Welcome to Practice Corner

[witchyemerald.livejournal.com]

I am a true believer that you always can learn and grow, in anything you do. And in the case of writing, every time you start a story, it's a blank canvas, and anything can happen. You can play with styles and techniques, because you can go as far as you imagination and the delete button. So, weekly I will post writing tips and exercises to help with your writing.

To start, I chose a topic that, yes it's back to the basics, but I think is a great place to start with winter fests, exchanges and NaNoWriMo -

Plotting

So you looked over a fest and found the perfect prompt, or was bitten by a bunny, and now you're itching to start writing. You sit down at the keyboard, favorite drink by your side, ready to write the next epic story that will have readers running to your creation and ...nothing. Or in my case, too much of everything.

I am not talking about writers block (that is a whole other post) I am talking about not being able to map that story in your head. So what you do? Well go back to plotting it out!

Here is a list of 25 ways to Plot, Plan and Prep your story. It is really interesting and, yes, you will not use all of them, but I bet there is a way that will work for you on that list.

Question: What do you do when plotting your longer stories?

Now for the exercise part. Pick one of the following H/D plots and plot out how you will write it. You don’t have to write it unless you want to, but work on how you will write the story.

AU! Harry and Draco didn’t meet in Hogwarts. Instead, they meet at the Quidditch World Cup as rival seekers

After believing Harry Potter died in the war, Draco Malfoy receives an unusual letter.

Draco’s new neighbor keeps him awake late at night

Draco finally gets the chance to be the knight-in-shining-armor

As a Prefect, Draco discovers Harry out of bed after hours one night

Prompts from http://drarrypromptoftheday.tumblr.com

Comments

[susannah-wilde.livejournal.com]

That was a great article to read; thanks for sharing.

I use the zero draft method on a white board. If I'm writing for a fest, as soon as I confirm my prompt, I get out my whiteboard and just write whatever comes to mind with no structure for an hour. For the rest of the day, I go on with RL, but if inspiration strikes, I write on the board. The next morning, I start scratching out what doesn't work and keep adding new things. On the third day, I type whatever is left on the board and form a tentative outline before I start writing. I tend to write scene by scene before stitching them together and making sure the story flows. It doesn't always work, but at least it's a starting place.

I picked: After believing Harry Potter died in the war, Draco Malfoy receives an unusual letter..

My thought process: My first question is what is Draco's relationship with Harry? Are they still enemies, friends, lovers? I think it's important to establish what they are to each other, or at least have it in the back of your mind.

For this particular prompt I ask: How and why does Draco believe that Harry died in the war? What does the letter say? Is it from Harry? How does he receive the letter? Howler, email, owl post, normal post? Then I think about what his social status is in the fic because it affects what he does with the letter. If he's an outcast, then he's limited in what he can do. Or did he get along with Harry, thus allowing him to show the letter to Ron and Hermione and ask for their opinion?

Once Draco makes a decision and demonstrates why he cares to the reader, then I start writing.

[kitty_fic]

Wow! this is really interesting! I love your process!

"... just write whatever comes to mind with no structure for an hour. For the rest of the day, I go on with RL, but if inspiration strikes, I write on the board. The next morning, I start scratching out what doesn't work and keep adding new things. On the third day, I type whatever is left on the board and form a tentative outline before I start writing. "