How to create a story that you like?

Klaustasya · Oct '19

Ever since i was a kid i had the habit to create new stories, most inspired from personal little experiences, every now and then by music, other times by meeting interesting characters from tv shows or comics and wanting to create other original characters with similiar personalities and traits.

At some point though, i was still inventing stories, but always ended up disliking them or not being really interested in them (getting tired) and trashing my own ideas, leaving myself with no story to write or draw.

Somehow most of the characters i create are always on my mind, i still can get attached to some of them but they are all left completely storyless, and this hurts, because it feels like you have a glimpse of something about a story, but lacking the whole substance. it sucks.

Therefore i was eager to ask: how do you come up with stories and comics that you're just too excited to put down and turn them into a reality?

I don't know how it's possible, but even when i try to sketch down random panels with my beloved oc's i might get things going for a little while, but no story, no comic, and a deeeep sense of void. As if i'm not so passionate about what i get out of my own mind (?).
I'm curious to know if any of you got tired of their works or characters but at the same time how did you come up with loving your own stories so much that you couldn't help turning them into a novel or a comic.
So...what's your process? do you have one? Why do you like your characters and story so much? Most of the people i got the pleasure to talk about this with always told me that they just start sketching down a character, fall in love with them and at some point they also have a good, passionate story/envoirment to put around them. I envy these people so much, honestly XD not even my starting a comic with a plot that's been in my mind for so long i can't get something done or far on the paper at least....

Maybe being a writer or comic artist is jusr something that you have in yout blood, so you feel the natural impulse and inspiration? Rather than keep on feeling frustrated because of this, i prefer hearing your point of view on this topic

yansusu · Oct '19

I normally come up with the main characters and the general story at the same time and then put down some notes on the most important cornerstones of both. Afterward, I just jump into the story when I finally have the time (I have a long backlog so that takes years sometimes even though novels are written much faster than comics are drawn) and the rest of the plot basically creates itself automatically while I pin down the first chapters.

I've actually never gotten to the point where I didn't enjoy a story and/or the characters to the point where I didn't like them at all anymore. I did have phases where I wasn't as passionate about them though.
At those times, I just continue working on the story (I have a schedule for all the ones that I'm posting so I can't really take a break) and after a few chapters, it normally gets better. It's just that there are some parts I'm not that eager to write compared to others. If I really have trouble focusing on the work and everything slows down to snail pace, then I try to think of the major plot points that lie ahead.

Curiously enough, I've noticed that I have this problem much more with stories that I'm not updating as often. E.g. there's one that I only updated once a week and there were several weeks where I wasn't too eager to work on it. Later on, I finished another project so I could free up some more time in my schedule for that project and started posting two chapters a week. Since then, I feel much better about it and didn't really have any problems anymore.
I guess before that the time I needed to get back into the mood of writing that particular project was too long compared to the time it took to write the actual chapter so I didn't really have fun. Now, I have a much easier time getting back into it since the last chapter isn't that far off in the past so I get back into it faster as well and can enjoy the writing process. I'm actually thinking of raising the release rate to three times a week as soon as I finish another novel

CarltonIsaac · Oct '19

The story comes first; the characters are secondary, like puppets on a string to be yanked along the story’s path. The key is to not get emotionally connected with any character, and try writing from multiple POVs of different characters, including the antagonists’.
Once the story is defined, characters will fall into their key roles, one by one, all the way to the end.

xabelmind · Oct '19

I always learn things I didn't know about myself, so I keep going even after hiatuses because I want to discover more

And it also gives me the opportunity to analyse social situations, human psychology, phylosophy, spirituality, sociology... Fields I'm passionate about

So I would ask you, what does the adventure of put your OCs stories on paper gives you? Are you listening to them or are you giving them a story? And what does that say of you? -deep analyse moment-

silacinnamon · Oct '19

I had the same problem as you for years, I kept rewriting my comic because I didn't like where it was going, or I didn't know what to do with it...

