Plotting, AKA writing random stuff and hoping a story is born

Sometimes I have a story idea that consists of nothing more than an image, a title, or even worse a feeling. While I love coming up with plots, the procedure is... messy. I just write down everything that comes to mind in a sort of brainstorming session. So, as I shared my first draft, I thought I might as well share this, too.

Don't feed the dragon, err, the trolls.  - sometimes writing anything that comes to mind goes badly when you actually forget to think. 

Our hero is a proud warrior - too proud. - This part is much less evident in the final version of the story. 

His ally the POV. Hopeless young boy stuck with the mighty warrior.

HUMOR ALL THE WAY!! Or a pathetic attempt at it... 

They get under a bridge, in a classical troll setting. - And this one got deleted in the final version. Mostly because I was too lazy. 

Our hero wants to feed the trolls? Nah. It's a senseless sign out up there.

Mighty weapon. You know, mighty weapons usually get monsters a little annoyed.

Pity I can't write humor tales the same way I write these things. - I did say everything that comes to mind, didn't I?

Okay, I should just get on with writing. - And sometimes I need a sound yelling from myself. 

So, back to plotting. Our hero is travelling through a forest to get to his next destination. Ally POV. And maybe a third character? Nah. Actually, yes. Small pixie. Boy or girl? Girl.

Use adverbs.

Intentionally bad writing? Maybe not too much.

Get back to plotting, girl!

So, they pass under a bridge, after seeing a sign of don't feed the trolls. The ally doesn't like it, not one bit.

The trolls appear, mighty weapon, pixie and ally run. Hero got eaten.

You know what, I'm done with this story. - This was my own thought, but it ended up also being the ally's last line. Heh. 

So that's how my stories are born. Yeah... I'll go now. 

Next up, today's story!! I think I'm done with these backstage sort of posts. 

An examination of my writing procedure - or why I don't publish the first draft

So, while writing yesterday I realized it sucked. But! Staying true to my story, I didn't edit anything, which probably saved me from losing the challenge and the story from sucking. I actually unders

For example, here is a short scene as first written. This was the very first draft, written out in a minute or so.

"Are you sure this is the right way?"
"Yup."
"But it looks dangerous."
"Come on, Fra! Didn't you want an adventure?"
"You know Francesco, he always whines about something."
"That's not true!" Francesco whined.

No description, actions, reactions or an of something. That something being that no one besides my could understand what was happening.

I resisted the urge to edit it (mostly so I could write this stuff) and went on. The next sentence needed to be a physical reaction. It just had to.

Martina sarcastically raised an eyebrow, while Giorgia chuckled lightly and ruffled Francesco's hair.

So, I now had a sentence with no dialogue. I also had a sentence with three long names in it, no indication as to who the first two are and an adverb. I'm not a fan of the 'avoid adverbs like death' rule, but I still recognized the sentence sounded weak and clumsy, not to mention it hurt my ears and my brain.

"Giorgia, I'm falling!" Who is talking?
Giorgia mechanically shot out a hand to help the younger cousin. One does not simply 'mechianically' shoot out a hand. One does not introduce a character as a cousin before they got a minimal description, a name or a hint to the fact that I'm talking about a fourth character and not Francesco. She caught her arm and pulled her up, but the ground beneath her feet ceded and they both tumbled down. The English dictionary defines 'to cede' as giving terrain to an enemy, often because of a lost war or battle. Or something like that, I wrote that from memory. This is where it's very evident that I actually write in hybrid, not English. In Italian 'cedere' could mean many things, from giving in to crumbling (as in terrain falling or a seat being broken by a weight). But I often insert English terms in my Italian writing, too. So my mind is set on a weird sort of hybrid language. 

Okay, I'll skip the next part. You get it by now. Let's get to the main fact: I can actually remember very few stories I've written where the plot remained the same. So Giorgia tells Francy that there are trolls. I was still dead set on my original plot: the four getting lost. But Francesco didn't give a friggerboying graft of my plot, he wanted to have fun and to tell a message.

"I'll protect you from the monsters, my princess!" he claimed, puffing out his small chest.

