How do you progress from the idea for a story to writing the detail of that story?

[The Backward OX]

I have come up with what I like to think may be a startling new idea for a story. Well, at least a new combination of cobbling some old ideas together.

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.

Thank you.

[KTC]

You will get a different answer from every writer you ask.

My answer. Sit down. Write.

Let the story come out naturally. Just sit. Just write. Personally, I don't know of a step-by-step process. I just take the idea, ruminate...then write.

Good luck with your idea.

[Cassiopeia]

You will get a different answer from every writer you ask.

My answer. Sit down. Write.

Let the story come out naturally. Just sit. Just write. Personally, I don't know of a step-by-step process. I just take the idea, ruminate...then write.

Good luck with your idea.
QFT

[EFCollins]

You will get a different answer from every writer you ask.

My answer. Sit down. Write.

Let the story come out naturally. Just sit. Just write. Personally, I don't know of a step-by-step process. I just take the idea, ruminate...then write.

Good luck with your idea.

QFT again, just for good measure. Just write it. You know English, and from your post, it seems like you can construct sentences. So, sit down at your desk or wherever you work on the computer and write it.

[kposa]

I have come up with what I like to think may be a startling new idea for a story. Well, at least a new combination of cobbling some old ideas together.

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.

Thank you.

Here are some questions that could get you started:
1. What is this new idea? A scene? A character? A new world? A cool new doodad?
2. If it's a scene, write down what happens and who's in it. What happens next? And next? And before it? Who are in these other scenes?
3. If it's a character, why is he/she unique? What can the character do (character development)? What does he do (scene/plotting)? Why is he relevant (or who will care about his story?)?
4. If it's a world, describe it. What happens there? Who lives there? What do they do?
5. If you have a plot, write it down as fast as you can. Then people it with interesting characters, cut it down into scenes, revise, tweak, revise again.
6. Put it all together. Revise, rewrite, rinse, repeat.

[sunandshadow]

If you want a method, you can google the Snowflake Method.

I use a simplification:
1. Summarize the idea in 1-3 sentences.
2. Expand, adding detail, to get 1-3 paragraphs. If you haven't yet, make up names for the characters.
3. Expand, adding detail. In particular explain why people do what they do and how they are feeling at each point in the story. You may end up with more than 5 pages, that's no problem.
4. Break your long synopsis up into chapters. You can write them if you feel able, otherwise you can figure out scenes and sequels.

Alternatively, if your idea happens to have a hero vs. an antagonist, there are many very simple formulas for this type of plot, just find one you like and use it.

[Ruv Draba]

It really depends what sort of idea you have, Bawlin. Is it a premise -- an idea for a situation, say? Is it an idea for an interesting character? A setting? A line of dialogue? A theme? I'd use different methods for each of these, though they'd converge toward the same general method in the end. "Just write it" doesn't work for me -- I need to be fairly clear on what I'm writing and why before I start. Else I can write stuff, but it's all just rubbish.

[hannah_92]

My method is to just sit down and start writing. Once I've got some of the story down then I start to write notes on each chapter etc

[Bufty]

Your idea is probably just a bare bones sort of thing, but it must begin somewhere with someone doing or discovering something that alters their 'normal' routine, whatever that is or was and sends them off on the story line.

Story question? That is the unwritten question placed fairly quickly in the reader's mind and the reason he reads on - to find the answer to it. Will the main character find, achieve, resolve, defeat, overcome.....or whatever verb applies to your story situation.

From there on in it's one step after another - with the character moving ever closer (despite setbacks) to, and finally resolving, whatever the story question is.

Take it from there -there's not much else that can help you, I'm afraid. From there on, it's write and see what happens, remembering all the books you've read and how things developed in them.

You can make initial notes and/or plan till the cows come home or you can just plunge in - do whatever works for you. There is no magic lantern step-by-step solution.

Good luck.


I have come up with what I like to think may be a startling new idea for a story. Well, at least a new combination of cobbling some old ideas together.

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.

Thank you.

[DrZoidberg]

I do not sit down and just write. I plan out my stories meticulously at once. They grow layer by layer until I do the dialogue. Whatever works works. This is what works for me. You could try a few different approaches. I use Agatha Christies method. Starts from the end and move backward inserting sub-plots as the climaxes demand them.

