A simplified version of how I flesh out my ideas:
- Have a general idea of a story
- Write down everything you know about the story you want to write about. I try to do this as fast as possible because ideas ejaculate quickly and it’s easier to gather my thoughts when I can actually see everything in front of me instead of leaving it to float around in my head.
- Organize what I’ve written down. Omit and include where necessary. This can be done easily if you categorize everything by characters, plot, and setting.
- You’ll have a pretty good idea about your story by this point so try to figure out how you want it to end. This doesn’t have to be concrete but it’s a lot easier for me to write when I have a destination. The beginning is usually the opposite.
- Write an outline of everything that leads to the end. The more detailed you make this, the faster you’ll write. I also make sure that I’m excited about each scene because if I’m bored writing, I feel like readers will be bored reading. I used to be a pantser but outlining has helped me write so much faster. With a clear outline, you can see what will and won’t work from a glance and it’s a lot faster to adjust an outline compared to adjusting a bunch of paragraphs.
For character creation:
I usually have a rough idea of each character’s personality before I start writing. To make this a lot easier, I try to model them after someone I’m familiar with like a character from a TV show/movie/book or someone I know in real life. I try not to focus too much on this part, I just toss them into the story and write out exactly how I think they’ll react to everything.
Secret weapon? Scrivener. It’s incredibly helpful for organizing all of the things I’ve mentioned above. When I’m actually in the process of writing a story, I make sure to jot down anything that might be of significance just in case I want to bring it up later.
That’s basically how I do things! It might not work for everyone but hopefully someone will find this useful.
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