The Trendsetter

I read about this debate all over the place – in the forums or in “how to” books for writers.

So what exactly is an outline? It’s defined as a statement or summary of the chief facts about something.

Now if you’re already a writer and you know your preferences, you either outline your novel first before you write or you’re a seat-of-the-pants type of writer – based on intuition or experience - rather than a plan.

If you’re a first time writer and want to write your first novel you should continue reading. Then you can decide for yourself if you’d like to outline first or you prefer to just go a head and start writing.

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When you go to see a movie what types of movies do you like to view? Do you like comedy, heavy drama, adventure or futuristic themes? By asking yourself this question you can determine what type of story you are interested to write - if you plan to put your writing skills to test.

Finding your interest in the type of story will help you to develop a framework for your fiction. When you are able to narrow down your interest, then you can go to the next step of listing down your characters. But first, let us explore three common types of stories just mentioned.
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When you think you have had enough information to help you begin writing your first fictional piece or memoir, you will scratch your head when I tell you there is yet another technique you need to master. And I experienced it first hand when beginning to write. Writing is not as easy as I thought it would be. This is because the same question keeps repeating itself through my head: how to make and keep the reader glued to their seat from start to finish?

If you plan to be an apprentice writer and writing your fictional piece just for yourself or as an exercise - that is fine. But when you write with the intent to send your manuscript to the editor, you better get ready for the arrival of the rejection slip. No, seriously. The editor is your first and the most critical reader you will confront. You need to impress him/her with your best writing.
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Authors write fiction with goals in mind: they want the reader to read and learn something from their character’s experience. Additionally, the reader expects the story to be entertaining as well. It all sounds fairly easy and straightforward as it makes writing fiction interesting, but it is not. Any writer who’s published or attempted to write a short story or novel understands – writing fiction is easy; writing fiction that maintains the reader’s interest throughout is not.

So how do you present your story to hook the reader from beginning to end? Your ability as a writer is now challenged and you need to equip yourself with several plot devices. These devices help you to captivate your reader’s interest in your story. One type of plot device is suspense. Suspense is when the reader has to wait and worry about what will happen next to the main character(s).
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In my previous blog, How to create believable characters for your fiction, I stated how important it is for you to give your characters a personality. This is true especially for your main characters since their role in your fiction is primary and they should be developed to be round and dynamic.

In order for your plot to move forward, your characters that drive the plot must be rounded. A round character is necessary for your protagonist. You need to create him or her with a detailed background, their behavior, temperament, strengths, and weaknesses and how he makes the action to purse his or her goals. By giving detailed information and background for your protagonist, your readers feel they know him or her and are able to understand why he or she makes decisions in the way they do. Another round character is your antagonist. Since most of the time your protagonist will be interacting with the antagonist, it is important that the villain needs to be tagged as round character as well.
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