Do you have a basic idea for a story, but don't know what to do? There are many articles explaining how to write once you have the storyline, or how to develop it once you have the pattern. What to do, however, if you have nothing but an intuition? This article will help you draw a story from start to finish, whether it's a children's picture book or an epic story in episodes.
Steps
Step 1. Find an idea
If you have one lurking somewhere, that's fine! If not, find one, or draw it in your mind, or do one of the many creativity exercises you can find on the web. It doesn't have to be a story already - but at least an intuition is needed to get started. This can be anything: a sentence, a face, a character or a situation, the important thing is that you find it exciting and intriguing.
Step 2. Turn intuition into an idea for a story
This is the keystone of the story. If you are familiar with the Snowflake method, or other analogues for the hierarchical development of an idea, then this step is clear to you. For example, how do you turn the vague figure of a dark-eyed girl into an idea for a story? First, realize that the stories are based on two main elements: the characters and the conflict. Of course, there is also more, such as the theme, the scenario, the perspective and so on, but at the heart of every story, there are characters with conflicts. Now let's take our dark-eyed girl. We start asking questions, with the aim of creating a character with conflicts. Who is? What do you aspire to? What hinders his aspirations? Once you have a character with some sort of conflict, you have the idea for a story. Take note of this idea.
Step 3. Now turn the idea into a plot
Here comes the hard part. You have a high-level idea for a story, but how do you turn it into a plot? You could, of course, start writing and see where the idea takes you, but if you feel compelled to proceed in this way, you probably wouldn't have read this article. You want a plot. Consequently, here's what to do: start first with the end.
Step 4. Yes, that's right, from the end
Can our dark-eyed heroine win her man? Or must he give it to the rich girl? Start at the end, and if that doesn't make some points in the e of the plot shine, read on.
Step 5. Think about the characters
Now, you have a conflict, you have the characters, and you have an initial and final situation. If you still need help with the plot, what you need to do is think about the characters. It gives them texture. Build on friends, families, work, personal stories, life experiences, needs and wants.
Step 6. Develop the plot points
Now that you have the characters and the end of the story, describe the characters in their world and watch them interact. Be sure to take notes. Maybe one of them gets an important promotion. Perhaps the dark-eyed girl competes in a swimming competition with the rich brat. Perhaps her best friend realizes that she has never given up hope for a man. He comes up with ideas of how each of them might affect his world, and how it might affect him.
Step 7. Insert plot points into a story episode
Here comes the fun part. Now, some knowledge of the structure of a story is useful. For our purposes, Freytag's analysis is probably the most useful. Stories basically have five parts:
- Exhibition - in which the normal life of the characters is described, up to the moment of a "triggering accident" that pushes them into conflict.
- Crescendo - describing the conflicts, struggles and pitfalls that characters face as they try to achieve their goals. In a three act structure, it's the second and usually the juiciest part of the story.
- Apex - is the most important part! The point where everything seems possible or impossible, and where the characters must decide whether to proceed towards victory or accept failure. The turning point of history where the conflict is resolved.
- Fall of the action - where the things that take place after the climax are described, after the hero's victory or failure, and where all the knots are untied, leading to …
- Epilogue - with a new equilibrium, a normal life is described again, different however (or perhaps not so different) from the "normal life" described in the exposition of the characters.
Step 8. Insert these potential plot points somewhere in the episode, moving forward and retracing your steps
The ending probably falls in the fall phase of the action or in the epilogue, but if you are smart (or lucky) you can use the apex instead. If you don't have a real apex, think about the solution you want, and the event necessary to get there. Everything that leads to that event from the beginning is part of the crescendo. Everything that derives from that event is part of the fall of the action. And anything that doesn't fit into either of these two categories shouldn't be used in the story, unless it's part of a side storyline.
Step 9. Change the layout or redraw the texture as needed
You should now have an exploitable storyline. It won't be complex, it won't be glamorous, but it's enough to start working on it. Once you decide which scenes best describe the chain of events leading up to the apex, you can decide you want to change the outlines, or even change the apex. This is fine. Writing is a creative process, and here things are never multi-faceted in an orderly and predictable way!
Advice
- If you're writing a kind of story that needs a scoundrel, find a reason. When you have found it, it will be easier to draw a texture.
- Find a balance for the emotions of the story. If you're writing a tragedy, include some humor. If you're writing a happy ending story include some tragedy somewhere.
- Put yourself in the shoes of the characters. What would they say? What would they do or how would they react? Instead of answering how you would answer (because that wouldn't make the character very convincing), answer with the character in mind. Also, while drawing the plot, make sure you proceed at the right pace, because if you propose one dramatic event after another, the plot becomes boring and repetitive; what you need to do is surprise the reader. When you add emotion, you have to show a range of emotions, because as humans, our emotions are like roller coasters, and they're never the same year after year, aren't they? Sometimes we feel happy despite being angry with others, so you must also consider the humanity of your characters.
- Remember, a plot is built based on the motivations you attribute to the character. Expect a lot of emphasis in character creation before placing him at the center of every big event in your story. If you haven't developed your character's personality, how do you know how he will react to certain events?
- You could base the story on friends and family, this would make it easier to put yourself in the shoes of the characters.
- Keep a list of interesting ideas you've come up with. Some might be perfect for the texture. If not, reserve them for a later story. A story needs a lot of ideas, and it's a lot easier to start with many than to go with one and wonder what the next one will be.
- Once you have a character's motivations, insist on them. Trying to force a character into a plot point makes him sound fake and not believable. Believe in your character and use his background to resolve the conflict - the story will flow better this way!
