Advice.

[ed]

Hey, all. Long time, no see!

So, I'm just curious as to how people handle pre-writing. Do you write back story for your characters? Do you outline your plot?

In the past, I never outlined or did back story. I just had an idea and ran with it. My creativity seems 'limited' when I try to outline and decide what my character was like when she was five.

What is everyone else's process?

Also--- where do you typically write? At home? Starbucks?

Thanks all. Glad to be back.

[mydoggeorge]

I used to be like you and have an idea. I would just go for it trying to hit the points at 30 - 60 - 90 and finale, but I found that it didn't always work for the best. I usually always start with a beat sheet (from Blake Snyder) and write an outline. My characters are defined at the top and give all the details about them, although I don't go all the way from birth or anything like that.

So - if you get stuck on the beat sheet you can either take a break and go to something else or just go to another part on the beat sheet to see if you can fill something else in. Or...you could flesh out your scenes in the parts you already have done.

You could probably google blake snyder beat sheet and come up with a hit on what it is, if you haven't already done that.

I don't necessarily think you have to outline your character all the way from birth unless it's pivotal to the story at hand.

I typically write at home and at work, but don't tell my boss. Haha. I really don't think I could write at a coffee shop, but then again I've never really done it. I also usually have the radio cranked to something loud. Just me, but that's the way it works.

Glad you came by, hope to have some more posts from people. I've been a little remiss myself.

The above are just my opinions and you can either chuck em' or use them - it's up to you.

[ed]

Thanks for all your advice. I had never heard of the beat sheet, but Google has helped me out. The sheet seems to be just what I need to get out of this writer's block rut.