Hi!! What do I do if I have an idea for a story but can't seem to develop it far enough? Or, I can't decide on how a certain event or setting should play out?
Writing Tips: Developing Story Ideas
Example: HOW TO TELL A STORY (Peter Rubie)
Once upon a time, something happened to someone,
and he decided that he would pursue a goal.
So he devised a plan of action,
and even though there were forces trying to stop him,
he moved forward because there was a lot at stake.
And just as things seemed as bad as they could get,
he learned an important lesson,
and when offered the prize he had sought so strenuously,
he had to decide whether or not to take it,
and in making that decision he satisfied a need
that had been created by something in his past.
When Writing a Plot Driven Story, Answer These Questions About Each of Your Main Characters:
What is the character’s back story?
What is the character’s personality?
How was the character’s personality shaped by his/her backstory?
How does each scene develop the character?
What is driving the character’s reaction within the scene (based on his/her back story)?
How does your character change within the course of the story?
What is the character’s internal conflict?
What is the character most afraid of?
How would he/she define happiness?
When Writing a Character Driven Story, Answer These Questions About Your Plot:
What does your character want to happen in each scene?
Is there tension or conflict within each scene?
What action does the character take within each scene?
How does this action move the story forward?
How does each scene contribute to the overall story?
What is the worst thing that can happen to your character(s)?
How does your character prevent it from happening?
What happens if your character cannot prevent it from happening?
What key events change the main characters in your story?
Use flash cards. Think of a topic. Take ten blank flash cards and on one side of each flash card, write a line about this topic. Use a mixture of emotional detail, concrete detail, and images when writing these lines. Put all the cards face down in front of you. Turn five of these cards over, face-up. What kind of story is this? What questions remain? Experiment with which five cards should be turned up in order to create a story that is both mysterious and clear enough for the emotions to be anchored.
Eavesdrop. Carry your notebook with you as you go about your daily tasks and write down interesting things you overhear. At the end of the day, go over the snippets of conversation you wrote down and, rather than thinking about the content of the conversation, analyze how it was said. What have you learned about the way people speak? Incorporate this speech rhythm into a new story.
Analyze your every move. In the evening, write a list of 20 things you did that day. Use this form: “I washed the dishes, I ate an avocado, I read the newspaper,” and so on. The only rule is: don’t list the things in chronological order. Review your list of 20 activities and see if any of them spark the beginning of a story. Try to make use of one of these seemingly mundane activities to write a longer story.
Free write. Take your notebook and give yourself 10 minutes to simply write whatever comes to mind, not letting your pen or pencil leave the page, and not revising. After 10 minutes have passed, review what you wrote. How do the subject and tone change from the beginning to the end? Is there anything you might want to lift for a new story?
Explore Your Surroundings
Find inspiration in your environment and everyday activities:
Take a walk. Go on a walk and bring your notebook. Look around and write down observations on what you see: a tree, a person, a neighborhood. Try starting a story by using some of these descriptions.
Find an interesting object. Whether you’re in an office or a kitchen, a park or a library, choose an object you can see and describe it. Does it evoke personal memories? Does it have cultural implications, or elicit a certain emotion? Try starting a story with this object and its associations to guide you.
Transport your story idea to different time periods and locales:
Write a few lines setting a scene that is easy to accept. Think about the example of snow on pine trees or a dog lying under a hammock. Establish a scene of your own. Then have your story take a twist. Take your reader and yourself somewhere very different—spatially or thematically—from your original scene.
Subvert the norms. Don’t censor yourself. Don’t feel that you have to be serious, or even sincere. You can be playful, even sarcastic in your stories. Think of a subject that may seem outside of today’s literary decorum and write a story about it.
You are the greatest muse for your own story. The following exercises require you to mine ideas from your personal life:
Does your personality make its way into your stories? Think of what kind of social person you are and consider the feedback you get from others about your personality—from family, friends, and others. Write a story that is spoken in your natural speaking voice. This story need not exhibit your best self. Try allowing the story to be controlled by a voice other than the one that shows you off. Write a story that lets the ruggedness of your life drive the voice.
Start a letter to someone you know, would like to know, or once knew. The rule is: assume that they won’t see it. Start this letter by addressing this person directly (think “Dear X”). After you’ve written a few lines or sentences, try to incorporate this as dialogue in your story.
Imitation is the best form of flattery. Look to writers you admire for inspiration in your own writing. The following writing exercises borrow concepts from other authors:
Mimic voice. Think of some of the writers or stories you admire. These could be books you’ve discovered in this course or longtime favorites. Pick one of these and read it over and over again, noting the methods the author uses to achieve his or her voice? Notice how the story develops stage by stage. How does it find its way through itself? See if you can write a story that follows a similar style of organization or path of development. This is more than an exercise; it’s a way of opening yourself to the influences of other authors.
Create tension. Use space to create suspense, putting the reader on the same level of knowing and not knowing as the speaker. Write a story that describes one large action and uses spacing as a way to force the reader to pause, creating tension and suspense as the action of your story progresses.
Use a Writing Template. Examples:
A 7-Part Book Development Template. Take your story from a vague book idea to an impactful first draft.
Plot Planning Worksheet. Acts 1-3.
The Story Circle by Dan Harmon. A basic narrative structure that writers can use to structure and test their story ideas.
Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ More: Writing References on Plot ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
Hi, here are some tips and templates from previous posts, a few were modified to better answer your questions. Choose which ones you would like to try and see which works. You can find more tips in the sources. All the best with your writing!
jacobvanloon
andulkaphoto
theartofmadeline
annaxmalina
snowghoul
baratheonpilled
germansingergirl
kianamaiart
dailybridgerton
tangentwithtanner
