New author tips?

Howdy! I haven't ever wrote anything but I have a million ideas. I always enjoyed writing in college, and I think I want to try my hand at writing. So far, I have been tossing ideas in a google docs, with a million characters. most of them are powers, appearance, gender, romance, personalities written up. A couple of them have story ideas, more general arcs and who would be the bad guy and who would have what motivation, and why they would be friends. 

My question is how do I go from a semi organized bundle of ideas, to actually starting a story?
Also, feel free to share writing process or tips in general. what works for one may or may not help everyone but it is good to kick off a discussion

Ben 

I would say that there are two things I would advise if you are a new writer. one is to follow the principle of K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid). Don't throw too many characters and too many ideas in. the more you put in, the more you dilute it. If you put too many people in, you have trouble fleshing them out. Too many concepts or goals, it can get muddled as far as what's going on, and what you are trying to accomplish.

The second thing I would suggest is that if you are new, try diagramming out the story using the Monomyth, also known as the Hero's Journey.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey

Oh, another thing I should have added. Sometimes it's better NOT to give all the answers to something. Sometimes a little mystery is a good thing.
For example, IMO in Star Wars I think it was better to think of the Force as a mysterious thing that was unquantifiable. When they introduced the Midichlorians, it took away some of the mystery. You could know "Oh, his affinity for using the force is rated by X."
Another example is "The timeless Child" in Doctor Who. Leaving the Doctor's past as a mystery and an enigma kept you interested. "What are their motivations, why are they how they are?" But The Timeless Child storyline removed some of the mystery about the Doctor and the Timelords in general.
Not knowing how the Borg from Star Trek originated adds to their mystique. If they were to reveal, "Oh the Borg exist because X", it would remove some of what makes them interesting.

Another thing I should have mentioned the first time. Stay away from the "Mary Sue" or the "Messiah" traps.
If your character has all the answers or can solve everything, that's not interesting. Likewise if they are "all-important"... Harry Potter skirts that line very, very closely and gets dangerously close to Harry becoming uninteresting because he's the messianic one. The boy of legend.

Several of the Doctor's companions in Modern Doctor Who cross into the "Mary Sue" catagory, because they end up being hyper-important. Fiddlerfox will throw a Sonic Screwdriver at me for this, but one of the reasons I disliked Clara Oswald was that she was sometimes a plot device to show how the Doctor wouldn't be who they are without her. She interceded in many important events in his timeline, including suggesting which TARDIS the Doctor stole.

If you make a character, unless they intended to be the sort of hero that brings about change, try to not make them so important that they aren't interesting. If they are to be a savior, or even a Messianic character, don't make that a personality trait. Take Jesus for example. He literally WAS a messiah, but all he tried to do was travel the land, and spread good. He wasn't "I'm going to be the next Hokage!"... oops, I mean "I'm the most important guy there is." He was just a guy. Sure, he said "I'm the son of God", but he didn't let that be his personality to such an extent that he was self-important. He was just a guy that did good, for the sake of doing good. Preached compassion and loving one another and taught people to try to be the best they could by example. no "I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!"

OK, tips...

1) Figure out what type of writer you are.
Are you a plotter who needs everything planned out before you write?
Are you a gardener who writes without a big plan and wants to see things progress naturally as you write?
Or are you in the middle, like many writers, needing some things plotted out but able to change?
This can actually take some time to figure out. I generally hate plotting out everything, and at first I was writing purely by the seat of my plants, which led to... problems of now knowing when to quit, kudzu-like plots, and characters added without much thought, so they needed to die.
Finally figured out that I needed goalposts to aim for, while everything in between the goalposts was flexible, and my writing has improved greatly.
Experiment a bit, see what fits best for you, and be ready to throw out your early stuff, after picking over it for good bits.

2: Start writing.
Too many people spend their time waiting for the perfect moment. Don't.
Write when you feel like shit. Write when you have a few minutes between work. Write when you have insomnia. Write.
If you're stressed out, happy, feeling really really weird, whatever, put it in the story. Or go the opposite route and try to change your mood.
Sometimes when I'm in a bad mood I write really dark scenes to let the shit out. Other times when feeling Really bad, I write something nice to try to change my feelings.
Go with whatever works for you, just write. Because even if you just write 100 words a day, in a year you'll have 35,600, which is a small novella.

