You did exactly what you needed to do; described your process.
In the mid 90s I could tell anyone, in detail, the 90% they needed to know to get up to speed writing. The other 10% was what you bring to the page. Decades later all I can offer is Zen koans and fortune cookie comments, so I usually recommend two books. One is a step-by-step process, and the other is a massive overview of the many writing tools available.
The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray (You need to get the first edition from 1993, used. The later editions destroyed the clarity of his process.)
Writing Fiction For Dummies by Randy Ingermanson
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Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. -- Rumi
]]>The two I always recommend, other than mine which is short and speaks to the geeky writers, are Dwight V Swain and of course Stephen King. Some other recommendations (mixed with snarks) here: http://www.mharoldpage.com/why-most-books-on-how-to-write-a-novel-arent-very-useful/
]]>I'm probably limited by my typing speed. One of my great-uncles routinely advised new Policemen to learn to type properly, in the 1920s.
]]>My interest was much the same as Moore's (and many people after him) - to disseminate innovative social and political ideas using fiction as a medium. One of the reasons that I like science fiction and fantasy is that some authors include some of that, though most of them are rather pedestrian or use magic or technology as a solution in itself. That's naive ....
]]>to ensure that there is enough 'human interest' to stop it from being a degenerate descendent of Utopia (which is not an exciting read)
I had a similar problem, but it was more to do with being a miserable adolescent wanting somewhere nice to escape to!
My approach therefore addresses this directly - story is conflict is plot is character is conflict. Given any setting, I sit back and imagine what people might fight over, and who those people might be, THEN I plan the story.
It's not guaranteed to produced interesting results. That's down to your storytelling instincts. However it's a lot easier to assess ideas for quality and pick the good ones than it is to come up with one good idea out of the box.
(And, the whole approach is probably influenced by software design methodologies that design the user interface first)
]]>The earliest tie-ins I ever read (or saw) were Star Trek novels (there was only one Star Trek back then) or possibly Doctor Who story novelisations.
]]>As for the history of franchise series, I'm wondering how far back they go. Hardy Boys and Ellery Queen have been mentioned. But further back you have the Tom Swift books, and I imagine earlier dime novel series probably had multiple writers. That may be getting off-topic.
]]>This! So very much this.
I also hate when people ask me to repeat point 3 of my awfully clever and staggeringly inventive ten point plan to save the world... and they wont even give me a hint what it was I said!
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