Or you could use this method:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4308746&postcount=17

I think you need to try a few.

[Jamesaritchie]

Put an interesting character into an interesting situation, and then get him out of the interesting situation.

[Chris P]

As others said, there are many methods.

For me, I usually have several scenes floating around in my head. I start writing them down and using the same characters in each one. Before long, general themes emerge regarding the scenario, plot, and character personality. Once I have 10K words or so written out, I start outlining and deciding where the various parts should go and how they should be linked.

[C.M.C.]

A step by step guide to writing:

1. Write a word.
2. Write another word.
3. Repeat as needed.

[shaldna]

Park bottom on seat.
Write.
Do not stop before the end unless it is to pee or eat.


And even then you need to make it quick.

[maestrowork]

Ideas are a dime a dozen. They're nothing if you don't actually work on them.

Write the first word. Then the next. Then the next.

It really is that simple. It separates the writers from the wannabes.

[aadams73]

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.


I think you're looking for a formula that doesn't exist. It's not the same for every writer. Hell, it's not always the same for me from book to book. My process is always evolving.

All you can do is sit and write your story, then, when you reach the end, go back and fix it where it needs fixing.

This is not math; there is no exact formula to get your desired answer.

[Matera the Mad]

I start writing and keep going.

[Searching]

I am all about emotion. I read because I want to feel something. Joy, sadness, excitement, anger, disgust. That's the connection with your reader. Unless you have that, you could have the greatest story ever written, it would make no difference.

Use the least number of words to make me feel something. Depending on a story it could take a thousand words or a hundred thousand words. The more words your story uses the more emotion it should encompass.

[Lady Ice]

I have come up with what I like to think may be a startling new idea for a story. Well, at least a new combination of cobbling some old ideas together.

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.

Thank you.

Start writing random scenes, dialogue, characters, whatever comes into your head. You will know soon enough if you like the idea and if it has a chance of working. Probably most of your good ideas will die at this stage- some ideas just need to be written down but they don't have the scope for a novel. Get them out of your system.

Then do a rough synopsis. The story you end up with will probably be very different from this, but it gives you a rough direction.

Unfortunately good ideas do not a good novel make, or even any novel.

[Jamesaritchie]

Start writing random scenes, dialogue, characters, whatever comes into your head. You will know soon enough if you like the idea and if it has a chance of working. Probably most of your good ideas will die at this stage- some ideas just need to be written down but they don't have the scope for a novel. Get them out of your system.

Then do a rough synopsis. The story you end up with will probably be very different from this, but it gives you a rough direction.

Unfortunately good ideas do not a good novel make, or even any novel.

I don't think there is such a thing as a good idea, or a bad idea. There are only ideas, and any idea can be truned into a wonderful short story or novel. It's all in the execution.

But I do believe almost anything will die if you spend time writing random scenes, or whatever comes into your head, rather than actually writing teh story.

[dpaterso]

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.
Create your characters, deciding who your main character is.

Insert him or her into an interesting situation in an interesting setting.

-Derek

[maestrowork]

I don't think there is such a thing as a good idea, or a bad idea. There are only ideas, and any idea can be truned into a wonderful short story or novel. It's all in the execution.


Some ideas are better than the others, despite execution. An automatic cat little box is a good idea. An automatic fart machine may not be. And an automatic novel writing robot is probably a bad idea...

But I do believe almost anything will die if you spend time writing random scenes, or whatever comes into your head, rather than actually writing teh story.

I hate to say it, but everyone has different processes. It may not work for you, but someone could make it work. The fact that they're writing is already part of the battle.

[The Backward OX]

Thank you all for your comments so far. I must admit to being a little surprised by the numbers who advocate “just write.” To my way of thinking, that pre-supposes an extremely linear storyline, one where A leads to B leads to C leads to D and so on.

Or am I missing something in the meaning of “just write”?

[dpaterso]

Perhaps your outline may look linear. But as you write, maybe something unexpected will insert itself between A and B, etc. taking the story off on an interesting tangent. Which is to say, as you write, your brain could come up with all kinds of extras to titivate the story. "Just write" means write *and* think *and* keep creating. In order to get into the loop, you need to get into the loop.