One thing you can do is try to analyse what kind of stories you like and what makes you like them, then try adding some of these elements in your own story! And you can search for some writing processes on the internet. I really like Alan Moore's process in "Writing for Comics" (even tho I don't follow it exactly as he says). There's a lot of other methods out there, if you try one and it doesn't work for you, just try another one!

You can also try to start making just a short story, if you're like me and get overwhelmed by trying to make something too long and meaningful then, as you get more experience, you can write longer stories or add more to that short story

Klaustasya · Oct '19

Uh, hard questions to reply to XD
1) What does the adventure of put your Oc's stories on paper gives you?
- Depending on which oc's i'm using, sometimes it's entertaining, sometimes i don't feel anything, like i can't feel any "warmth" from the characters or me (?)

2) Are you listening to them or are you giving them a story? And what does that say of you?
- if i got the question right, i would say the latter: i focus more on giving them a story rather than asking myself "if X has this personality what would they do? what's their hobby? etc etc..." . Probably this says that i'm too focused on creating a cold envoirment where to put them, rather than let them create their own envoirment and plot XD i dunno.

joannekwan · Oct '19

Most of the stories that I like enough to act upon and make into a comic or novel usually come from me seeing a thing and thinking, "I like this concept. But I can do it ~~better~~ my way."

It's this passion of wanting to put my own stamp on things and shoving them into the world that sees me through to the story's completion.

As for characters I get it. Sometimes I'll come up with some great characters but they don't have stories I can sequence yet. I can go through a few story ideas for them before I find one that sticks.

My latest batch of characters went through that process. I started with a human and monster couple. I thought of a few different story ideas but none really grabbed me. It wasn't until I decided to go full self-indulgent with them that I came up with two other characters meant to be romantic rivals to the monster that I thought "Hey, I've got something going here!"
During that time I was also reading a few monster romances. They were nice but I thought of so many ways they could be tailored to my tastes specifically. Eventually I came up with a plot to tie them all together and lo and behold I liked it so much I didn't want to wait to turn it into a comic so I started writing it as a novel right away.

Klaustasya · Oct '19

Indeed i was thinking about getting some books about creative writing but even what you just suggested and look dor specific texts about writing for comics sounds like a good idea! Makes me feel a little bit better knowing that i'm not the only one with this little conflict XD thanks

LDJones · Oct '19

I tend to start developing my works after seeing a movie/show or reading a book in a similar genre. Usually, I'll pull ideas or inspiration from those other mediums and innovate them into something more original for my own works. As a result, I usually end up with something I'd love to read myself that is also wholly unique to me!

Black_Waters · Oct '19

When it comes to creating a story. I come up with the storyline and what the story is about. Characters are the last thing I create. They are made based on how an average person would in the context of the story. Which makes me fear that my characters my come off as two dimensional.

silacinnamon · Oct '19

I'm glad I could help!! I actualy had to read some books about comic writing for my bachelor's thesis ahahah, can look for some books by Scott McCloud and Will Eisner too, they were helpful for me

xabelmind · Oct '19

I was meaning more, what is the challenge? Do you learn something out of their experience/personality?

And, okay, you decide the story rather than let the OC tell it to you. In that case I would wonder what does that say of me as a person?

But it's the kind of questions I ask myself, because I'm passionate about all those fields I told you up there, that doesn't have to be at all the way your brain works.

Maybe you're more passionate about animal behaviour and want to experiment with stories that give you an insight on the amazing wild life deep in the sea, idk.

But all those are questions you have to ask and answer to yourself, not to me.

Klaustasya · Oct '19

This is simple and very effective i would say!
I'm trying to do the same, watching tv shows and reading books that i like too, see if i can take something that i like from them and put it in the story so that it would turn more likeable i guess!

Klaustasya · Oct '19

Defenetely going to check them out! Thank you!!

