| One of the main characters is an aspiring writer, and the last BIG thing I need for my outline is a profound reason for what inspired her. (Technically backstory.) Everything I come up with is too dull to make the impact on the reader I want. I fear my approach is wrong to brainstorming for this...whatever that means. Ideas? Edit: I have since came up with the perfect idea. No need for more input. |
ParkyouNov 19, 2017 11:20 AM
| Why does the backstory have to matter? |
| If she doesn't write, then the world will end. Boom. I'll send you my bill, OP. |
 Three things cannot be long hidden.. ...the s u n, the m oo n, and the tr u th. |
| MC's grandfather wrote amazing memoirs that sold as autobiographies. He starting writing these diary-like books because he has some mental disease like alzheimers that makes him forget things very quickly. G-paw was really cool and MC looked up to him alot, but he died. He was her inspiration for writing, and she wanted to make him proud. Cliche? |
| You are now breathing manually. |
| I'd say because she loves writing and it brings her joy. That's all, don't go for something deeply profound, go for something real. |
  come, you sweet hour of death |
| well what's your reason for writing? maybe use that and exaggerate it a bit to make it spicy |
 ♔ caught in the wonder ♔ |
| maybe she gets periodically mindcontrolled and writes what someone makes her write |
| I CELEBRATE myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. |
| I think this might be a better fit for creative corner. Thread moved. For me, the quality of the backstory really depends on whether it's a pivotal part of the story that needs to be told. All characters have a backstory of some kind, but it doesn't have to be told. Just implications can show what kinds of events happened without them having to tell their entire life story and without you having to write all the nitty-gritty details. I often feel the main purpose is a reasoning for their actions and a way to help determine how they react to things that happen. But when you need a big one like you're after, it could be something that changed the way they think from then compared to now. You can go backwards by asking why your character responds the way they do to certain things. |
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| It kind of depends if it's a realistic story and if so to what degree. I can recommend creating some kind of mind map, that always helps me no matter what topic. Just start with a very basic thought like what generally can inspire someone to write, then spin the ideas further. Since I love thinking about things like this.... Some reasons could be - other people + people she knows personally, from her past (example: a friend, or family member- let's say her dad loved writing but died- maybe he wished for her to get published because he never made it. or she just got inspired after reading what he wrote when he lived. or she continued the work.) + maybe once she was younger she wrote some article in a student newspaper and it had a huge impact on someone who read it for whatever reason [example: someone was suicidal but her article made them reconsider] + a person she didn't actually know. (example: she herself was suicidal but she went to a random reading and the story changed her life) + or she started out of rivalry thinking writing is the only thing she could possibly beat that other person in - herself + she experienced something dramatic that she really wanted to share with the world + she started writing for a random reason (schoolproject or w/e) and then realized either that it fulfilled her or that others cherished it/she has talent) + she is/was aweful in getting her ideas and thoughts across [for a reason like social anxiety or w/e] and wrote once a letter to tell someone how she feels and realized it's the only way for her to get across what she wants to tell - something metaphysical etc [there are too many options and they depend too much on what kind of story it is..] |
| See its been said before but ill echo. Well why did you want to write? What inspired you? Seems like a nice opportunity to provide a nice window between yourself and the reader. The most common one id say is theyre in agony with nothing but something to say and the words to do it. What's the character's philosophy and why is it so important that they need to write about it. It seems youre building your character backwards. I dont recommend it. |