3. Start small.
I personally found it best at the start to write short stories. However short stories aren't for everyone, they require slightly different thinking than actual novels.
You may want to try that.
Or go for a novella, with a hard ending. This forces you to focus on keeping things succinct, and the cast reasonably small, without being as constrained as a short story. It can also turn into a series. This is how I look at most of my Whateley stories.

4. Trust the story.
Too many people write a story but don't trust it so they twist it to something they think will get more readers, or fits 'Their' ideals and desires.
Don't do that. You'll end up with crap that looks written by a committee or seems artificial.
You can't please everyone, don't try. If you find the story you're writing doesn't get any traction, well learn from it, take the good, and in the next story try something different. But never bastardize the story you are writing. Drop it instead, and maybe pick it up later when you have more experience.
With my own stories, I've cried over the torture I put some of my characters through, and I know that there are changes I could have made to be more 'popular'. But going easy on the characters, or making it more 'suitable' would have betrayed the story.

So that's my late night ramble.
If you have questions feel free to ask.
Good luck.

Good advice from experienced authors. I might add a piece of advice from someone who has 30-plus unfinished stories on disk (yeah, that includes Mezzo), but so far has managed to post only a single complete short story:

There's something to be said of writing fanfic as an exercise. Basically, fanfic saves you all the work of creating the characters and establishing the setting, letting you focus on the story. OTOH, it also puts some constraints in your story, since there are rules there that were not decided by you, and you need to stay compatible to the characters' known features. If you write a Buffy story in which she always speaks perfect English with RP diction, well, you will need to justify it in-history otherwise everybody will call you on it. But sometimes the precise need to justify stuff (be they plot holes in the original canon, or why your story only *appears* to diverge from canon) will give you ideas for the story.

Of course, if you find that your story does not fit a particular fictional universe, you can always rewrite it to be set in a different one -- there are so many! Or you can do what E.L.James did: now that you have your plot, replace the copyrighted and trademarked elements with new ones and publish it as 100% your creation.

thank y'all! so a couple questions to begin:

A) Complexity . My intention is to write an arc with 6 friends who investigate a cult and potentially a new god. It can get complicated, but I want the events to take a while to pan out. So multiple semesters. There will be some individual story arcs, and a specific main character. It might be complex with so many characters but I like the way that they feel together

Canon. I want to write a WhatIF story with the intention of it becoming canon, if I prove that I am good enough. I don't mind taking some liberties, for instance Earth Mother will be an advisor to a few of my characters. I want to try to avoid as many canon characters as I can, unless I have permission.

I will try to keep most of my characters weak enough (they are freshmen who have potential but most of them are very inexperienced and over their heads) that they won't be a problem. I feel I can justify the antagonists being fairly tough but not OP.
If you write with the intention of canonization, can you post the story and later change it to be more in line with canon?

C) messiah and Mary Sue. The main antagonist wants to be a Messiah. They want to bring about societal change and will do anything to get it. I want them to be complex, and have agreeable points, but I want them to go too far. what are your recommendations?

Benoftheflies wrote:

A) Complexity . My intention is to write an arc with 6 friends who investigate a cult and potentially a new god. It can get complicated, but I want the events to take a while to pan out. So multiple semesters. There will be some individual story arcs, and a specific main character. It might be complex with so many characters but I like the way that they feel together

So, what's the question?

Benoftheflies wrote:

Canon. I want to write a WhatIF story with the intention of it becoming canon, if I prove that I am good enough. I don't mind taking some liberties, for instance Earth Mother will be an advisor to a few of my characters. I want to try to avoid as many canon characters as I can, unless I have permission.

The point of WhatIF is writing your own stories the best you can. There's no minimum or maximum quota for using canon characters. However, most readers have a strong preference for canon characters remaining recognizable as who they were originally written to be.

