So I kinda wanna write a book...

[Dusquad]

Well, I have been pretty bored recently and having nigh on no artistic capability (In my experience, maybe I'd be good at crafting stuff) other than the eloquence of language (which I am not using now) and I was thinking about writing a story, maybe a full scale novel. I think I want to write something that would have some heavy steampunk themes. I am just poking around for some ideas, wondering if anyone on the escapist had any ideas to get me started?

 

[SaintWaldo]

Sincere advice:

Stop posting ABOUT a book and just go write something smaller. About something you know or have the imagination to make seem real. Then throw it out and write something a little longer, maybe about something completely different. Throw that out as well. Repeat, probably forever, but you still have a chance.

I wish you the best of luck. I look forward to seeing whatever you come up with.

 

[Queen Michael]

My advice? Have a great villain. That always improves a book.

 

[Kagim]

Get a basic idea, write short stories about said ideas.

Write small short stories about any of the characters to get a feel for them. Drop them into dozens of scenarios to discover how they are going to act.

After you have done that you probably have a the bones of what the story will end up being so begin putting that skeleton together with some sort of plot line.

After that get typing and put some meat on that bad boy.

Good luck.
Have Fun.
Don't Die.

 

[Spinozaad]

Write.

After thirty pages your AWESOME EPIC FANTASTIC NOVEL is going to grind to a halt because the original idea is shit.

Then you write on. Deus Ex Machine, The God of the Machine is your God.

And, lo and behold! That one part made no sense at all, but what followed is GREAT (but not really). But, ARGH! HOT DIGGITY DAFFODIL! You're stuck again.

Continue writing.

At some point you'll have something vaguely resembling a story. Ignoring those parts that make no sense, are as well-connected as the ancient Roman highway system is today and is probably just shit.

Congratulations, you've now made it to the editing phase. Enjoy the horror of writing the same stuff a second time.

And a third, and a forth.

But then, then you might have something good.

Unless you're a mormon housewife.

-Edit-

Oh, and don't let Mary or Gary Sue in. TVTropes will hate you.

No. Really. TVTropes -will- hate you.

 

[Jedamethis]

I'unno.

A missing cat?
A stolen pet?
A magical hat?
An impossible bet?

A magic potion?
A secret place?
A disastrous lotion?
A forgotten face?

A gruesome curse?
A horrible disease?
A mysterious hearse?
A plague of fleas?

 

[imnot]

Get a basic idea, write short stories about said ideas.

Write small short stories about any of the characters to get a feel for them. Drop them into dozens of scenarios to discover how they are going to act.

After you have done that you probably have a the bones of what the story will end up being so begin putting that skeleton together with some sort of plot line.

After that get typing and put some meat on that bad boy.

Good luck.
Have Fun.
Don't Die.

i wrote a fighting fantasy style book when i was 12, they're fun to make because it's the same as writing a story but with more immersion. sort of like a text version of heavy rain.
well good luck.

 

[teqrevisited]

I've tried to write several times. It's ok for the first few pages but after that I just run out of original ideas. Give it a go but don't have high expectations.

 

[HentMas]

Well, I have been pretty bored recently and having nigh on no artistic capability (In my experience, maybe I'd be good at crafting stuff) other than the eloquence of language (which I am not using now) and I was thinking about writing a story, maybe a full scale novel. I think I want to write something that would have some heavy steampunk themes. I am just poking around for some ideas, wondering if anyone on the escapist had any ideas to get me started?

how i work!: (tales of epic and action driven stories)

take an empty notebook, and brainstorm in it, seriously, think of a setting, characters, events, timeline, etcetcetc and write everything down, and i mean EVERYTHING

after you have filled the notebook, read trough it, as many times as you need, and take out whatever you dont like, the things you do like, take them and write them in a different clean notebook

once that notebook is done (or you cant find anything else in the brainstorm notebook) take all the elements and star toying with them in another notebook, wich one is good and bad, which ones will help and be just jerks etcetcet, once that is done, just follow the dots and place it all toguether

it took me about 3 months to write a book following this method, wich 2 of them where of brainstorm and separating ideas, the last one was all joining the dots.

thats my way of working.

 

[RobThePrezodent]

How about a killer robot driving instructor who has to go back in time for some reason with his best friend, a talking pie.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Red Rum]

Are you good at drawing? Make it a graphic novel!

 

[jasoncyrus]

Best tip you can ever get:

Carry a notepad and pen/pencil with you EVERYWHERE, especially in the bathroom and by your bed. The best plot and world ideas ALWAYS crop up at those two places.

 

[Blemontea]

FIRST look up all the different Historical steam punk style machines then ones from other fiction and put the ones you want in your novel and develop you own types of machines.

Second Develop who uses this technology, how they use it, and what they use it for. Plus what world were in and what the current conflict is and how it ties into machines.

Third, Start making the cast, i usally start with a cliche character and erase everything but the cliche and build my own character with a non schizophrenic personality. start with the Protagonist and Antagonist and then the remaining characters.

If you want a movie about steam punk technology then see Steamboy.

hope that helps if it helps some of the earliest forms of cars were steam powered along with trains.

 

[Kialee]

I have been pretty bored recently

Starting a novel simply because you're bored is probably not a good idea. Starting a novel because you want to write a novel is a better idea.

You might be better off writing short stories, perhaps to build up the world you're inevitably going to write about. You don't even have to have the entire world's rules in your head as you go - wing it. If you don't like it, change it later. They're just stories.
Hop from one character to another in your world, maybe try to get a grasp on day-to-day life, how the government (or lack thereof) functions, and then something awesome and adventure-filled.

I don't know, I'm not a published writer.

 

[Julianking93]

Read is really the best advice I can give.

Read. Gain inspiration. Let it flow naturally.


Don't ever force something. The end result will never be good.

 

[twasdfzxcv]

Maybe you should start writing short stories first instead of tackling a full length novel directly. If you can develop a interesting short story maybe you can then work on expanding that story into a full length novel.

 

[MikailCaboose]

Have the villain as some crafty, sly and very, erm, elegant (sort of like Hanz Gruber from Die Hard). (Just an idea for a villain, start with a simple idea. Craft the actual character after you have an idea of the setting and any details you want)

My suggestion, start small. Don't overdo yourself with a large-scale project. Start with a short story and just try and find the niche you feel comfortable with. Experiment with characters, settings, dialogue and speech patterns. Work on your details until you feel happy about it. And most of all, don't let ANYBODY tell you how it has to be. It's your book, and writing is first and foremost (well, it SHOULD be anyways) for yourself. Like my Creative Writing/English teacher says, "Write to oblivion. If anyone else likes it, then that's just a bonus."

Once you feel comfortable and find how you like to write it, then move on.

Also, don't let the details pointing it out to be steampunk become side-notes. Make them prominent, so it doesn't feel like it could be anywhere in any general style.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

You wanna start small. No writer ever just comes straight out with a Novel, usually they begin as something small like a short story, or as an insipiration.