Parkyou said: One of the main characters is an aspiring writer, and the last BIG thing I need for my outline is a profound reason for what inspired her. (Technically backstory.) Everything I come up with is too dull to make the impact on the reader I want. I fear my approach is wrong to brainstorming for this...whatever that means. Ideas? Hello, Fellow Writer! I do have a couple of suggestions. 1. Think about why YOU want to write in the first place. Use that reason after exaggerating some details. 2. Maybe an incident happened at the town where your protagonist lives. Maybe, as a young child, she witnessed a frightening crime and some hot shot journalist working for the local papers exposed the crime and, through the power of language, managed to turn the tide of public opinion against the culprits. So now, your protagonist thinks writers = crime-fighting heroes. 3. Or you could ditch the dramatic action and go down the slice-of-life heartwarming route. Maybe as a young child, your protagonist English teacher used to encourage her to turn in short stories. A well-written piece can be exchanged for rewards in the form of pretty pastries from some old-fashioned cake shop. And because the protagonist's happiest childhood memories were centered around savoring delicious pastries after turning in her "manuscript", she developed a taste for writing. P.S.: May I know what you are writing? A short story or a novel? Do you have a writing blog? |
| One of their friends when they were younger was deaf, the MC visited the friend occasionally, talked to him through writing, and used to write stories for this friend whilst he was at home so when he visited his friend could read the stories and have fun. His friend was taken abroad for medical reasons, and since then the MC has been writing stories, so he can one day share them with his old friend again. |
Teckmeister said: A visual novel ^^Parkyou said: One of the main characters is an aspiring writer, and the last BIG thing I need for my outline is a profound reason for what inspired her. (Technically backstory.) Everything I come up with is too dull to make the impact on the reader I want. I fear my approach is wrong to brainstorming for this...whatever that means. Ideas? Hello, Fellow Writer! I do have a couple of suggestions. 1. Think about why YOU want to write in the first place. Use that reason after exaggerating some details. 2. Maybe an incident happened at the town where your protagonist lives. Maybe, as a young child, she witnessed a frightening crime and some hot shot journalist working for the local papers exposed the crime and, through the power of language, managed to turn the tide of public opinion against the culprits. So now, your protagonist thinks writers = crime-fighting heroes. 3. Or you could ditch the dramatic action and go down the slice-of-life heartwarming route. Maybe as a young child, your protagonist English teacher used to encourage her to turn in short stories. A well-written piece can be exchanged for rewards in the form of pretty pastries from some old-fashioned cake shop. And because the protagonist's happiest childhood memories were centered around savoring delicious pastries after turning in her "manuscript", she developed a taste for writing. P.S.: May I know what you are writing? A short story or a novel? Do you have a writing blog? After making this post, I realized what she needs is a loss of some sort. For example, if a guy struggled with a physical disability, this may inspire him to be a doctor. In this scenario, she wants to be a creative writer (poems, fiction, etc.). So yeah, most of the ideas I've had lack the capacity for catharsis, and I'm still working on a proper loss that could inspire her. There needs to be a reason for the reader to root for her. |
| What about your character read a book that changed their life and this book became something that they based their lives philosophy around and the author became someone they admired and they tried to copy their routines aswell some interesting ones here for instance writers who would wake up at 6pm to write or spend all day drinking gallons of coffee then liquor before writing? One good example would be Hunter S Thompson? Hes interesting enough that it would give you lots of interesting things to riff off of like "In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity." |
| “we all live with the objective of being happy, our lives are all different and yet the same.” |
| she lost her voice due to brain trauma acquired from a car accident and was then inspired by a well known mute author. |
 |
| Parkyou, if it's going to be some sort of loss that inspired your protagonist to write... Then let me share my story. When I was younger, back in the days before emails and texting, I had a penfriend. She's a girl from Korea who liked Chinese idols like Andy Lau. And she always had something to say about her country so it should have been interesting to write to her. However, her English was bad so after a while, I got lazy. Because I felt it was a pain to have to read her letters, make something out of them and then write proper replies in proper English that she might not even really understand. So I stopped writing to her. She kept up her letters for a while but, after a few months, she realized what was going on and sent in a tearful letter. She asked me what went wrong? Was it because of her bad English? Was it because I didn't like listening to her talk about Korea? Why did I stop writing? I was upset. Because I didn't know that my choice to stop writing back would have such an impact on her. I was upset and maybe I thought it would be best to write back with an apology. But I was young then and things were happening in my life, so the apology letter got