Developing A Story Idea
One Way Only
It took me a long time to discover my writing process. I attended lots of workshops, read lots of books and wrote too many practice manuscripts to mention. I'm now to the place I know how to develop the idea, and how to get it down on paper. I thought I'd share with how I do it. Remember, this is MY way (currently). It might not work for anyone else. In fact, I'd be surprised if it did. But it MIGHT give you a tool or two to add to your belt.
I begin with a few basic ideastwo characters who seem like they would be in opposition. In All My Tomorrows (AMT), my current work in progress, I begin with a practical nurse, and a single father who is angry with the medical profession for their bungling mistake resulted in the death of his wife.
Then I develop both characters using a number of charts, handouts, and notes from several workshops. Not always do the same charts work for each story. In the case of AMT, a workshop by Laurie Schnebly CampbellCreating Your Hero's Fatal Flaw
http://www.booklaurie.com/workshops_flaw.html
seemed to neatly encapsulate what I knew about each character. So I started there.
Then I almost always use Alice Orr's interview questions from her book, No More Rejections. I develop each character, complete with a picture and usually a dossier (see my article Characters Alive ).
I dig a little deeper with character using notes from an article by Connie FlynnBuilding Three-Dimensional Characters. She gives specifics on creating a character diamond (a concept also taught by David Freeman). The four points of the diamond in her article are the central trait (the spine), the supporting trait, the fatal flaw and the shadow. See her excellent articles on this topic at http://members.cox.net/cflynn11/articles_tips1.html and
http://www.edenrobins.com/Writing%20Tools--Installment%207.htm
By this time I've done a lot of work on characters and am seeing them in action, coming up with possible scenes. But one more thing before I leave character development behindI need to identify their journey. Both Alicia Rasley and David Freeman talk about these. See Alicia's article on this at http://www.sff.net/people/alicia/artinternal.htm
For the characters in All My Tomorrows, his journey will be from mistrust to trust, hers will be from control to letting go and trusting. Or something like that. It isn't written in stone. Which is a good thing to remember at this point. Everything is changeable, disposable, and temporary as I start to plot.
I now have characters with both external and internal conflict though the first may be sketchy or non-existent at this point. I take my characters, put them and their problems in a setting and start to develop plot. For me, the plot is actually four threadsexternal and internal conflict, the romance and the faith element. Again, I use a variety of charts I have gleaned over the years. Alicia Rasley has numerous articles on plot and conflict. See External Conflict Worksheet http://www.sff.net/people/alicia/artexternal.htm
For romantic development see
http://www.sff.net/people/alicia/artromantic.htm
Also Susan Meiers has the best 13-step synopsis plan that focuses on the romance. I can't guarantee it but you might persuade her to provide you with a copy. http://susanmeier.com/
I have several charts and models I use for plot development depending on what works for this story. Here is a sample one.
HEROINE HERO
WHAT BRINGS THEM TOGETHER
GOALS
MOTIVATION
INTERNAL CONFLICT
(FEAR)
what keeps them from falling in love
INTERNAL GOAL
INT. MOTIVATION
DARK MOMENT
Pull your conflicts together
What is the worst thing that can happen
RESOLUTION
What they are going to learn
And the action this will bring about
This is the throughline from Jon Vossler's The Comic Toolbox:
WHO IS THE HERO?
Identify your character in one sentence. Thats your strong clue that hes become real to you.
WHAT DOES THE HERO WANT?
A well constructed character has two needs: his outer need and his inner need. The out need is what the hero thinks he wants and his inner need is what he really wants (or needs. I always like to pit his wants and needs against each other.)
THE DOOR OPENS
Thrust the character into a new and challenging world where he gets a chance to go for the things he thinks he needs. (outer need). This can be a problem, an opportunity, a threat, or a welcoming hand. Yank the character through this door.
THE HERO TAKES CONTROL:
He starts to take over in his new and challenging world and enjoys early success unaware that bigger problems loom. The hero takes control by... Think of five different smaller ways in which the hero takes control. These are the details of your story.
A MONKEY WRENCH IS THROWN IN
A new, bad thing. Things go wrong. A character starts out with loyalty to self and loyalty to goal. They fall in love. He experiences displaced loyalty. This new conflict between original loyalty and displaced loyalty turns the story on its head. The story has gone from a simple one of character wanting something and going after it to character wanting two things that are mutually exclusive.
THINGS FALL APART
A series of negative things. He is caught in a trap of his own making.
List as many way as you can in which things fall apart. The challenge is to boil all the bad news into one simple statement.
THE HERO HITS BOTTOM
This is the moment a good story aims for. Drag him to the bottom so he is forced to make the ultimate choice. Give a sense of time running out when hell have to choose between what he wanted when the story started and what hes come to want along the way. He arrives at a choice between his original self loyalty and his new displaced loyalty. I really love you. I cant love you. My happiness or hers? You or me?
THE HERO RISKS ALL
With no certain hope of success, the hero hurls himself into the abyss. He abandons his entire investment in his original goals, sacrifices everything for the sake of his displaced loyalty. The key here is that the hero does the right thing even if he doesn't know whether or it will pay off.
WHAT DOES THE HERO GET?
In double happy endings, the hero gets both his original goal and his new goal.
(for more detail on this, see the book)
There is also Deb Dixon's Goal, Motivation and Conflict chart.
Before I am done, I always do the Heroic Journey with its 12 steps. If you're fortunate enough to be able to take Deb Hale's workshop 'The Lover's Journey' she has the best way of applying these steps to the emotional/romance journey. I highly recommend it. http://www.deborahhale.com/ Find the offer for this workshop and follow the link.
My favorite chart for putting these all together is from Linda Windsor. She outlines all the journeys in point by point form. It is in my opinion, an excellent worksheet. http://www.lindawindsor.com/goodies/weavingthesynopsis.htm
After all that work, I am now ready to write a synopsis but before everyone groans and your eyes glaze over, may I suggest you read my very good article on this? http://www.lindaford.org/new_page_3.htm And let me confess that at one time I didn't believe in writing a synopsismostly because I didn't know how for the simple reason I didn't understand story. But working through the process step by step has enabled me to gain a fragile grasp of story and I am now a firm believer in figuring out my story ahead of time by writing a short synopsis. My synopses are usually between four and six pages.
Once I'm this far I am ready for my brain drain. I write the story fast and furious getting it down as quickly as possible--about 4-6 weeks. My method can't and won't work for everyone else so dont even try it at home. Unless it works for you. In that case... This first draft can vary in how polished it is. Sometimes I am surprised at how good it is. I keep thinking I must have missed something. Sometimes, the draft takes major rewriting as I discover I had her fear all wrong, or the external conflict turns into something entirely different than I planned. Or sometimes my character suddenly makes sense as I write the final scene. In each case, I go back and heighten or change or whatever is required.
This is just what works for me at the moment. It is subject to change at any time. But if any of the steps makes sense to you than add it to your collection of tools.
Good luck with developing your own story idea. Perhaps after some research and experimenting you will be able to come up with a chart that works for you. Be warned, it will probably be very different than mine. That's because we all think and plot and dream differently. A word of cautionit isn't ever as straightforward as this sounds. Nothing happens in neat little paths. It's more like untangling a pile of ropesit happens bit by bit, a little here and a little there with lots of false starts. Sometimes I work on character, sometimes on plot. They are organic to each other so must work hand in glove. In my opinion, one does not develop apart from the other hence I skip back and forth.
One side benefit of having a selection of charts I can work from is that I can print off the ones I want and stick them in a notebook and carry it with me so I can work while traveling or sitting on a beach in Hawaii (I wish).
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