Adeca · Oct '19

I don't even know how can a story be good if it has no interesting characters. Out of every comic, TV series or movie that I like, I can't think of any where the whole point of the story isn't one or more characters' experiences, feelings, development or such. Characters are not the reason why I start watching or reading something, but they're the ONLY reason I stay. And of course I can say the same thing about writing stories. If I start writing about a character, and I suddenly feel like I stopped liking it, I keep changing the character until I like it. Are the most important characters in that story not good or interesting enough to me? Then there's no story to listen to, or tell.

But you have to bear in mind that a character is not just their looks and personality. A character can (or must, even) also be an idea of a life; a story in themselves. The way I think of it is... Am I just a human that looks this way and behaves that way, or am I also, and more importantly, a life, a memory, and a story in myself? My life is who and what I am, and (ideally) a character is also their story/life/goal/role first, and their other atributes second, even if those are directly related.

My process of creating characters goes more or less like this when the first idea is a sketch (actual example):
I wanted to make a vigilante. I sketched what came to mind first: A blonde, goodlooking, mature, responsible and well intended ex-cop with a big sense of honor and justice but with obvious anger issues and merciless attitude towards criminals.
That didn't last long because it was bland and uninspired. I started digging and realized that I didn't like the idea (done too many times, not that special, it's literally the Punisher, whatever). Then I took that same character and gave them another twist. What if he's not honorable or just, but he believes he is because he has a severe case of misophobia and, coupled with some other external factors, he thinks dirty=evil and clean=good? I then came to like this absurd, nearly insane version of the same character more, then changed his personality to fit his past, his beliefs and his goals, and then changed his appearance to suit all of that. More specifically, I made him wear mostly white cotton clothes and perfectly clean and combed white hair, along with a skinny and weak body because he hates sweat and doesn't do any kind of exercise, eats very little food in order to have to poop less often, and doesn't eat meat because those are just rotting corpses (as opposed to muscular blondie with black leather clothes). Then, I thought "how can he be a vigilante if he's physically weak"? Well, maybe he has psychic powers or sci-fi gadgets that do all the job for him! Maybe somethint that resembles a vacuum cleaner. Then I decided that I would no longer make this character serious, and would turn his story into a comedy and his universe into something he made sense in, such as a very dirty neighborhood he wants to purify, a lot of fantasy elements that could explain his powers/gadgets and a development that will make him learn that clean doesn't equal good. Yes, it's similar to the likes of batman or the punisher, but with a personal little twist that makes him unique enough to don't feel like the blonde version of either.
I like asking a lot of questions about any given character I design if I'm interested in their story, and go through all of those steps to make it more interesting.

Well this is like, the polar opposite of what I just said lol. Or maybe you're saying the same thing I did in another way, from another POV? Not sure.

Mari · Oct '19

I make a character design, think of a basic backstory for them and then see where that goes. Sometimes it goes nowhere (like my poor old lesbian scarred pirate captain that was just an outlet for me to work out my love for mermaids and pirate costumes )Sometimes I'll be mulling over the story's minute details for 5 years.

Just keep doing what you do. If you don't feel invested in something you're writing, it's not wrong to just drop it. If it's something small that irks you, that's a different matter, but if the entire thing brings out nothing but dislike in you it might be better to give up. If you actively dislike what you're doing, it will show in the finished product.

borzoiteeth · Oct '19

I mostly design by themes. Questions I want to ask and have answered. Such questions can range from, "are characters who lose their original flesh forms when thrown into isekai stories become trans characters regardless of who they were from their original world?", "What if the Bermuda Triangle was a fae land?" to, "what if I designed a chimera beast made of dogs and fish won't it be funny that they will thirst for food twice as hard lol".

I've mentioned before on here that as a creator I luck out on enjoying the process more than the results. Not to say there aren't stories/characters I love, but I never expect to enjoy the finished project. I don't need to love, I just need it to be interesting.

Sometimes it can really in the blood for people to be able to just create- but for most its a learning/training process. If you have never finished a story before, I can't stress enough- give yourself goals. A lot of stories die young due to perfectionism running wild with no guidelines. You start with something cool and your mind just loves it but its still sitting in a very vague space in your head. Then once you start defining anything the story already starts loosing its luster as nothing can stand up against this better "idea" which is really only a "feeling" of greatness that doesn't even explain why it is. You might have something really good but when against the vague undefined need of perfect, no idea can win.

