How to Write Stories People Will Love

Question 69: Turning random ideas into a story

-CGMari- asks: Sometimes ideas pop to my mind, and I write them down. But the fact is I can't even start a story. Can you please tell me how to start and take control of everything? Because even though I have so many inspirations, I can't even create a story. Like WTF's my problem?

Don't despair. You are not alone. My stories NEVER come to me fully formed. It's always just one tiny piece, like a title or "a girl who can heal people."

Setting, Plot or Character

Is your idea inspired by a setting, a plot, or character premise? In my example above, "a girl who can heal people" would be character. Alternatively, "a society where you are divided into factions which determine your career" would be setting. A plot idea might be, "aliens are trying to destroy the world, and it's up to a secret government organization to stop them." You will start with the source of your inspiration. Pick one of the three below...

Setting

Take your setting idea and start expanding it. I'll keep going with the above example: It's a society where everyone is divided into groups, and everyone in one group does similar tasks for the society, like farming or science. Okay, so what's the source of conflict? Maybe people don't like the group they are in. What if they want to do something else? Can they? Maybe they get to choose when they come of age. Most people will choose their family's group, but a few won't.

Keep asking yourself what-if questions about your fictitious world. What if someone sucks at their job? What keeps people from choosing randomly and causing havoc? Maybe they have to pass a test. Okay, what kind of test? Maybe it varies per group. What happens if you fail? Do you just go back to your family's group? But then they know you don't want to be there. It's supposed to be a harmonious society. Okay maybe those who fail don't get to join any group, and become outcasts? That makes passing the test much more important and drama-filled.

As you ask yourself these questions, your idea will expand piece by piece. You may recognize this this setting example as Divergent.

Plot

So you want to write a story about invading aliens and a secret government organization. We will again use the questioning technique to help you add details to your plot. What makes this organization special? Maybe they are the only ones who actually know aliens exist. What makes them different from the CIA? Maybe they have access to alien technology and actually work with aliens. Ooh maybe aliens live among us, disguised as humans! And this organization monitors them while protecting humans from the dangerous ones.

Okay, so who are the big bad aliens about to destroy the world? What makes them worse than the other aliens? Why do they want to destroy Earth? How do they plan to do it? Who, what, when, where, why... you need those answers. (You may recognize this example as Men In Black.)

Planning your plot can help you write your story. Be sure to review Chapter 27: Plan Your Story for help with this.

Character

Character-driven stories rely on character development more than the plot. It's all about how the character starts off one way, goes through a personal journey, and then grows into a better or worse version of themselves. They go through a transformation. Start by figuring out what kind of transformation your character will go through.

My character example is from my book, Siena. I began with the simple idea of wanting to write a story about a girl who had a healing touch. But I also wanted her to be seen as some kind of pariah somehow. I wanted her downtrodden, so she could go through something uplifting. I wanted her sense of self-worth to be pitifully low, despite her amazing abilities. Then as the story progressed, she could start realizing her own value.

By defining all the things I wanted the character to go through, it helped me figure out some plot ideas. Why might she be persecuted even though she can heal people? Maybe she's been enslaved. People who keep slaves don't have much empathy or value human life. How can she possibly thrive in such an environment? Maybe she escapes it. Why now and not before? Maybe something happens that presents an opportunity. Or maybe an escape-or-die situation?

Knowing what you want your character to go through helps you brainstorm specific plot and setting ideas. Review Chapter 27: Give Your Character a Journey to help with this.

Keep Going

Now that you've expanded your setting, plot, or character, you have a framework on which to build the other pieces of your story. You have an idea of which direction to go. In the examples above, detailing the setting led to some plot ideas. Expanding the plot led to some setting ideas.  Character development led to plot development. Once you expand your original idea, other ideas will start appearing, and soon you'll have a story!