FINALLY.
So I’ve divided this series into a couple of miniseries sections:
- Pillers of early development
- Settings
- Characters
- Dialogue
- Quests
Each section will last about a month and a half, one post a week (assuming college doesn’t kill me, which it may well do), three to four posts a month- the final post of the month will always be something else.
Housekeeping aside, let’s get started. We’ve already discussed what makes games good, so that’s probably a good place to begin. Create a new document and prepare to write, we’re going to talk about the ‘homework’.
How is your main character a Chosen One?
As we mentioned, video game storylines work best with a ‘Chosen One’- some aspect of their story sets them apart from everyone else. However, we aren’t writing a video game (or are we?), we’re writing novels, so make sure to subvert the trope in some way. But this all is reiteration.
Let’s talk books. In An Enchantment of Ravens, Isobel is chosen because she is a portrait artist on a great adventure. Jude Duarte from The Cruel Prince is a human in Faerie, Cara and her family are cursed (The Accident Season), and Lila and Kell (Shades of Magic) travel between worlds. These aren’t necessarily ‘Chosen One’ storylines, but there is a clear distinction between them and the side characters. Figure out whatever your equivalent is!
Start thinking about worldbuilding. Create a Pinterest board for scenery (maybe add it as a section to your WIP board?). Sketch out continent shapes. Nothing major quite yet, but get an idea of where you’re going with this project!
This is probably my favorite step. My Pinterest boards are packed with aesthetics, song lyrics, character lookalikes- when you do this, you really get a feel for the world and the characters. On occasion, you get playlist inspiration as well!
What about your world, though? Do you have any cities or general locations already in mind? Write them down and begin thinking about their aesthetic. It doesn’t have to make sense yet- I have a city inspired by literal heavy calvary- just be a vague sense of the place.
Think about your MC/Player Character. Think about them a lot. Think about them until they become real to you and start shouting details you may have forgotten, until they take their story and run with it, forcing you to follow along as quickly as you can.
IT’S A THING I SWEAR I’M VAGUELY SANE. The more you get to know your player character, the more you’ll understand their personality and their motivations. Work on that Pinterest board. Think about their life, their beliefs, how they interpret the world and why. It’s ridiculously in-depth, but this is going to make it so much easier to write and develop your world.
So all of this is relatively rudimentary. I KNOW. There’s only one more post in the basic writing things category, so bear with me a little longer.
Hope you’re enjoying these posts! Feel free to comment any questions or (ahem) comments below, and I’ll see you on Friday for a book review! 🙂
Bookwise 