Writing Tools - Which Do you Use/Not Use?

[niniane]

(x-posted to:  Critique_Circle )

Anyway, recently I had someone recommend that I check out a character template.  I did, and it got me to thinking about writing tools and which are useful.  (Incidentally, I found the template to be pretty useless.)

I'll be honest in that I haven't found any writing tools to be useful enough to be worth working with.  This may be in part due to methodology (I tend to start with a plot, then flesh out the story with the world and characters I need for that plot, considering the whole time what sorts of people they'd need to be to respond in the way they have to in order to make the plot progress.  Of course, sometimes they surprise me, but...all the same...I build them in response to the plot, rather than the other way around, and half the time don't care about details like their hair color or ethnic background, which can sometimes be completely irrelevant.), and may be in part due to arrogance/apathy/sloth.

That said, I do think that certain checklists can be super helpful - I just haven't seen any that I'm all that excited about.   So I wondered if any of you knew of any awesome tools for world building/character building/plot development, etc.

Comments

[intothewood]

I don't use these kinds of tools, either. Showers are good - thinking about my plot, my characters in the shower is usually helpful. I'll also put on music or wear earplugs to create atmospheres conducive to thought. Blocking out other sounds and creating my own little space lets me lose myself in the story.

I always say I have to fall in love with my characters. When that's not happening, I search for pictures of people who I think match visions of my character as I've created them in my head, sort of as a visual touchstone. If I'm really having trouble I'll do "make me love you" stream of consciousness writing about that character, just anything that pops into my head.

All unconventional, but I think each writer has to develop their own unique systems of what works for them. General guidelines may be a good start, but the ways in which you bring your writing to life are uniquely yours.

[niniane]

I keep thinking that I need a decent world building one, just as worlds are hard, and I'm afraid that if I don't work the details out (and have them jotted down somewhere) that bad things will happen.

I honestly don't tend to like most of my characters. I'm sure that this is different from most authors, but...I don't. I find them interesting (which is why I write them), but I rarely love them.

I do agree that everyone has their own unique systems. (And think that those systems can change, TBH. I used to outline a lot more than I do now.)

[smw]

I'll second the idea that each individual is going to develop a certain set of tools that work for them.

Personally, I don't work with questionnaire style character sheets because I find they eat up time I'd otherwise spend writing. I do keep documents with notes of various flavors – world building, plot ideas, reminders to add a scene to an earlier chapter – which I find is a good way to collect the information pertinent to a novel into one place without feeling too anxious about organizing it, which is something I get bogged down in.

Structured aids like lists of questions can be helpful in filling out blind spots, though. Frex, though the habit isn't natural to me, I write "walkthroughs" of subplots before I embark on them to make sure my glowing idea of where I'm going actually connects to where I am.

Also, I would not consider yourself too strange for being plot- rather than character-driven. It seems to me there's an even split among authors either way.

[niniane]

I do usually keep rough outlines as to where I want stories to go. Otherwise I get confused and, as you said, sub plots don't connect. (Which sucks.) Or they turn up in odd places and I have to restructure a huge chunk of the story.

Oddly enough, I think my characters got better after I became more plot driven. I used to look for chances to show off the brilliant creatures I'd created, and bored people in the process. (And often ended up with a lot of WTF moments as characters did something way OOC for them, as that was the only way to keep the plot going.) Doing the opposite - structuring the characters around the plot - actually works so much better for me. Gone are the tedious "let me show you what Emily likes!" scenes. And suddenly it makes perfect sense that Emily needs to collect butterflies for the plot to work out, because from the very beginning, I knew she'd need this ability so built a character who thought insects were awesome or whatever. (OK, made up examples, but still...)

It's kind of funny to me, as it's almost the exact opposite of how I tried to write starting out. I'm not really sure, either, whether it's my method that's better, or whether it's just a method that works better for me. (Probably the later.)

[analect]

Hmm... the one useful thing I did spot on that template was speech patterns/often used phrases. I admit, though, I'm not much of a one for tools or writing exercises in any form. I might outline plots on bits of paper to make sure they actually make sense, but I find I never stick too rigorously to them (lack of discipline, probably).

With your point about world-building, I find that grows organically, but it's the little details that carry it. Thinking comparatively can help when starting from scratch, e.g. what if the Industrial Revolution never happened? Once you delve into how so much is inter-related in any given environment, it gives you new directions to head in.

That's probably not very useful. The only other thing I can think of that I have (sort of) used are some of the 10-point plot arc things, as for mysteries and such. I have a good one somewhere that talks about form and genre, so I'll see if I can find it. Not so much a tool, but maybe helpful.

[niniane]

I sort of want world building software just as it covers things like "economy" vs. "plant life". If I end up creating a world that is basically Revolutionary America, I agree that it's not really needed. But if I'm trying to create a world from scratch (or one with significant deviations from a historical time and place), I can see it being really, really useful to have maps/locations/economies/etc. I'm pretty sure that some decent stuff exists somewhere (I had some discussions about a software package someone loved long ago...), so it's just a matter of finding it!

[intothewood]

The closest thing I can think of in comparison is role playing games - guidelines for creating worlds and characters, that sort of thing. Maybe there's something out there that you could adapt to your usage?

[niniane]

Yeah, I'm considering buying something along those lines and adapting it as for a few stories I'm reading, I want a very consistent, well developed world...and it would be nice to have a checklist if nothing else. (i.e. what is the imaginary race their fighting called...when did they live? What did they do? Why is any of this important, blah, blah, blah.)