Writing help

[Ryzu 984]

So I need to write a narrative for school. The plot is already planned out. I need help with two things;

1. Starting the narrative - It is so difficult starting a narrative. My book is starting off with the main character as a kid who's like 7 going to a bank with his mother. I need a nice way to start it off, but not nice as in pleasant. It needs to feel casual than drop into a serious mood.

 

2. Romantic set-ups - I have no clue on how to set up or describe romantic scenes. Sure I'm good with the words and flirting and stuff but I just can't set a normal romantic mood. Like I've never really seen the romance in things personally except the words and actions. I don't know what I'm doing with scenery though. How could I lure two characters into a romantic mood?

 

Oh also, if any of you have any polishing techniques you wanna share that would be appreciated.

[Star Racer 198]

I could help ya out. We already have a pm, lets talk there.

[StormdustPony 471]

starts out all normal then  BAM..  Bank Robbery.  SHTF  Momma gets shot.   Momma 

[LostButterflyUtau 780]

So I need to write a narrative for school. The plot is already planned out. I need help with two things;

1. Starting the narrative - It is so difficult starting a narrative. My book is starting off with the main character as a kid who's like 7 going to a bank with his mother. I need a nice way to start it off, but not nice as in pleasant. It needs to feel casual than drop into a serious mood.

 

2. Romantic set-ups - I have no clue on how to set up or describe romantic scenes. Sure I'm good with the words and flirting and stuff but I just can't set a normal romantic mood. Like I've never really seen the romance in things personally except the words and actions. I don't know what I'm doing with scenery though. How could I lure two characters into a romantic mood?

 

Oh also, if any of you have any polishing techniques you wanna share that would be appreciated.

I'm a writer...But I'm not too sure on giving sound advice, so I'm just going to go with what works for me.

 

Okay, for #1: Sometimes I find it easy to just start off by jumping into the middle of a scene with some dialogue. Like, maybe you could have the son pointing out something on the street on the walk to the bank and have the mum make a comment about it, or telling him not to dally because they're in a a hurry. You know, set it up just like how you'd imagine a regular walk to the bank.

 

I recently did something similar in an Ouran High School Host Club fanfic with my OC:

 

“Natsuko you need to hurry it up before we’re all late!” Himeno snapped up the stairs, letting out an aggravated sigh as she moved back into the kitchen and threw aside the towel she had been drying her hands with.

 

“I’m sorry,” The ten-year-old whined as she made her way down. “But I couldn’t decide which colour worked better for today…I’m still not thrilled with this purple ribbon,” She said, presenting the item to her sister, who simply rolled her eyes as she took it and tied it into her hair.

 

“Well, now you have no choice,” Himeno declared as she finished and then stood to hand over her lunchbox. “Now, go wait with your brother while I…” She started, trailing off when a knock came at the door. ‘At this hour? Are you serious?!’

 

“I got it!” Takeshi called, throwing his video game system aside in favour of running towards the door, frowning when his sister’s arm stopped him.

 

“No, you don’t,” She scolded.

 

See how I just jumped into it...Yet still managed to establish the setting as a typical school morning. It has to do a lot with the placing on certain details here and sometimes, not describing too many things at once and leaving things to the reader's imagination.

 

As for #2, as a romance writer, I rely more on words and actions then setting. I mean, you could be in an old warehouse and still have some romance there. It's all about setting the characters up and being able to properly set those feels. Most of the time, if you can feel those feels, other people can too. Romantic mood is more about the people than the setting in terms of writing for me. And, I usually just go ahead and go for it as far as romantic things go. Getting into the characters' thoughts can help alot with this too. Another example from the same line of stories: (This particular one hit my friends right in the feels.) 

