Literature What are some tips on developing a story/plot?

[cloudyskies]

I've got a lot of ideas floating around, such as things that may happen or characters or moments I want in a story, but I only have vague ideas on how things actually go about.
The concept is there, the characters and the beginning and ending are there, but I'm unsure how to fill in the gap that is there—the middle of the story, what leads up to the ending, so to speak.

 

[Windsock]

The only thing I can really think of is trying to put what you want into practice; E.G., actually writing it down and thinking about it step by step as you go. To turn A into F, B, C, and D is necessary, and you can only add those by actually writing them down one by one. Defeat it in detail?

Edit: To actually do that, you really do just have to force it. Of course, it should come naturally after a while.

 

[DisneyGirl]

Hey there!

First off, I want to congratulate you on taking on the challenge of developing your own story. That's awesome

You've already got characters for your story, so you're already ahead of the game than most. What I'd suggest you figure out is what do they want? What is the story about? And what's getting in their way of achieving what they want (aka the conflict)? Romeo and Juliet is about two young people who want to be together but their families are getting in the way of that, for example.

Reading books on story structure helps too. Save The Cat is a great one and definitely most helpful for figuring out the middle, imo. You can find their story beat sheet online for free.

 

[Tove]

Well something I like to do, writing on my own, is to through in sub plots that tie in with the main story which for me you give that great opener at the beginning, what the story will be like, and characters and then the end that ties it all up. Sub plots bring together other characters, locations, etc. While taking a sort of detour you can still remain true to the plot. Or, sometimes you can just go with the flow. Have your ideas write for them and just let it build naturally. Maybe you shouldn't have everything mapped out completely that way there's room to change something.

 

[CatGirl]

The most important is to start the story up, develop the characters so well that they're almost independent entities within your head, then what I do next is I sleep on it and dream up all the possible paths to get to the desired end. Once I decide on the one I like best, I let the story unfold itself.

 

[horrorshow]

Ah man this is all I ever do. Plot build, world build. You wouldn't think so since I never have good roleplay ideas haha, but with my own personal stuff that I write, it's all I really do.

Lists are awesome. Lists are my entire life. If you have some vague ideas, write them as plainly at the top of a piece of paper or word document as you can. Then start listing ideas that relate to those ideas, you probably won't end up using most of them, but you can still just write ideas, words, character ideas, settings, songs, anything like that. Write down anything that is relative to the basic idea that you have. Muse over that. Ideas will come flooding in like crazy if you just flow through the initial plan a few times. If it doesn't work out, throw that story on the back burner for a few days or weeks, and come back to it with a fresh outlook. Eventually something will give, and you'll be able to come up with something cool.

Don't limit yourself initially either. If you have even a small idea you're unsure of, at least think about it and write something down for it before deciding it altogether doesn't belong in your overall plot. Just don't be afraid to let the creativity take control. You can always take out what you don't like as much later on.

 

[Baconhands]

I've found writing one part at a time has worked out well for me. I don't normally plan my stories; I tend to create the world and write within it. Thus writing one part at a time has worked out well for me so far.

 

[CrowOuttaHell]

Gonna quote something one of the above users said:

The only thing I can really think of is trying to put what you want into practice; E.G., actually writing it down and thinking about it step by step as you go. To turn A into F, B, C, and D is necessary, and you can only add those by actually writing them down one by one. Defeat it in detail?

Edit: To actually do that, you really do just have to force it. Of course, it should come naturally after a while.

Or, in more "flowery" terms, "If you keep your pen on one point only in the paper, all you'll get is a big puddle of ink." I find that it's easier to start thinking more of how things are going to go once you actually start writing it from the top. Sure, planning and everything is all okay, but ideas can come to you in the middle of writing that you now have the choice of blending into your story.

Oh, and inspiration helps too! If you ever feel stuck on a story, character, or idea in general, you can always start looking up movies or books that has almost the same idea as you want to execute, i.e reading Arthurian myths if you want to write about a medieval story involving knights, or watching Grease if you want to write a greaser-like character.

 

[Blemmigan]

Ask yourself about an innocuous, simple scene, "what could go wrong?"

And then write it going wrong.

Or write nonsense. Write the same characters in a totally different setting. Write stuff and tell yourself, "I'll never use this, and nobody will ever read it"- have fun with it and see what comes up. Once you've got the words down, even if they're ridiculous and nonsensical, you've done most of the hard work, and you can either use them or scrap them.

Though I'll say this: if you end up scrapping something, don't delete it. Take it out of the story, but keep it somewhere else. I've got a massive ol' document full of scenes, conversations and characters that I ended up removing, and sometimes I'll go back and skim through it and realise that something there is exactly what I need to help me write something else. Of course everyone is different, but it's better to have that reference in case you need it, rather than wish that you could remember what you did before.

 

[KRIY]

Think about the most ridiculous thing that can ever happen to humanity. then you try being in the shoes of a character in that reality and build your concept using inspirations or ideas that you can concoct on your own.