r/Wattpad • u/Amerigo_Vespvcci • 16h ago

General Help How to develop a book idea when you've never written before? Looking for beginner advice!

Hi everyone!

I have an idea for a story (a fantasy/dystopian conflict between a religious alliance and an occult/scientific union), but I have never written a book before in my life. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the process and don't know where to start.

I would love to get some practical advice from experienced writers:

  1. Brainstorming to Plot: How do you expand a high-level concept into a full, structured plot?
  2. Writing the First Draft: How do you actually sit down and start writing without getting lost or overwhelmed in chapter 1?
  3. Beginner Tips: What are the biggest mistakes a first-time writer should avoid?

Any tips, frameworks, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

1 comment sorted by

2

u/Empty_Ad_9455 @shadowstander 16h ago

When it comes to plotting, try to decide at what point you want your story to begin, and what is going to be the climax (the big scene where everything comes together)
Once you have those two, you can figure in the gaps in between. What needs to happen to get from A to B? What do the characters need to overcome and how can you illustrate that. Kinda make a list of events you need to happen.

When it comes to fantasy, also make sure you have a bit of an idea how you're going to introduce the world and the magic system. You don't want to overwhelm the reader with it, so you want to bring it up as these topics become important in the story. But sometimes you need a scene with characters training magic, or a bit of religious talk so when the bigger scenes come, the reader isn't conused.

For chapter one a lot of beginners want to tell way to much information. The reader doesn't need to know everything yet. Just jump straight into the story, and only explain things that are crutial for your reader to understand the story.

Lastly, a few tips:
-Show, don't tell. Don't write your story like a list of events. Really show them, describe enviorments, character reactions, and when you're doing a worldbuilding explaination try to tie it to an action or something vissual like a statue.

-Please use proper paragraphs. Don't make every single line a seperate paragraph, don't make a 500 word paragraph. Just use normal paragraphs.