# Beginner Writer



## MistyBlood (Sep 14, 2010)

As the title states, I am a newcomer when it comes to writing. I am currently thinking of starting a story, but unsure what a good plot would be.

    I also need help starting out, like ,what would be a good way to start a story, good plot building things you could do, good ways to close a story, etc.

Any tips/help would be greatly appreciated. =]


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## Poetigress (Sep 15, 2010)

http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/46619-Resources-for-writers-New-writers-start-here


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 15, 2010)

Guess you beat me to it, PT.
If you're just starting, though, Misty, you should probably just write some junk and get a feel for it.  I don't want you to freak out about all the reading you might have to do.  You can do that later, when you have specific problems you run into that you need help on.  For now, though, just write something basic (even fanfiction works, to be honest) and try to have some fun.  Everybody sucks at it to begin with, so you don't need to worry about that at all for the time being.


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## ScottyDM (Sep 17, 2010)

Mr. Fox is right. Just write something. Don't worry about plots or starts or creating some epic work, even if you have a novel in your brain fighting to get out.

I started writing fiction in 2002. Actually, I started kicking around character and scene ideas before that.

I've been involved with online multi-user virtual reality since 1997 (based on the ActiveWorlds software). In early 2001 I bought a world and almost immediately started thinking about bots: non-player characters. I'd seen what one fellow had done and was impressed, but also saw the flaws of trying to script an entire multi-act play. Bot's can't act.

My concept was to make the bots more interactive with visitors and try to give them some personality. I would create not a single play, but many brief scenes that would be triggered by certain keywords the visitor might utter. Something like a Three Stooges routine. Except bots can't act.

After kicking around these brief scene and personality ideas in my head for a year, and frustrated by the dismal nature of bot technology, I decided to write my little scenes down. The scenario was a pair of tourists enter my world SkunkWks for the first time and encounter a few of my bots. Real-life ferrets have a ton of personality, so many of my bots were human-like ferrets (but about 3 feet tall), and of course I had to have a human-like skunk as the head bot (five-foot, four).

I just let the words flow and created two chapters of wandering narrative, and snappy dialog that didn't really mean anything. Then I set my work aside.

In early 2003 I stumbled across the furry fandom in the form of Eric Schwartz's comic _Sabrina Online_. After devouring Sabrina Skunkette in comic form I discovered Chris (Foxx) Yost's story _Sabrina Online the Story_, James Brunner's story _Zig-Zag the Story_, and a third online story which wasn't furry, but set in the ActiveWorlds universe and starting people I knew.

These three stories inspired me. They showed me it was possible to turn my handful of scenes and characters into a real story. So I jumped back in and just wrote. No plan, other than I knew these characters like they were a part of me. I thought, "I can finish this as a story in only one more chapter." So I wrote one more chapter. Then I thought, "Only one more chapter and this story will be done." So I wrote that chapter too. I figured one more ought to do it, and so on. After a total of seven chapters, the story was complete.

Well, it sorta has a plot, but chapter six could probably go without hurting anything. The writing, even after several editing passes, kinda sux, but not too bad. What can I say? It was a first effort.

*Anyway, the lesson is that if you're starting out, just do it. Write. Write anything. You'll produce something, and that is grand.*

If you want to write something longish, consider participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I'm a NaNo pirate and I don't go for their rules that you must write a novel, or it must be a fresh project, or it has to all be one story. I follow the NaNo pirate's code: produce your own original words and hang the rest.

You can get some awesome feedback on your stories/chapters at a place like Critique Circle. Or you can check Meetup to find local writing groups. The local group I belong to has meetings every Tuesday afternoon and Thursday night. But if you decide to participate in NaNo this year, they also host local get togethers, so check their website for details.

Best of luck and have a blast!

S~


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