delayed. Until I stopped hearing from her. By then a year had already passed and I got kinda embarrassed about writing to her. So yeah, I lost a friend due to me being too lazy to write. Now Parkyou, you said you wanted your protagonist to have a loss, right? How about the loss of a friend? I just told you the story of how I lost a penfriend through my inactivity so maybe, in your novel, you could have your protagonist lose a good friend too. Of course you don't have to have a penfriend in a foreign country. Maybe there's a terminally ill kid whom your protagonist is close to? Maybe the kid is too sick to leave the hospital so the protagonist decides to write short stories for him? Maybe the short stories are based on interesting events in her day-to-day life? Maybe the short stories are the only source of light in the kid's life? But then, maybe something big could happen to your protagonist. Maybe important exams are coming up or maybe she gets a new boyfriend. So she forgets about her promise to write short stories for the sick kid. Then one day, out of the blue, she finds out that the kid had already died while she's enjoying her life. And so she makes a vow to keep on writing interesting stories. To honor the memory of the dead kid and for the sake of others like him. She wants to cheer up sick people through the power of stories. What do you think? |
Teckmeister said: I will certainly consider the loss of friendship as a driver ~Parkyou, if it's going to be some sort of loss that inspired your protagonist to write... Then let me share my story. When I was younger, back in the days before emails and texting, I had a penfriend. She's a girl from Korea who liked Chinese idols like Andy Lau. And she always had something to say about her country so it should have been interesting to write to her. However, her English was bad so after a while, I got lazy. Because I felt it was a pain to have to read her letters, make something out of them and then write proper replies in proper English that she might not even really understand. So I stopped writing to her. She kept up her letters for a while but, after a few months, she realized what was going on and sent in a tearful letter. She asked me what went wrong? Was it because of her bad English? Was it because I didn't like listening to her talk about Korea? Why did I stop writing? I was upset. Because I didn't know that my choice to stop writing back would have such an impact on her. I was upset and maybe I thought it would be best to write back with an apology. But I was young then and things were happening in my life, so the apology letter got delayed. Until I stopped hearing from her. By then a year had already passed and I got kinda embarrassed about writing to her. So yeah, I lost a friend due to me being too lazy to write. Now Parkyou, you said you wanted your protagonist to have a loss, right? How about the loss of a friend? I just told you the story of how I lost a penfriend through my inactivity so maybe, in your novel, you could have your protagonist lose a good friend too. Of course you don't have to have a penfriend in a foreign country. Maybe there's a terminally ill kid whom your protagonist is close to? Maybe the kid is too sick to leave the hospital so the protagonist decides to write short stories for him? Maybe the short stories are based on interesting events in her day-to-day life? Maybe the short stories are the only source of light in the kid's life? But then, maybe something big could happen to your protagonist. Maybe important exams are coming up or maybe she gets a new boyfriend. So she forgets about her promise to write short stories for the sick kid. Then one day, out of the blue, she finds out that the kid had already died while she's enjoying her life. And so she makes a vow to keep on writing interesting stories. To honor the memory of the dead kid and for the sake of others like him. She wants to cheer up sick people through the power of stories. What do you think? |
| Dream ????? I would have gone with dream . Like her friend or family become great writer and inspire her to write. Or she has a dream of becoming a writer -> Give up on it -> Read something that inspire her again -> Profit Or a dead friend/family |
| Because we're stupid that we love to have fun |
| they want to be a writer because they simply struggle to voice their thoughts and feel more comfortable writing?? or maybe, they can't speak lol |
| the official MAL hall of fame/cursed comments is now open for business - you are welcome to PM me any potential quotes to include |
| Being a romance fan I can think of one where: Character and lover promise that they'll write to each other (lover is moving abroad forever) then lover dies or something lol. Lover's last words could be "Make your voice heard" to which she promises to "Make her/his voice heard" and make the lover notice them no matter which place the lover is in (either heaven or is a survivor of the plane crash but didn't tell anyone yet). I love romance so this is what I thought of right off the bat. Lol. |
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