Hi guys. Normally I don’t consider myself an author, or even a creative person, but an idea popped into my head the other night that seems ripe for making a story out of and I feel inspired to try my hand at creative writing (even though all my writing experience comes from analytical writing).
The biggest stumbling block I have right now is figuring out where to go from here. I don’t want to just jump into writing without a framework, potentially wasting my plot idea on a mediocre story that has no direction. Are there any good methods for where to go from here? I thought about trying to make a character summary sheet for my main character and my supporting characters, and maybe listing all of the key events in the story, but the task seems gargantuan.
Any advice would be immensely appreciated. Thanks,
Re: Advice on turning a 3-4 sentence plot idea into a story?
Start with an outline - and think about the before as well as the after…
Sketch out your characters as well - build your archetypes. You want to have a very good feel for how your characters will react to given situations before you set down to write them. Know also that the situations you put them in will also have a long-term effect on their personalities, and take that into consideration.
But most important is just getting that ever-elusive movie rolling in your head, where you can see what’s happening as clear as a memory.
Re: Advice on turning a 3-4 sentence plot idea into a story?
With just two replies you’ve got a good summary of how this topic will go
There are basically two schools of thought on writing. Outline and plan (plotters) and Make it up as you go (what NaNoWriMo refers to as Pantsers). Neither is really right or wrong, but you should figure out what works best for you and go for it.
Personally I’m a bit of both. I make outlines and character sheets and have a point a and a point z with points b through y sort of planned out in advance. Usually by about point c there have been major revisions to the basic outline and some of the character backgrounds though
Re: Advice on turning a 3-4 sentence plot idea into a story?
Truth be told, I’m actually a “panster” - but I do spend quality time thinking about key moments in my story plot, even to the point of writing the passages that are clear in my head and then pondering what the rest of the story will look like, before I go forward with my “improvisation”…
IOW, I kinda do a rough outline, but it’s all in my head.
Re: Advice on turning a 3-4 sentence plot idea into a story?
Thank you WBDaddy and Elibean for your responses, and Renko for the background on the two schools of thought.
I think I’m probably more of an outliner, so I’ll plan out a general feel for the over-arching plot and probably the first few chapters, and then see what comes to fruition in the first draft.
Hopefully I’ll have some material flowing soon. I feel like starting the flow may be the hardest part.
Re: Advice on turning a 3-4 sentence plot idea into a story?
I try to be an outliner but often that leads to me putting a disproportionate detail into the beginning and several climaxes with a lot of time taking place between them with no detail to fill it. This can lead to bad dry spells broken by short bursts of inspiration.
Never underestimate the value of pantsing, sometimes a small idea crosses my mind and I change an entire character arc to build off of it. It can lead to a deeper story or a continuity mess depending on idea welding skill. For that reason I think adaptability is a more valuable skill than planning when it comes to writing.
Re: Advice on turning a 3-4 sentence plot idea into a story?
There’s nothing wrong with planning, but yes, being able to adapt your plan to the inspiration can have amazingly positive results.
I improvised the entire ending of “A Change For Naomi” off one monster plot point shift that happened right after the funeral - and that shift happened in a moment of sudden inspiration.