So set yourself something basic, even with stuff that you feel is pointless to mention because you love that genre/theme so much. Just put it down. Ex: urban fantasy, 3 main characters, super gay, what is fate, monsters, etc. Make a goal of a possible ending. Yes, saying you want an open ending or no defined ending (even perma-hiatus) result of the story is stating a kind of ending. The point is to help give your mind the right kind of expectations so when you drop your story you know its because it simply couldn't work in general, not just because of lost interest.

These goals can also change. You don't have to stick to them unless you discover that you are the kind of artist that flourishes best with defined set challenges.

And finally, please consider, most creators creating process is like an iceberg. All the work it took, edited story or tossed ideas are unseen under the ocean. I have hundreds of characters and a ridiculous amount of stories that will likely be never seen by anyone. Some of them I love much more that what I have shared, but the ones I share just happened to pull themselves together to be worth sharing.

AVXP · Oct '19

The first:
Push, pull, add, edit, subtract, build upon, tear down...rethink, retrace, narrow, expand, work, rework the thing
until I feel giddy. I try to never stop at 'good enough' as in "That's good enough."

There's an excitement about the reader's experience too. Dying to see how they react when they get to certain parts or see certain things. Half the fun is creating, the other half is sharing.

When I love an idea and I think it's brilliant...it gets considered.
The second, which is tougher, is to let it marinate.
Sit on the idea and keep thinking about it and see if it holds up over time.

The only stuff that I've lost interest in, was stuff that had a huge interest spike at the start and I went with it and over time my feelings waned. Wait. That's an important lesson I've learned. If something is a really, really good idea, it will stay a good idea for a very long time.

Rhonder · Oct '19

I've always been a very reactive & inspiration based writer. Like I'll see a cool thing in a show I'm watching or game I'm playing or whatever and be like "wow, that was awesome! I want to try that out too :D"- obviously putting my own spin or ideas into it and trying not to blatantly copy, but yeah~ So like I'm writing about concepts that I'm already excited about which helps to keep me excited about the project as a whole.

The other "secret" that goes into my planning process is that, for better or worse, I tend to begin building my stories by first thinking of really cool scenes or interactions that I'd like to try out as the starting point and then craft a lot of the rest of the plot around those scenes. Like how do I get to this really cool moment? I find that having those cool moments sprinkled throughout helps to give me a "carrot in front of the donkey's nose" effect like even if the slower moments aren't super cool, you know that the next big scene is around the corner and you wanna get to it, so away we go! I couple this with brisk pacing so that there's not too much downtime between the big moments: the biggest issue with my prior project to my current one is that the pacing sucked relative to my drawing speed (I was pacing it out like a weekly shonen manga series but could only draw 1-2 pages a week) and it was going to take like a year to get to the first big cool scene... I don't have the patience for that (and wouldn't expect readers to either ) so I gave up on the 8th page of the re-re-reboot and moved to this new shorter project.

For a quick example of my process with my current comic, it went something like this:

Was playing a few videogames that had a focus on elemental magic, and specifically combining different elements to get different effects
Wow that's super cool, I wanna try!
What elements should I use for this comic? I wanted to create a more tactical fighting scene rather than a brute force one, so I thought using water, which is typically not a very offensive element in combination with something else might be interesting. Decided on water + fire = steam (which was a combination which showed up in both games I was playing hehe).
Got to thinking about what might make a cool comic, and envisioned this panel:

And after that literally the whole writing process was just structured around how to get to this cool moment xD

Spoiler for the basic plot development of my comic

"well I want this water mage to team up with a fire mage to create a big steam effect to win a fight... so maybe the opponent has vision based abilities that the steam interrupts? Who is the opponent then... well maybe the characters are treasure hunters and the opponent is someone who steals a treasure that gives them a reason to team up?"

and so on.

