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For the past year or so I have been forming a collection of ideas and quotes. Whenever a catchy phrase bit me, or a quote leaped out of my reading and sometimes when a briliant idea floated my way I would write them all down in a composition note book.

I now have the beginings of what I hope will become my first fiction novel. One problem: I don't know how to proceed. Should I dive right in? Should I wait and develope my writing techniques more? Should I just grab another composition note book? In any case, I am still new to the world of writing and need some guidence, or just a friendly nudge.

Once upon a time you wrote a piece of poor literature. Too vast a volume to simply discard, you laid it in a drawer or saved it to a dark and hidden folder on your computer's hard drive, only to be revisited in your most wistful and nostalgic moments. But when the need to peek does strike, you are overwhelmed by the sense that your infant masterpiece always deserved better than to be locked away and forgotten.

I'm having trouble formulating a personal heuristic for deciding whether to hyphenate compound words that are not in a dictionary -- i.e. that i'm just basically making up.

The whole business of hyphenation does not seem like it's done logically...

I've been tinkering with writing for going on 12-13 years now, and I've written several decent (imho) short stories.  I've also written my share of poetry (bad) and song lyrics, but the real challenge is of course, the novel.

I have started many, but for whatever reason, I rarely get far.  What does it take to complete a work?

Face it, it will. The much-celebrated "first novel" displayed at bookstores is merely that author's first published novel. It's far more likely to be his second, third, or tenth novel, overall.

So don't let the stress get to you.

Drawing from past work, mythology, and the public domain does not preclude the creation of original stories. If anything, studying what went before, and drawing from it, can prevent the writer from simply rehashing an idea that has been done too many times before.

Plot, characters, themes - many original stories borrow these elements from older works in part or wholesale, and yet they remain unique; they remain their own, original stories.

Different ways of creating and managing background information and characters have been mentioned on this site before - in an article by Andrea concerning the use of index cards, in article by Jaxon talking about using existing GroupWare products and finally an article by Janra questioning how much background detail is actually required.

In this article I describe how I manage the process and ask you, friendly readers, to tell me what works for you and why.

Why do we need editors?

Well, if you're like the vast majority of writers, there are many reasons. We are too close to our work; even when called for, it is extremely difficult to "murder your darlings." Revision is necessary, no matter who you are; whether your first drafts are rough or smooth, they can always be improved.

"Getting the Words Right: how to rewrite, edit, and revise" is about making the good better.

There are many 'universes' (detailed fictional environments) currently established. From the commercial franchises of Star Trek and Star Wars to the individually developed universes of authors such as Peter F Hamilton (Nights Dawn), Isaac Asimov (Foundation) and Robert A. Heinlein (Future History). Generally these universes have a high barrier of entry (legally and monetarily in the case of the franchises and being compared to the original authors in the case of the others). Is there a need (or desire) for an open universe, developed by a group of like minded authors and shared in a similar way to open source software?

I've discovered that organising my characters for a new book, is a considerable pain. They are now on file cards. I can pick out the fictional people and remember what they are like (from my notes)& how they react. I can also add notes to these file cards if my creatures have been through an experience that has affected them in some way. It's a good way to weave the threads of a complex plot. The scenes can be put on cards in a similiar way. This may seem rather an archaic way of arranging things in this age of the computer file. I do find the physicality of bits of card board helps creative thought. Staring at a computer screen for too long can become painful. I do think more clearly using this for basic plot and character structure. Try it; what do you think?