How do stories come to you?
We asked on Twitter, you answered!
How do stories come to you? Do you visualise them or do you actually hear the words?
— Women Writers (@WomenWriters) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters like movies playing scene by scene, sometimes just a line or two, or a location, a name or a feeling in my gut #amwriting — Alicia WanstallBurke (@alicia_j_burke) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters one story started w/single line: “Damn, I want a cigarette & I don’t even smoke.”
— Terri Hunter-Davis (@terrihd) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters I see it infront of me like a scene in a movie. Hear the dialogue, feel what the characters feel. I observe then write it down — Patricia Bytes (@Patricia_Bytes) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters I see what’s happening, hear the words, feel what my characters are feeling , think what they’re thinking. Like method acting.
— Beryl Kingston (@berylkingston) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters sometimes I visualise especially when I’m somewhere new to me or at an inspiring place. — RMR Savage (@RMRSavage) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters I hear the main character’s dialogue & go from there
— Tina Williams (@tinalw2102) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters Visualise them like a film but with words superimposed on the visuals like subtitles. — Elizabeth Chadwick (@Chadwickauthor) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters Every time I start forming a story, my mind automatically starts wondering as to which book that is from. I stop there.
— Ashwini (@iashcn) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters The stories come from one of two places – inside or outside of self. I connect with a voice and the story begins to unfold. — Anna Bozena Bowen (@AnnaBozenaBowen) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters Settings come to me in 3D pictures, dialogue like actors' improvisation sessions – one character starts and the others follow.
— Jaen Hardy (@jaenhardy) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters Always the dialogue first, then everything else just builds around that like scenes from a movie or a play.
— Avery Cunningham (@AA_Cunningham) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters I visualize all day long, mostly worst-case scenarios. I’d be institutionalized by now, had I not learned to write them down. — Amy Mackin (@MackinWriting) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters Overheard dialogue. A road sign. An image from who-knows-where. I see it. And I hear the characters. They say what they want.
— Denise Clemen (@demanuelclemen) July 28, 2014
@WomenWriters Words. Lying on the beach, I heard in my head “A groom for a groom” & had an idea for a MOC romance b/t rich girl and servant. — Tiffany Reisz (@tiffanyreisz) July 28, 2014
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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- Writing Links…8/4/14 | TraciKenworth's Blog | August 4, 2014
My stories just pop in my head. any time any where. i have to clean or workout if i have a hard time with writing a book. that’s why i have to keep paper and pen with me at all times lol.
My ideas come from personal experiences then I reinvent them to the way I could imagine them to turn out.A little bit of added magic makes the story more interesting and perhaps a little unrealistic but I like fairytales.
Story concepts come in a flash, maybe as a tagline idea. Then I plot. When I actually get into writing the story, I envision the scene. When the words begin, that’s when I can sit down and write. (Sometimes I can sit down and write before that, but it goes best if the words flow first.)
Mine sometimes come from dreams. Scenes played out. Voices heard. The emotions felt.
For me, it always starts with a name. The name creates a face and figure, and a character comes in to fill it. After that, the plot expands from the character’s unique desires and challenges.