The first step in writing a story is to know what you want to write about. Once the storyline has been defined, it helps to develop an outline showing the logical sequence of events. So far so good. Now you need to people your story with believable characters, some loveable, some despicable, some in between. You give them strengths and weaknesses, quirks, idiosyncrasies and faults. How do they look? Are they tall and slender, rotund, with freckles, a potbelly, blond, brunette or dark? What about their eyes? Blue, brown, deep set?
After your characters are fleshed out and you have breathed life into them, you live with them, talk to them, laugh and cry with them. They become your family as you sit at your computer hour after hour honing and shaping them. Is it any wonder that writers often walk around smiling to themselves, or daydreaming? Instead of daydreaming or smiling for no apparent reason, they hold conversations with their characters, watch them interact with each other or get into scrapes. Writers observe people around them to glean ideas for their stories.
Does that mean that every writer is an introvert? Not at all. Some writers may be introverts, silent observers, while others may find balance in their lives by socializing. Writers are people with a talent and passion for writing, just like someone else who may have a talent for cooking or gardening or fixing things, etc. The difference is that a writer’s art is a lonesome one. Nobody sees the finished product until the story hopefully gets published.
After your characters are fleshed out and you have breathed life into them, you live with them, talk to them, laugh and cry with them. They become your family as you sit at your computer hour after hour honing and shaping them. Is it any wonder that writers often walk around smiling to themselves, or daydreaming? Instead of daydreaming or smiling for no apparent reason, they hold conversations with their characters, watch them interact with each other or get into scrapes. Writers observe people around them to glean ideas for their stories.
Does that mean that every writer is an introvert? Not at all. Some writers may be introverts, silent observers, while others may find balance in their lives by socializing. Writers are people with a talent and passion for writing, just like someone else who may have a talent for cooking or gardening or fixing things, etc. The difference is that a writer’s art is a lonesome one. Nobody sees the finished product until the story hopefully gets published.
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