-Derek

[TheIT]

Ideas get generated during the act of writing out a scene. Thinking about what the story will be like is useful, but it's difficult to extrapolate too far. Sitting down and committing words to the page forces decisions and forces things to happen. Might or might not be what you originally envisioned. That's all right.

Everyone works differently. There's no one right answer other than to experiment with different approaches and see what works for you. Some people fully outline a story before writing. Other people start with an opening idea and just wing it. Some do a combination of the two.

[JayG]

• I have come up with what I like to think may be a startling new idea for a story.

There are centuries worth of people writing and submitting their work, each certain they had a usable plot idea. Most of them were right. But plots are easy, Writing them well is what’s hard. In the words of Mark Twain, the last original storyteller was Adam.

He’s right.

• But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

1. Learn to write fiction. It’s a full profession, and as difficult to perfect as any other. It has its own craft and specialized technique, and it takes a lot of time to perfect, so allocate several years of four to six hour days of writing/studying to come up to speed. If you start writing without doing a bit of research on how it’s done, you’re trying to reinvent the wheel, and probably getting practice in how to write lousy. Having some techniques to practice beats flailing.

And yes, I know you have natural writing talent? We al do. Were talent enough, though, there would be no need of rehearsal... or editing... or Photoshop. And if desire were the key, we’d all be famous.

Sweat, though. That’s the magic elixir.
~ Anon.

2. Flesh out your idea, and perhaps write a character study or two to get to know the primary characters and how they respond to motivation. Then, knowing the genre, research the market to see if you’re wasting your time writing for it. Decide who might want to publish it and read their guidelines to see what length and special requirements they have so far as submissions.

3. Decide on the flow, and the needed scenes, so as to give constantly escalating tension. Some people plot at this point, to various depths, and some are “misties,” who have the story come to them from out of the mist as they write (exciting but dangerous because you can write yourself into a corner). But, either way you at least need a starting point, a general path, a knowledge of what the story is about (as against what the plot is: growing up; be careful what you wish for; etc.). And, having a destination is always nice.

4. Begin the write/edit/polish cycle, and continue until you cannot stand the sight of the story.

5. Begin the submit/reject/rework/submit/reject cycle.

6. Start on the second novel, as you work your way toward competence.

7. Repeat as needed.

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
~ W. Somerset Maugham

[Bufty]

And, most important of all, Bawlin', write something -anything -just start and write.

If your story isn't linear -which your post suggests - I doubt it matters a toss where you start so long as you start somewhere. You can fathom out the real beginning once you've reached the end.

But if you never start - surprise, surprise....you'll never finish.

[RJK]

There are many ways to plan out a novel from the basic idea, to the crises at the end. Some people need to outline each scene before they begin writing the prose. Others get a flash of an idea and immediately sit down and begin writing the story.

I'm a firm believer in allowing the creative part of your brain do the planning, growing the story from Idea to ending. For me, trying to itemize or structure (outline) a story before I start, only interferes with the creative process.

I'll digress a little to show an example of how the subconscious brain can solve problems. Years ago, I found a padlock, with a combination lock, in the kitchen junk drawer. I hadn't seen or used the lock in years, and had no idea what the combination was. I set the padlock on the end of the kitchen counter, where I'd see it every time I came and went through the kitchen. I didn't give it another conscious thought. Five days later, as I walked past, I picked the padlock up and unlocked it. The frequent visual ques stimulated my subconscious mind, prying the combination out of my memory.

I use this same method to develop a story. The queues can be anything. A TV program, a news story, another novel, a magazine article, a person I meet. Any of these things may stimulate my subconscious planning process. When my creative mind believes it has enough raw material, it somehow convinces me to start writing. As JayG noted, The scenes form themselves from the misty ideas my creative mind has developed.

[Bufty]

Fascinating, just fascinating.

.... The scenes form themselves from the misty ideas my creative mind has developed.

[Linda Adams]

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.


That's because there isn't one. Particularly with something creative, everyone's approach to it is unique to them and how their mind works. What works for one person, may be disastrous to another person.


Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.


