Two Things I Learnt While Writing

Today, I am sharing two things I learnt while writing, that I find helpful to think about while writing. So, you can think of this as tips as well as getting insight into my writing mind, if you're just a reader.

Photo by Kat Stokes on Unsplash

1. Learning with your characters

This was kinda of mind-blowing for me. When you're plotting, or more likely exploring ideas, you follow your main character randomly to get a basic feel of who they are, how they will react, who they will socialize with or are close to and how they will interact with other people. While also trying to get a decent plot along the way. This was what I was doing. I was following my main character around when a random idea popped into mind and it happened right there and then without me giving it a thought. And my secondary character had to suffer the blow while I was reeling myself with this new development from my main character. This moment has become the first big moment in this story and is the one of the few pieces of the original plot that withstood through all the changes. It turned out to be a very important moment that needed to happen no matter what.

Later, I thought back on it for some reason. I realised that while writing a story it could be good to let yourself to learn with your characters. You shouldn't make the plot unable to adapt so your characters can't breathe naturally. An unexpected thing for you would likely be an unexpected thing for readers. While you may not be writing from that secondary character's POV (point of view), it is good to look at their view for a moment and see how they can might make something unexpected for your main character. My story wouldn't have that impact (though it is no secret 😛) if my secondary character didn't have that shock of finding his best friend had kept secrets from him. If my main character didn't turn out to be such a mysterious person. But none of that would have happened if they didn't get themselves captured. If a random new character didn't pop up and expose all the secrets. All these things played together and produced something that wasn't my original idea at all, because I let my characters play themselves out.

The main point here is to think like a reader. What can you learn if you look at your characters' views for a moment? What can they tell you of your protagonist? How did learning from them help with the plot? What would you learn if you let this certain character have a influence?

The moments that shock or surprise you are probably the most precious moments that you can ever have in your story.

Maybe your most boring character might have an unexpected thing to say if you think about their view for a moment.

 

2. Knowing the end of your story

More specifically, knowing the end of your story before you even write, maybe even before you figure out the beginning. 

I read this concept on Pinterest a while back. At first I didn't get the idea. I think it was stupid actually. How can you know your ending of your story before everything else? So I discarded it as worthless advice.

But later on, I thought on it again. And I realise, naturally, I do make sure that I know the endings of all of my stories. Cause I need to know where I am heading to write the rest of the story.

That hit me. It wasn't bad advice, it was good! Especially when writing a series.

So, I'm here today to tell you that it is important to know where you're heading, what your goal is for it. While an advice on Pinterest says you can figure it out after first draft or so, I think it is important to know your ending before you write out the story. It probably will save a lot more time and from going all over the place.

Now you don't need to know every detail of the ending. Just the basics, so when you're writing you can based your scenes and stuff toward the end goal. It will probably help with questions like, "Is this important or too off course?" "Is this new idea injuring my end goal?" "Is my original direction clashing with the end goal?" 

I realise too that the ending might change when the story is finally down on paper (or computer document), but it is still a good idea to have it, just to focus your writing direction better.

Also, I find it's really important to know the ending of your series. Not book one or two or whatever number, but the final book. Sometimes if you don't know where you are heading with that, the ending could lose its value and impact. It leaves readers disappointed, because they went through all those other books and then were left with a bad ending because the author lost direction with their ending. A final book's ending should be at least good enough with the first book's ending. Plus, the final book's ending should help align the other books' endings.

 Yes, I believe I know all my stories' basic endings. For some reason, it's one of the first things I cover with a new story idea. I figure out main events and the ending then I go back to think through it again, more carefully and slowly the next time around. This is the part where I figure out who the characters are more while deepening the plot.

(I do not have the original pin for this idea. But I do have another one which is sort of similar to it. Check it out.) 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this or it helped you or inspired you in some way. I found these tools very useful in my own writing and I hope they will too, even in a little way.

Can you guess which story I was talking about in the first tip?