Yeah. So I spend two hours on planning and writing the first part, and my second youngest character decided he wants to tell another story.

Thing is, I needed half an hour to write the rest. Which didn't need nearly as much adjusting as the first part. Of course it still needed some, but you get the thing.

Another half an hour was spent on editing. The most important things to add were descriptions, actions, character names and other stuff. Some sentences needed tweaking to become less confusing. At the end, I managed a more decent result.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" a small boy asked, his tone of voice bordering on a cry.
"Yup."
"But it looks dangerous."
"Come on, Fra! Didn't you want an adventure?" a much taller girl turned around to face the boy, her hazel eyes gleaming with a challenge. A second girl, slightly smaller than the first, appeared from behind a tree.
"Don't even try. You know Francesco, he always whines about something."
"That's not true!" Francesco whined.
Martina raised an eyebrow and threw a sarcastic look at the boy, while Giorgia chuckled lightly and ruffled her cousin's hair.
"Giorgia, I'm falling!"
Giorgia spun around and shot out a hand to a small blonde, who was sliding down the hill's slope. She caught her arm and pulled her up, but the ground beneath their feet crumbled and they both tumbled down.

 

Okay, it still needs a lot of help. But bear with me, it was 11pm, I was tired and wanted to finish this as soon as possible. Plus, it's far more acceptable that the first draft. So I'm happy with the final result.

Next up, today's story. Then tomorrow a background on the very initial phase of today's story: plotting.

The Storyteller's Challenge is back. And so am I.

Hello everyone!! I've decided to stop being lazy, and get back to writing! Yay for me~~!
Sooo, getting back to writing. What better way to do it that The Storyteller's Challenge? No way, I tell you. And as last time, I won't be the only one! Others participating are:

- Denise Pena at mydesireforwriting.wordpress.com
- Lindsey McIntosh at http://youngwritersattempt.blogspot.com - this gal has already started the Challenge and because of connection problems won't update every day. I still urge you to go read her stories.

Other people are participating, and I will edit this post as soon as they give me their links.

To those who missed the call to arms but wish to take part in the Challenge, here are the Rules:

1) You write a short story every day, for seven days in a row. You miss a day, you lose the challenge. 
2) There are no word limits. You may write 100 words, you may write 10.000. Just write. 
3) No genre limits either. It's better if you try different genres during the challenge, but it's not mandatory. 
4) The stories must be written on the specific day. No writing them in advance!
5) You can keep the stories to yourself, or share them on the World Wide Web. If you choose the second, I invite you to drop a link in the comments below, so we may read them!
6) Please comment on other people's stories. Try and give helpful critique, or simple encouragement. I can't force you, but I really urge you to give a look at at least one of the other authors' stories. 
7) The challenge begins Monday (11th August - TODAY) and ends Sunday (17th August)
6) Lastly but most importantly, HAVE FUN!

The Storyteller's Challenge n. 4 - A storyteller's name

Yay! Fourth day! Only three to go. Now, remember what this challenge is called? The Storyteller's Challenge! Of course you do, it's written on every story title :P Well, today we'll be talking about storytellers!

Before you ask, no, not mine. There we go again *sigh*

"Tell us a story!"
"Yes, sir, tell us a story!"
Said 'sir' chuckled slightly. "Which one will it be tonight, then?"
"A new one!"
"Yes, a new one!"
"Have I told you about the elven queen? The one which beauty rivaled that of every other? Or wait -- how about the Thousand-Year War between the three Ancients? A long time ago there were - and there still are - three great beings. They are so tall, humans mistake them for mountains, but should you look at the sky, you can see the clouds covering their heads. They go by many names: titans, stone giants, but their-"
"Bard, tell us a lighter story, please! I'll have nightmares!"
'Bard' sighed, looking at the kid's frown, then immediately lighted up.
"I know! You know of Freyg, the legendary knight?"
"Of course!"
"Do you know what happened during the years of his absence?" After a long silence, the storyteller clasped his hands together.
"Freyg's deeds were known all over the world, by that time. Tales of his adventures were told by minstrels and, yes, bards like me. Then he suddenly disappeared, one day." He waited a moment, keeping the kids in suspence.
"Tales tell that, one day, he was walking in the forest, as he did everyday. Suddenly, a shadow appeared. It looked a young girl's - but he couldn't be certain. He followed it and..."