AVXP · Oct '19

I do that too. Work backwards.

CarltonIsaac · Oct '19

I haven’t read what you said since you posted way after I did.

Referring to you quoting my post, I outlined my approach to writing as requested by the OP. This is the method I have used for the last 25 years. I structure the entire story with dummy character fillers, and then flesh out the characters within the context of the narrative as the story moves along.

burginlewis · Oct '19

@Klaustasya

One of the most helpful things I ever did as a writer was make a list of all the things my favorite stories, shows and movies have in common. I bet several of your top 10 movies, for example, have similar themes, characters, plot devices, etc. Do they all involve a countdown? Is the heroine always a redhead? Is there some sort of treasure hunt going on? Are there fantasy elements in all of them? Do they all take place in 1920s train depots? Etc.

I'd try starting there.

Klaustasya · Oct '19

Yes, this sounds like a good starting point! I'll try it out, thanks!

XxKonspiracyxX · Oct '19

I feel I get inspired exactly the same way you do. For about four years straight, when I was with my ex, I had the same exact problem. I love all my stories and characters, and I thought about them constantly, but no story ever seemed to breach past chapter 1.

Then, some drastic life changes landed me single and homeless. Put me in shock to some degree. Then, the next thing I knew, I started drawing and writing my ass off. I rewrote my first book, Wicked, then got 4 out of 5 books written in my Doomsday series. I also have volumes 1 and 2 of my American manga done, currently working on volume 3.

It's not really advice, I guess, because I can't explain why terrible luck, betrayal, and homelessness inspired this sudden streak of productivity. But if I had to try explaining it...

I would say this.

You don't have forever. Your comforts are taken for granted and often temporary, and so is your life. You don't have forever to procrastinate and entertain the depression and discouragement--if you don't get it done now, while you CAN get it done, then it will never become a reality, and it's a regret you will die with.

I know that sounds drastic, but that's the way I think. Both of my parents are excellent writers and artists, but they spent their lives trying to keep a broken marriage going before divorcing and sinking all their time into work and court drama. Life often gets in the way of living. It's a damn shame to see people with such talent never make use of it.

And I'll be damned if that's gonna happen to me.

Stop posting on forums and get started! I swear, getting over this hump is the hardest part, because once you're past this, you can NEVER stop!

AVXP · Oct '19

You should probably get some kind of best-advice-ever reward for saying that.

LunarSushiCat · Oct '19

For me it took years to get anywhere near a story that feels completed, it went trough countless remakes and changes before it was anywhere near a clear vision. Even now it's still changing,to reach the vision that i have for it.
Only advice i can suggest is to organise your ideas,and and write a list of what aspect of story telling you enjoy the most what stories you like the most.
Explore the world where those stories take places,write shorts with weird concepts till you have a list of things you would be ecstatic to work on every single day.
And that's how you get a story, if everything else fails there is plan b

make a simple setting,and make short comics. and expand on it a little each time
hopefully it helps

Adeca · Oct '19

Well now that I'm re-reading it... I didn't say it the way I meant it (cause I'm not very good at english). I knew you didn't read my comment before saying that.

DiegoPalacios · Oct '19

I go with the tought of "characters make the story happen", so my proccess is more character based.

The trick that works for me to give a plot to a character is to think what situations/conflicts are interesting to explore said character.

These conflict varies a lot, it could be them having a crush, a goal, a mission, a dream or just them dealing with daily life. Everyone wants something, even wanting to do nothing counts.

There is a chance that your story has more than one character, see how they relate to the MC/MC`s and if they affect the MC possitively or negatively on their goal. Sometimes the main obstacle for them to reach their goal may be themselves!

Sometimes, not all your OC`s will fit on the same story, due to story tone or other reasons. The ones that dont fit, save them for another story.

hope this helps you to give your OC`s a story to be.

Cavechan · Oct '19

For me, my comic contains a lot of thoughts, feelings, beliefs I have that I can't express well in words so I try and show them instead. It's rather personal for me. If there is something you care deeply about, it might help to include it in the story somehow.

