A Goodreads user asked Marylee MacDonald:

Do you have any tips for people who want to write a book? I'm currently trying to come up with some ideas for plots and everything but just don't know where to start!

Marylee MacDonald Hi Savannah, Your questions made me pause. I tried to think if I've ever begun a story or book knowing the plot in advance. Never. Usually, I start with a bit of dialogue or a paragraph that describes the setting. Often, these snippets come from my writing journals, from eavesdropping, or from friends' gossip. Sometimes, my stories have started because I'm obsessed with something. My emotions-->emotions I hope to recreate for readers. I view the first draft as a "discovery" draft, meaning that I am trying to write my way into the story. When I have a first draft finished--and that means finding out how it ends--I go back and see what has to happen to make that ending plausible. The "system" I use (if that's what you call it) is the "seat of the pants" method. In the lingo of fiction workshops, I'm known as a "pantser."

There is another way to write a novel, and that method uses a structured approach. A book that explains this method very well is Story Structure, written by Larry Brooks. Larry is very attuned to story structures used in films and in genre fiction: sci fi, fantasy, romance, or mysteries. For new writers, Larry's approach makes a lot of sense. It will give you a comfortable way to make it from the beginning to the end of your book. But that still hasn't quite answered your question.

No doubt you want to write a book like the books that really grab you. Why don't you take a look at your three favorite books? What happens in those books? What obstacles does the heroine face? How does she overcome them? COPY THE PLOT, but put your own people in that plot. Make the story happen in a different time and place.

If that seems too hard, then go to fairy tales. I've occasionally used Grimm's Fairy Tales or those by Hans Christian Andersen as the basis for a story. Then, I ask myself, "What if?" For instance, "What if the Wicked Witch of the West was simply trying to get back at the smarmy Glenda?" Well, there you would have the musical "Wicked."

Take the plot of a book you love, and say, "What if?" Or, do as I do, and start with only a vague idea of where you're going. Write about a character. Give that character a burning desire to do something very particular (same her brother; become a great magician), and then place obstacles in her way. Make her situation worse and worse till the end.

Does that give you some ideas? If you let me know what kind of novel you'd most like to write, I'll try to write a blog post about to give your more specific guidance.

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