If Kristin responds to this, expect her to recommend against trying to make your favorite WhatIF OC canon. Have you noticed how many authors have quit writing shortly after making the conversion?

Benoftheflies wrote:

I will try to keep most of my characters weak enough (they are freshmen who have potential but most of them are very inexperienced and over their heads) that they won't be a problem. I feel I can justify the antagonists being fairly tough but not OP.

One of the commonly-ignored rules of the setting is that manifestion as a mutant is a "one and done" event. Unlike LitRPG, there is no levelling up to higher ratings with experience. Learn all the spells you can find, but that WIZ-1 mutant trait stays a WIZ-1. Experience teaches which spells are within your energy budget and how to get the most of what you already have.

Yes, some POV characters have come out ahead after a burnout. More commonly, burnout is a gruesome, nasty way to die. Likewise, making "deals" with entities looks like a good way to gain power. However, another rule to the setting is that there's no such thing as a free lunch. You just haven't seen the price come due in full.

Benoftheflies wrote:

If you write with the intention of canonization, can you post the story and later change it to be more in line with canon?

If the story is entirely consistent with canon people, places, and events from the start, it can be done.
It's better if you are content to have your WhatIF story stay non-canon, with all that entails.

Benoftheflies wrote:

C) messiah and Mary Sue. The main antagonist wants to be a Messiah. They want to bring about societal change and will do anything to get it. I want them to be complex, and have agreeable points, but I want them to go too far. what are your recommendations?

Messiahs and prophets are more about saving souls than just making societal changes. How does building a new religion fit into any of the ongoing Whateley story lines?
Off-hand, I'm not seeing it.

Mary Sues and their related character mutations aren't notable for their power. They are notable because the existing rules and/or facts of the setting are bent, broken, or ignored to suit the immediate desires of the writer. (Ex., the 30-something Captain falling in love with the fifteen-year-old who was commissioned a Lt. on graduating the Academy) Adding "complexity" and agreeable points don't fix that.

Null answered these quite well, but here's my 2 cents.

A) Complexity . My intention is to write an arc with 6 friends who investigate a cult and potentially a new god. It can get complicated, but I want the events to take a while to pan out. So multiple semesters. There will be some individual story arcs, and a specific main character. It might be complex with so many characters but I like the way that they feel together

Make sure to keep who's who clear. Jumping around POV's in the same scene is annoying.

Canon. I want to write a WhatIF story with the intention of it becoming canon, if I prove that I am good enough. I don't mind taking some liberties, for instance Earth Mother will be an advisor to a few of my characters. I want to try to avoid as many canon characters as I can, unless I have permission.

If you want, ask the writer for permission. Some may say no, others will be meh, and some MAY offer advice.
As Null said, using canon characters tends to get attention by readers, so feel free to ask.

If you write with the intention of canonization, can you post the story and later change it to be more in line with canon?

Expect to change things, sometimes drastically.
When I made Tink canon, I was told that the way she turned into a fairy was a big No. So I had to change her origin a lot, which ultimately made it a better story.
If you want to keep the story relatively unchanged, focus on another story, and when you feel up to asking to become a canon writer, tell us about this story.

C) messiah and Mary Sue. The main antagonist wants to be a Messiah. They want to bring about societal change and will do anything to get it. I want them to be complex, and have agreeable points, but I want them to go too far. what are your recommendations?

As Null said, this doesn't sound like a Messiah, it sounds more like a revolutionary.
Can't really give advice on this without knowing more. Just make sure you don't make all of his opponents strawmen, and focus on the story more than the message.

This may be coming from left field, but write a story you want to read. Essential please yourself first, then tweak it into something palatable to the intended audience.
Have an objective, a purpose to the story: how does the unfolding of events build your character up. Use ideas as steps to elevate the story to the next level, giving insight into the character(s).
Be prepared to explore you, your reasoning, your hopes and dreams. Your character(s) are an extension of yourself, why many authors don’t like others using them.
Don’t let negative comments discourage you, most people only complain, the rare jewels give constructive feedback.
WhatIF is a great way to become a better writer, don’t expect those stories, or characters to become canonical, but do use them to explore your potential.
Most of all, try to have fun.