I can't speak for other writers, but I generally think of the title to a book before anything else. The title Ring of the Tax Collector came to me in elementary school. I didn't have a story, just the title. The story came to me in the shower some thirty-odd years later.
I currently have a list of approximately nine book titles. They are evenly divided. Three are just titles, no stories (yet). Three have a basic outline of a story, and, if I ever figure it out, they will probably be a trilogy. The remaining three are unrelated works-in-progress; I am actively attempting to write their stories.
More rarely, I will come up with a story idea, and not have a title. Generally, the "story idea" is just a vague thought that came to me out of nowhere which seems fun to play with and try to write. I have two of these sitting around right now. Neither have titles (yet).
Stephen King calls this cups and handles. In a book of his short stories, he discusses his writing process and how he has all these cups and he walks around looking for handles to make the story work (paraphrased).
What he doesn't say is that, even when you have all the parts, it still takes time to write the story. Ring of the Tax Collector took approximately six months to write, and I had everything: the title, the story idea, the list of how people were going to die, the number of chapters, even most of the ending. Granted, I was working full time and moved to Chicago in the middle of it all, but still. Writing takes time.
I can say with all authority that people who finish writing books have a process. On the other hand, those that start stories and never seem to finish them are working under the belief that "something will come to them" and "it will all just work out." Spoiler Alert: it won't.
Writing a story from beginning to end takes planning. My writing process starts by marrying a title to a story idea. After that, I have to do the hard work of figuring out the mundane details of the book: How many chapters? How many characters? Who is the protagonist? What are they fighting for? Who is the antagonist? Why are they trying to thwart the protagonist? What's the ending?
Obviously, any decisions I make at the beginning of the book can be changed, as needed, while the story is being written. That happens all the time. A degree of flexibility is necessary when writing. That said, when writing without a plan, it is easy to be unproductive and impossible to be flexible.
Find your version of a cup and handle. Formulate a plan for your book. Go forth and write!
I currently have a list of approximately nine book titles. They are evenly divided. Three are just titles, no stories (yet). Three have a basic outline of a story, and, if I ever figure it out, they will probably be a trilogy. The remaining three are unrelated works-in-progress; I am actively attempting to write their stories.
More rarely, I will come up with a story idea, and not have a title. Generally, the "story idea" is just a vague thought that came to me out of nowhere which seems fun to play with and try to write. I have two of these sitting around right now. Neither have titles (yet).
Stephen King calls this cups and handles. In a book of his short stories, he discusses his writing process and how he has all these cups and he walks around looking for handles to make the story work (paraphrased).
What he doesn't say is that, even when you have all the parts, it still takes time to write the story. Ring of the Tax Collector took approximately six months to write, and I had everything: the title, the story idea, the list of how people were going to die, the number of chapters, even most of the ending. Granted, I was working full time and moved to Chicago in the middle of it all, but still. Writing takes time.
I can say with all authority that people who finish writing books have a process. On the other hand, those that start stories and never seem to finish them are working under the belief that "something will come to them" and "it will all just work out." Spoiler Alert: it won't.
Writing a story from beginning to end takes planning. My writing process starts by marrying a title to a story idea. After that, I have to do the hard work of figuring out the mundane details of the book: How many chapters? How many characters? Who is the protagonist? What are they fighting for? Who is the antagonist? Why are they trying to thwart the protagonist? What's the ending?
Obviously, any decisions I make at the beginning of the book can be changed, as needed, while the story is being written. That happens all the time. A degree of flexibility is necessary when writing. That said, when writing without a plan, it is easy to be unproductive and impossible to be flexible.
Find your version of a cup and handle. Formulate a plan for your book. Go forth and write!