Bard grinned gently as he put his cape on the sleeping children.
"Mmh, Bard, sir?" The young girl was awake.
"What is it, Hawk Eyes?"
"What's your name?"
"I won't tell you. Just call me 'Bard.'"
"Why? I need a name to remember you by."
Bard chuckled yet again.
"You won't remember me by my name, but by my stories. My name is not that important."
The little girl frowned and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "It's okay, I guess. Good night, Bard." she yawned.
"Farewell, Hawk Eyes." he murmured.
Then he disappeared into the night, leaving no sign of his existence but the memory of his stories.





It's... not that good. But, oh, I suppose it would be impossible to be satisfied by every story. It's decent, though, right. I might even like it. Meh, I can't distinguish between what is good and what is not, right now. Please tell me what you think of this!
This turned out longer than I had expected it to be. And the characters are all nameless! (Hawk Eyes is not her name!)
This story was also inspired by the great song "The Bard's Song" by Blind Guardian. Go listen to it immediately! It's an order!

The Storyteller's Challenge n. 3 - The solitude of Darkness

Yay! The third day! Enjoy a colorful blabble!

No, this image is not mine, we've been through this already. I would have never thought of something so creative.

"In the beginning, everything was Darkness. 

Wrong. In the beginning, everything was color. Before that there was darkness. But that was not the Beginning. 

Let's start from scratch. In the beginning, everything was Color. Not, Light, that's wrong. It was Color. Light is just a spectrum of colors, as we all know. 

Before the Color, there was Darkness. Come on, we've been over that. Then suddenly the Darkness exploded. A huge outburst of Color. 

There are no certainties as to why. But I have a theory. The Darkness was too... dark. It couldn't bear its own weight. Like a depressed person, it started crying. But the Darkness had no eyes, and what resulted from its despair was an explosion. A huge explosion, made of everything that the Darkness was not. Brightness. Color. Joy. 

And the Darkness did not feel alone, not anymore. Its opposite was also the only thing it could have wished for. Someone to keep it company. And later, Color showed Darkness something else. 

Existence.

It created swirling galaxies and colorful nebulas. It created the stars, red giants and blue dwarfs. It created planets, so unique only a few could support life, and those lives were so different none of them knew of each other. And Darkness created black holes, and shadows, and night. They both reveled at their work, and vowed never to leave each other."

Author's Note: the real story ends here. The following part was a challenge between me and another writer to find as many anime references as possible in each other's stories. So it;s pretty poorly written, and done just for the fun of it. You may want to stop here, or play the game and try to find the references. Just know that the real story was supposed to end at this point. 

Mr. Okumura's eye twitched. 

"What was that, exactly?"

"You asked me what I thought of the Big Bang, Mr. Okumura."

"No sarcasm with me! Whatever was that thing you just said, it certainly wasn't a scientific opinion! I didn't expect this from you, seriously. This is a failing grade."

Cana chuckled and went back to her seat. 

"Equivalent exchange. I get the fun, I pay for it. Well, it was worth it. It was romantic, no?" she whispered to Mikasa, who smiled softly. 

"Yeah. But I started thinking about Darkness' loneliness in the end, so I may have missed one piece of the story."

"What is she, schizophrenic?" someone whispered from the back seats, staring at Cana. 

The girl sighed. "It's a pity I have to tell that boring story to the teachers. This one is much better. No one thinks of the solitude that the Darkness must have felt. They're all obsessed with what famous old people have said."

"Let them be. Do you think that Darkness still loves Color?"

"Of course it does. You know, that's another thing people got wrong... Darkness will be forever with Color. Forever. Because it cannot bear being alone. Theirs is a love that will never end."

Mikasa smiled and went back to reading her notes. 

"I'm up next. I have a sequel to tell."