All I can do is tell you my process. I get the idea, and I have to play around with it a bit before I can turn it into a story. My ideas are pretty vague, like "fight on an island," and that's not enough to start a story. I might take a notebook to work with me and over lunch, try out different things over several months. All story--character names stay as placeholders for quite a while (i.e., Main Character, Bad Guy). Once it feels like it's gelled, then I come up with what makes the story special (which is not story). Then I'm ready to jump in and start writing. The first draft is like throwing paint at the wall--whatever I come up with goes in. I'll make up characters on the spot, right when I need them, put scenes in just because it popped into my head, change my bad guy three times, or whatever. Somewhere during the first draft, I'll get to know my story enough to figure out what the plot is.

[blacbird]

I tend to go from idea directly into scenes. I like TheIT's comment, above.

caw

[The Backward OX]

I don't think there is such a thing as a good idea, or a bad idea. There are only ideas, and any idea can be truned into a wonderful short story or novel. It's all in the execution.

But I do believe almost anything will die if you spend time writing random scenes, or whatever comes into your head, rather than actually writing teh story.
I thought "the story" was another name for "whatever comes into your head" and so I have difficulty understanding what you mean.

[Linda Adams]

I thought "the story" was another name for "whatever comes into your head" and so I have difficulty understanding what you mean.

Idea is usually what comes into your head, and it's what gets you inspired to think about the next step, which is story. That's not to say that an idea can't be born a full-blown story (I've had a short story like that), but most often, it needs to be developed into a story.

Example: We had a guy in my critique group who mistook idea for story and launched off it. He wrote an entire book. It was pretty obvious that he did it off the idea by page 50. His idea was that someone was trying to kill a guy who worked in an office. First chapter opens with someone trying to kill the guy. Now what? Because it was only an idea, he didn't have any place to go with it, and he spent seven chapters reinforcing that by having the main character retell what happened to him.

But if he'd thought a bit further about what he could do with the idea, then he might have had questions like: Why is someone trying to kill this guy? What did he do or see? That's where you start seeing the story bloom. Idea gets your started; story gives you direction and focus.

[seun]

Sounds to me like you're approaching this in far too clinical a way. There's no formula to writing in the way that there in solving a maths question.

So count me in as one of the just write crowd.

[Theo81]

Thank you all for your comments so far. I must admit to being a little surprised by the numbers who advocate “just write.” To my way of thinking, that pre-supposes an extremely linear storyline, one where A leads to B leads to C leads to D and so on.

Or am I missing something in the meaning of “just write”?

Yes. When people tell you that the way to get a book written is to "just write", they mean you literally sit down and you write. One word followed by another. Begin the story, continue until it is finished.

However, I wonder if your question is actually, how do I plot and pace a story? That's up to you.

Okay, so, you have your idea: First question - What is the best way to write about this idea? How can you present it? Is it a linear story (boy goes on quest for magic sword, boy finds magic sword)? Or is it a vaguer idea (a story about the impact of custard on 19th centuray Botswanan writers)? If it is a linear story, then begin at the begining, end at the end. If it is more conceptual in origin, you have to think about how to illustrate your idea as well as how your story will make your point.

I suggest you try outlining your story and then just sit down and write the damn thing without worrying about getting it right. It's called a first draft for a reason and it's best for you to understand at this point why the good people who built your computer keyboard gave it a delete key. That's not a negative, that's a positive. Fire and delete keys are the greatest gifts we have been given. We should use them both generously.

Nobody can tell you how to write, you have to learn. The only way to learn is by doing.

[Use Her Name]

Find out what needs to be done
break it down into managable chunks
do it

My tactic is to write the short version first, and then expand in a second writing, then polish in a third. The process is variable.

[Sue Lahna]

I usually get characters before I get a story. If I were you, I would think about the idea, and try to think of who is going through it, and then talk to them in my head. What do they like? What do they despise? What's there "vice"? What's there greatest desire? I take all of these things, jot them down, and see how they conflict/relate/destroy the idea at hand.

I am one of those "plot people" but I only do a bare-bones "this will lead to this which will destroy this, bahahahahaa!" and then everything else can just go as it will.

When all else fails, just get a black piece of paper, think, and write out the first things that come to your mind and toy with them, whether they be full on sentences/scenes, or bulleted lists.

Good luck!

[Lady Ice]

I have come up with what I like to think may be a startling new idea for a story. Well, at least a new combination of cobbling some old ideas together.

But I’ve never really learned any step-by-step process by which an idea is expanded to a written story.

Can someone explain this to me? Where do I start? What do I do next? And so on.