XxKonspiracyxX · Oct '19

Thanks xD I was just speaking from the heart. Kinda dark, but... it's true. I don't wanna be on my deathbed thinking of all the stuff I wanted to make and never got around to it.

ViktorGrim · Oct '19

How do you come up with stories and comics that you're too excited about to put down? - Very simple. Discipline. No one will absolutely love their story at all points. This is the problem behind waiting for "inspiration", which is in effect what you're doing. That, and it seems you've having some trouble with your own self esteem in coming up with a story. What you need to ask yourself, and I mean truly sit and ponder on this for a while, "why do I get tired of my own stories?"
As for them lacking a "real story"? Says who? No story is ever, EVER thought up wholesale and complete upon its first conception. No story survives the creative process unchanged from the initial thoughts that get it down on paper. Perhaps it's a problem if perception and expectation that you're having?

As for coming up with characters and OCs first. This is not a sin as some would claim. Contrary to @CarltonIsaac, I'd say you can easily come up with characters for a character-driven plotline first. You can develop a good story if you have a good character and know them intimately. Do you do character bios? Do you write full backgrounds? Personalities? Likes, dislikes? Secret thoughts, idiosyncrasies, tics and habits? Have you determined their upbringing, and fleshed out the milestones in their development? Events that have shaped them into who they are? Are they right handed or left? Are there any minor or major injuries or defects in their physical prowess that would influence the way they interact with the world?
When you know who you characters are, you can determine that motivations drive them, and perhaps come up with something to base a story around. Do you have a character that's a pathological liar? Well you've got a great basis for a story that explores and deals with the actions and consequences of being a pathological liar. Have someone with an ego, and someone naive and trusting? Great chance for some stories there if you pair them up.
It's not a matter of "why I like my characters so much." I have characters that I absolutely despise sometimes writing about them, not because they affect me personally, but because it's not something I'm resonating with at the time. I push through it anyway, even if I leave a note to myself that this part was half-assed and needs further development.

Writing and story telling are not Just Talent. They are skills, and like all skills they can be trained. Someone with a natural affinity for something will always be surpassed by someone who puts their 100% into developing and training their skills if they don't train it. They may have an initial "boost", but in the end "natural talent" counts for extremely little.

To give you a little inisght, I'm a pantser. I've always been a pantser. I was surrounded by creativity in my youth, my family got me into D&D when I was 5, though even before then they encouraged whatever creativity I came up with by, as a toddler, telling THEM bed time stories (because the "normal ones are kinda boring now I heard them too much"). I started "writing" in second grade, first for a Halloween project (write a scary story). I'd always loved to read, and would read almost anything from any genre. I never planned anything out, came up with a concept, and went from there. Still do that to this day, and so far it's working out great. No, I never publish the first draft, that's not what Pantsing is as some salty plotters would tell you (insert writing group war flashbacks here). I also have an intense burning passion for science, and the only reason I'm a writer and not an engineer, chemist, or physicist, is because I was led to believe that ALL SCIENCE IS MATH and that, because I don't particularly process math the way school wanted me to in the 90s, I would never be able to get a career in my original dream jobs.
Going back over my ancient works from before I was, say, 10? I can remember each and every influence in that piece. I was fascinating reading over some of my old stuff and tracking my progress over the years. As I was exposed to more stories, more variations, more content, the better my stories got. The more I wrote, the more I experimented and exercised the writing muscle, the better crafted my sentences were. The better I was able to utilize the vocabulary and concepts I had internalized. Every new scientific discovery, every philosophical question, every bit of science, fringe science, and pseudo science I learned about gave me new elements to weave into my stories.

To which I ask you. Do you read? Do you study interests outside of writing? Do you have other hobbies? What are the influences on your work? Read and read often. Read wide, and read deep. Find the passions you're interested in. Study, practice, read, train. Everything you do and experience in life will only serve to increase your storytelling capabilities. And remember, the first draft is never the publication draft. Revisions and editing exist for us to polish the rough sculpture we initially create. You think Michelangelo created such beautiful sculptures just by smacking the marble a few times? Hell no, even sculptors will ofttimes do a few practice sculptures before working on the main piece. Consider the drafts your practice blocks.

