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

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.

KTC said:

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.

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QFT

KTC said:

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.

Click to expand...

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.

The Bawlin Sox said:

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Bawlin Sox said:

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.

Click to expand...

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.

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

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.

A step by step guide to writing:

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

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.

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.

The Bawlin Sox said:

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

Click to expand...

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.

I start writing and keep going.

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.

The Bawlin Sox said:

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.

Click to expand...

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.

Lady Ice said:

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.

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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.

Jamesaritchie said:

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.

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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.

Click to expand...

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.

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.