 

Himeno could only stand and watch from the carriage as Kaoru tried to comfort his ailing brother, both for his injury and his feelings. It was true that if Kyoya left, the club was going to fall. They all knew that there was no way they would ever find a better accountant. And, without him to control Tamaki’s spending…Then again, maybe it was for the best, Himeno thought. It was far from what she wanted, but then again, life wasn’t about what she wanted…it never had been, until recently. It was then that she slowly began to realise that the Host Club made her happy. As much as their schemes drove her crazy, they also made her smile. It was a looser environment, one where she could truly be herself and not hold back…And if it wasn’t for that…if it wasn’t for Kyoya holding it all together, she was sure that she’d be stuck in the same rut as before. Heck, even her mother saw it…

 

Earlier That Morning

 

“I’m leaving now,” Himeno called to her mother, who sat at the table finishing off her breakfast alongside her siblings.

“Why are you afraid to speak to me?” Mitsuki asked.

“What are you talking about? I’m just not hungry this morning. That’s all,” Himeno said, giving her mother a weak smile.

Mitsuki sighed. “You’re not fooling anyone, you know. The only time you skip eating is when you’re stressed. The last time you skipped breakfast was right after Christmas break…Right before you and Ky…”

“Can we not talk about Kyoya?” Himeno snapped as her mother gave a knowing smile, stood and made her way over to her daughter.

“I figured it was about him. Listen to me, Hime-Chan. You’ve spent a lot of time worrying about other people and sacrificing your own happiness for them, whether it be out of courtesy or necessity. But, sometimes it’s okay to speak up for yourself and to take your happiness into your own hands, even when other people want you to do otherwise,” Mitsuki said as she reached into her pocket and then took Himeno’s hand in her own, waiting and watching as he daughter opened it and stared down at the golden locket.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Remembering those words seemed to ignite something in the black-haired hostess as she glanced down at the locket that had been hanging around her neck since then. It was something that she had known from the start was far too expensive, but it didn’t take her long to get past the cost. Because that was never what it was about with them, ever. It hadn’t mattered that she had nothing to bring to his family or that she couldn’t afford expensive gifts. All that had ever mattered was that he fell in love with her, he respected her, not her name, not her status but her person. And if it hadn’t been for the club that Tamaki had started with him right by his side…None of this would have ever happened. But, since it had…Himeno would be damned if she was going to lose it so easily. Especially at the hands of that man.

 

Now, this one isn't exactly classified as leading two characters to a romantic setting...not yet anyway. But I like to think this look into her thoughts establishes their relationship well enough that someone could jump into this and go, "yeah. There's feels here."

 

 

I hope this helps...even just a little bit. Like I said, I kind of suck at giving advice...even though I've been writing for forever. It's just hard to put what I do into words.

 

[Ryzu 984]

@@LostButterflyUtau,

Even just reading your examples helped a lot! Thanks! I think I know how to start it up but It'll probably need to make an idea pool for the setting up the romance.

starts out all normal then  BAM..  Bank Robbery.  SHTF  Momma gets shot.   Momma 

Lol you guessed it, she's gonna die. Hopefully I won't get any points off for that being a bit violent. But I think discussing slavery in history class probably means its ok to write a story with a violent bank robbery.

[LostButterflyUtau 780]

@@LostButterflyUtau,

Even just reading your examples helped a lot! Thanks! I think I know how to start it up but It'll probably need to make an idea pool for the setting up the romance.

Lol you guessed it, she's gonna die. Hopefully I won't get any points off for that being a bit violent. But I think discussing slavery in history class probably means its ok to write a story with a violent bank robbery.

 

You're quite welcome! Glad I could help, even a little bit. Writing romance is something hard to explain for me because I just do it and I don't know how. (I'm really good at writing smut too, but we won't get into that now.)

 

And, depending on what level of school you're in, you may want to be careful about that. Schools these days tend to get really touchy when violence and things are brought up. So, just be wary of how much detail you use for that scene and how it plays out in the story so they don't flag you as a problem and send you to counselling. I've never had it happen to me, but I have heard of it happening. 

Edited February 12, 2015 by LostButterflyUtau