Creating Your Own First Piece of Cutting Edge Fiction

Your head is brimming with ideas and you want to get started straightaway. Don't do it. There are certain preparations you must attend to initially.

Adhere to these age-old principles and you will rapidly become aware of the vital importance of progressive sequencing in all you do before you create your first piece of cutting edge fiction.

WHAT YOU MUST ALWAYS DO BEFORE YOU WRITE ANYTHING

Draw up a TTD (Things-To-Do list) which to start might be as modest as the one below - but it will grow because you will be adding to it as you go along.

1. Research what you think you know
2. Decide on a title
3. Novel or novella
4. Main plotline
5. Sub-plot(s)
6. List of characters
7. Era (period in time)

RESEARCH WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW

You may think you know all there is to know about your intended storyline but no writer is that clever…

If you haven’t already done so, engage in thorough research of the era in which your story is focused; the fashions, the automobiles, the technology, personalities, major news stories and events. Even if your tale is set in today’s world, still do your research.

Paradoxical though it might seem, facts are what make fiction perfect.

DEVELOPING A DEFINITIVE TITLE FOR YOUR BOOK

It’s never too early to start on this but don’t settle for the first idea that comes into your head; there will be many twists and turns along the way before you develop a definitive title for your book.

NOVEL OR NOVELLA

This is never easy to decide first time out of the trap; it is a matter of personal choice. My own first piece of published fiction was a novel Saturday Singles comprising 22 beefy chapters and 100,000+ words, followed in quick succession by another Get Fell In; 30 chapters, 60,000 words. Thereafter I have concentrated on novellas of 10,000 to 18,000 words which I can knock out in three to four weeks on average.

MAIN PLOTLINE

You need a plot or central theme and you have choices. You could crib one from the hundreds (if not thousands) available online but don’t be tempted because that will just brand you as a copyist whereas you want to position yourself as an original thinking writer of fiction. Developing your own exclusive plot stretches the imagination, gets the creative juices flowing, and germinates the list of unique characters that will move your story along.

SUB-PLOT(S)

Sub (or ancillary) plots are essential for maintaining reader interest but don’t include too many or you will run the risk of creating confusion and disrupting continuity. As a rough guide, I use a maximum of three in my novellas and up to six for full blown novels.

CHARACTERS

With outlines for the central theme and sub-plots to hand, now compile a list of the main characters that will feature in your story. Give them names and assign each a specific task. As of now they are embryonic skeletons but as your story evolves in progressive sequence they will become fully fleshed out living beings; living in your mind that is…

ERA

Your first work of fiction (like everything else you produce thereafter) will be set in a definitive era so make sure you do your research before you start writing; remember, facts make fiction perfect.

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