THE MANUSCRIPT

There are some writers who suggest that the beginning of the fictional  written manuscript is the hardest task, but for some others - called Fog Writers, they are able to jump straight into the story theme and start creating. However, with others the writing task is a slower process, where they might carry out some extensive research on the subject matter or seek to create characters from real life individuals or situations; while, of course, at the same time changing the names, descriptions or locations. Those kinds of writers often use a Chapter Log and Character Log, where they might make notations as they work through the story-theme; changing, adding or deleting particular points. This slower method also helps in the flow of the story.

Some stories might occur over decades or days, and include a multitude of subplots, a variety of locations and a large number of characters. However, in this fast moving world of ours, writers need to maintain the reader’s attention, and it’s suggested that the main theme of a story should occur in a relatively short period of time - days, weeks or months. It’s suggested to only create one plot or two in the story, and use the classic story elements – Protagonist - Antagonist - Plot Structure -Conflict - Obstacles - Resolution.

While reflecting on the story line, the writer also needs to consider three main points of view from which to tell a story: Will it be in the First-Person (I), the Second-Person (You), on in the Third-Person (He or She). In a first-person story, a character in the story tells the story; in the second-person the reader is made a character in the story; and in the third-person, an outside narrator tells the story.

-In writing fictional stories some might start with a local or international situation, or a problem to be solved. Commercial Fiction is Plot driven and Literary Fiction is Character driven

-When writing Creative Non-Fiction – also known as Literary or narrative Non-fiction, the story needs to be factually accurate and it will need a list of references for sources of information.