Friday's How She Does It - Keira Kohl

We all know there are six elements in writing fiction and often fact. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. I believe the first five lead to the sixth which for me is the plot. What's your take on this?






For me I think it depends on the story. In most cases I know the what before I know the who. I think the first five elements are needed to know the how.





1. How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific process?



I figure out what they have to do in the story. Their goal. Then I figure out why they want that goal and why they can't have it. Or at least why they can't have it right away. Sometimes I will interview my characters. That really helps to get to know them.



2. Do your characters come before the plot? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let the characters develop the route to the end?





Most of the time my plot comes first. A scene or scenario will come to me and I'll fill it with characters that match the situation. I do a little of both sketching out the plot and letting the characters take over. I usually do a very loose scene by scene outline. Very vague one or two sentence prompts so then the characters can take over and do what they want.



3. Do you know how the story will end before you begin? In a general way or a specific one?



Sometimes I know before I start writing it how it will end. Other times the ending doesn't come to me until I've written a few chapters. When I know the ending usually I know the ending in a very general way.





4. Do you choose settings you know or do you have books of settings and plans of houses sitting around?



I usually set my stories in the city I live or cities I've been to. For houses I will either download house plans or go into my Sims 3 game and create a house so I can envision my characters walking through it.





5. Where do you do your research? On line or from books?





I have a mix of both. It's mostly on-line. There are some great loops out there that can help writers when they have questions. But there's no substitute for doing research at the library. I always feel inspired when I go to the library to get research books.



6. Are you a draft writer or do you revise as you go along and why?





I am a total draft writer. I give myself permission to write crap so I can get the story out. I find the gems in the revisions process. I love editing!







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Cindy

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