I have two exercises I'd suggest.
1) Character Q&A. Come up with some questions to ask your characters. Get some questions from friends. Sit down and "conduct an interview". If you haven't come up with some details yet, just letting whatever comes out of your character's mouth can fill them in. Don't think, don't consider. Don't go "Oh, but he wouldn't do/say that!". Just let them talk.
2) World build. While you can get a fairly good character-driven story out of just the base characters alone, it's much easier to have an environment that you can draw elements from. So? World build. There are dozens of, hundreds even of videos and blogs dedicated to world building. I find the ones for tabletop RPGs like D&D the best, as most of the ones i've come across for writers tend to be a lot less granular.

Beyond that, something I've come to understand in engaging with writers in groups and forums over the years, is that there are really 3 ways of crafting a story.
1) Plotter - The one who will spend most of their time making a book in actual research, plotting out the story each and every step of the way. Can get even as extreme as determining what the characters will do and think during the outlining process. Characters are slaves to the plot, and in my experience much of the time the character can feel a little too cookie cutter, a little too structured and robotic. These tend to be the ones that get the books done the most often, as the story is often written out before they even start writing it, it's just a matter of applying the dressing for presentation.
2) Pantser - The one who will just write things as they come to mind. Usually doesn't have a lot of structure, and most of the time making a book will be spent editing out unecessary parts, filling holes, hunting down lost plot threats, tying off loose ends, and in general a lot of re-writes. Mostly for continuity. Characters are inserted, created, and developed as you go. The downside to these types I often notice tend to be, as I said, lost plot threads, gaping plot holes, continuity errors, and the like.

Those are the two most commonly accepted methodologies. I'm sure I'm not the one who started this third, but I never see it spoken about beforehand. I started doing it when I started writing stories in my homebrew D&D worlds that I would always come up with for campaigns, but those campaigns would always die because my groups tended to... Not last long.

3) World Builder - The one who designs a world, then decides what stories can play out within it. Usually the style that has multiple stories in the same setting, often disconnected from each other. Can be as simple as coming up with the world, the rules of the world, a few nations and cultures and a bit of geography and go from there. Can get as granular as filling out every town full of shops and "npcs" your story may never use.. The way I do it, admittedly all I can tell you as I'm the only one I know to do this, I like to come up with the history and rules of the world, for at least a few thousand years, in broad strokes. Fill out a few nations and cultures, populate with species, etc. Then I start looking around for interesting story potential. Political intrigue, wars, otherworldly invasions (I write fantasy and scifi mostly), etc etc. Sometimes, if the world is created very granular, I'll just come up with some characters that seem interesting and drop them in to see what happens. This method's worked out well for me so far, and for reference I do mostly pantsing, with a little plotting.

That's a lot, sorry. Hope this can give you some insight that you can utilize.

Klaustasya · Oct '19

This is probably the best answer i got so far, i literally just came put from my session with my therapist and talked about my current problem, i really feel like screenshoting what you just said, your words are truly inspiring! (Sorry i wish i could define my answer more but english is not my first language.) but to put it straight i couldn't stop nodding at almost everything you said somehow it really reasonated within me! Especially the initial Discipline thing which is exactly what i ended up talking about it with my psychologist today.
Thank you! I'll hold dear your comment!!

ViktorGrim · Oct '19

Well, I'm glad I was able to help. I wish you luck and fortune in all your future creative projects!

CarltonIsaac · Oct '19

In my method of operation, that is a waste of time. I sell stories, not characters, and that works for me and my bank balance.
To emphasize, I stated my modus operandi, and not a plan that others should follow.
If what ever you do @ViktorGrim works for you, that's great and I have no reason to correct you, just as much as you have no reason to "fix' the way I work. Cheers!

