write. The truly best cure is to simply sit down and get it out of your head and onto paper - not in an elegant or beautiful way, just get it out and worry about fixing your problems later.

Sometimes this is excruciatingly hard at first because a lot of times you have to get yourself into the mood or the "zone". But this one of the few ways I can get myself to write at all at times, no matter how many ideas and how much inspiration I have.

[Stormscape Creations]

I find the most effective and efficient way to get your thoughts down is a combination of

-DIALOGUE ONLY. Scribble out conversations as they come to mind, and add the visual details later.

and summarizing, as in, just describe what happens in the first part of the story, then describe what happens in the next part, and the next and on and on. Don't be afraid to be really specific about some points and really vague about others, just write what's in your head.

Also, don't be afraid to skip ahead if inspiration strikes while you're writing the actual story. Often a paragraph or short bit of dialogue will just pop into my head fully formed and I have to just write it out and then go back to where I was until I catch up to myself.