Asked by
Mousumi Das
in
Books & Authors
at
1:30 AM on January 24, 2009
S S's Answer
It has always helped me to make a sort of "family tree" with
all the characters involved in the story. Under each one I
attribute physical characteristics, any odd tics or habits,
age, background stories (if their relevance can move the
plot along), I list what kind of weather they like, what they
eat, how they walk and talk and what their psychological
make up is. Sometimes I just start out with no plot at all,
just a list of ficticious people. By the time I've assigned
qualities and physicalities to them, I can begin to see
on the board where they might begin to interact with
one another. This one would be jealous of that one
who would like to fall in love with that one who is really
sick of that one and wants to do away with him, etc.
It sort of starts writing itself this way. Try it. It's fun.
And use a huge, wall sized piece of paper to map it
all down on. I also try different sound tracks to see if
I can create a mood for the book...it really helps to
spark my imagination. Good luck.
Answered at
7:08 PM on February 02, 2009
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