LCT_m_a_d · Oct '19

I wonder if it would be helpful to have 2 stories. One story which is "practical", while at the same time have one thats all passion and freeflowing. Kind of a way to keep from being emotionally compromised.

GabiWolf · Oct '19

I had a vague idea of the story, way before I knew my characters. I ended up basing most of my characters on people I actually know, and care about. That gave them their 'base' personality and from there they took over. I don't try to force a story, it's weird to say but they end up telling me their story. There is one scene I am currently working on, where I originally wanted to characters response to be weak, but he forced the issue instead. He was angry, and annoyed and I drew it that way even though I planned for him to shrink and be quiet.
I think when you plan to much, it ends up feeling forced, and you get frustrated because then it becomes a lot of work and overthinking. Then you start nitpicking every little thing. If you just have a simple idea, there is a lot of room to rethink, rearrange, and be flexible. I want to be surprised when I write, just like the audience likes to be surprised.

I guess simply put, I get excited about my stories, because I feel like I'm being told the story along the way. So I get excited to see what my characters will do next!

joannekwan · Oct '19

Oh yes!
Like I initially had two characters only have fairly shallow interactions but as I was writing them I was like, "nah, they need more." And so now they received an entire chapter to themselves. The addition really adds to each of their depth and also deepened my enjoyment of the characters themselves!

CodeMonkeyArts · Oct '19

For me, it depends on the story;

Sometimes I start out with a character concept, then build out a plot around those character concepts.

Sometimes, I have an plot for a story, build it out in my head, then come up with characters for the story.

I will say that for a story to work and for me to keep pushing and at it, I need both. I need characters I care about and like, and I need a plot to follow through on for the story. If I don't characters I care about, then I can't write them well and thus can't be invested in the story. If I don't have a plot, then yeah I love the characters, but I can't actually see any story I make with them have a middle and end. So I need both to keep my interest and succeed.

An idea I have brewing in my head stems from a similar moment I had: "Man I am sick and tired of all these immortal/ANCIENT vampires falling in love with some innocent young waif. First of, I'mma change the genders AND I'm gonna give a reason WHY the vampire woman loves the human. So a pure romance with some horror elements. A Vampire Romance. Considering that there are a lot of...painful cliches with Vampire Romances, I definitely wanted to write one myself that addresses some of those cliches.

I just need to outline it and get the plot going beyond more than just this concept

ViktorGrim · Oct '19

You misunderstand @CarltonIsaac . I wasn't "fixing" or "correcting" your method. For the most part, I was referencing your post by @ rather than making my post longer via direct quote. Though, I must ask. Are you aware that your post comes off as authoritarian? The lack of an "in my method" clause, combined with the way you emphasize certain words, made it come across that way to me.

I've seen newer writers get incredibly discouraged with how more experienced writers set an authoritarian tone. Watched as they struggle for an unnecessarily long amount of time with a method they were told by an author they respected, rather than explore other methods suggested that would suit them better. Considering you sell on amazon, that simply is one more reason for a newer writer to think that way. OP was asking because they were asking for help. I'm sure you understood that. I wasn't sure, however, if they were going to hang on your words or not. In my opinion, it's irresponsible to budding creators to only present one method of creating. Wanted to give OP a further expanded range of options, as it were.

So, there ya go. The reasoning behind my @ It wasn't to fix or correct your method, it was because I knew my post was going to get long and quoting your post would've added more. The rest of the post isn't even directed at nor intended for you. Whether you accept that reasoning or not, up to you my dude.

May your sales skyrocket and over half your library appear on Amazon's Top Seller list. Cheers!

GamerPrincessXI · Oct '19

I love creating stories, well writing them anyway. The thing I take personally is criticism. I'm more sensitive than most people, I guess. I hated people criticizing my writing because I thought that it was a personal attack and stopped writing. Each and every time, I get some rude comment or something, I just end up shutting down, getting like very sad, I guess.I know that I shouldn't but I really can't help it.

The saying that criticism helps you grow is completely untrue, for me it only discourages me.

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