Thank you.

Disclaimer: This is what I, me, myself, would do, not necessarily what everyone else would.


I've had varying degrees of success with finishing. First of all, push the 'startling new idea' thoughts to the side. You're about to marry your story- yes, there's excitement but also realism. Otherwise you'll be in for a lot of heartbreak when the story cracks start showing.

Having decided to get married, do a basic plot for the future of your story. Where, roughly, are you intending to go? As new problems hit the marriage, you're bound to change parts, but as long as you start off going somewhere, otherwise one day you'll wake up and find that your relationship has gone nowhere.

Then choose a scene and write it. Let it go where it wants to go because it's an experiment. This scene may never make it into your book but it helps you explore possible routes your story may go down, and the characters.

I create characters using advice I got from acting a role. Characters are built from past-motive-spine. The past is the key event/element from the past that made your character who he is today. For example, Harry Potter's past is the murder of his parents.
The past provides you with a motive- Harry's past pushed him towards a motive to avenge his parents' death. The motive is the goal that drives the plot and keeps the story moving (think motive=motion). At times, the character may doubt his motive, and will face many obstacles to his goal- that's what keeps the reader's attention.
Then you've got the spine- this is the character's emotional goal. When it really comes down to it, this is what he wants to achieve and he believes his motive will help him achieve his emotional goal. You could say that Harry's spine is to make the people he loves proud of him (at the start, that's his parents but as the story progresses, you get characters like Sirius and Dumbledore that Harry also wants to please). This is what makes him believable as a person and makes your character '3D'.

But your characters don't live in a vacuum. They have to interact with other characters (this is the bit I love). So basic characters I could give my protagonist are:

- An ally. This is a character who supports the protagonist in his goals. Harry's allies are Hermione and Ron, amongst others. Sometimes an ally is merely a sidekick but other times they have their own motives, which may end up clashing with the protagonist's- that's why I haven't called the ally a friend. The ally may turn out to be a false ally - a character who appears to support the protagonist but is actually working against him.

- An antagonist. The antagonist is a character, or group, whose goal conflicts with that of the protagonist. If the protag gets his goal, the antag can't have his; if Harry defeats Voldemort, Voldemort can't defeat Harry. The antagonist need not always be a villain- a love rival is also an antagonist. Occasionally you might get a false antagonist - a character who seems to oppose the protagonist but is either supporting them or not involving themselves in the motive. Snape is the antagonist for most of the series but really he wants to help Harry.

- A love interest. This is the character that the protagonist romantically persues, although at times the love interest may be with someone else. Ginny becomes the love interest for Harry. The love-interest may not be the deepest character but they add romance into the story. Sometimes the love interest has no interest in the protagonist, such as Snape's unrequited love.

- A family. The family need not be a blood relative of the protagonistbut they are a group, or member of a group, that are bound to support the protagonist through love or duty. Because there is a duty involved, this is an interesting character, or collection of characters, to have. The family may not support the character, and the only reason they are doing so is because of a family duty (Harry and the Dursleys). Or they might even be the antagonist.

- A sub-plot character . They are the protagonist in a minor or secondary plot thread. They may even have no relation to the protagonist. Generally in the Harry Potter series everything was linked to the main plot, but sometimes you can have a romantic sub-plot or a comic sub-plot. The sub-plot acts as a sort of relief from the main story.

Now you've got loads of characters- but they need to do something! That's where Action-Reaction-Interaction comes in.
Action is pretty self-explanatory. The character does something. Lets say, Harry's name is pulled out of the goblet of fire.
That causes a reaction- the character/s have some sort of reaction to something. The characters have a lot of different reactions to that, some negative, some positive,some mixed, which causes a conflict. Remember the 'action' part of reaction- the character does an action in response to that.
Interaction is how the characters talk to each other. They have actions and reactions with each other.

I'll have to stop there.

[Johnhileman]

The foundation of a good story is tension. Why tension? Because tension keeps the reader interested? Well there's more to it than just tension. No one is talking to you! I just don't think you should cram the whole "tension" concept down his throat. Would it kill you to just let me write one post-- one post, I mean GEEZ! I'm just saying, tension isn't the only thing. I didn't say it was the only thing! Well you certainly didn't go out of your way to say it wasn't.

Oh ... and keep your reader guessing.