In previous posts, I told you how I came up with the story and characters for “The Guardian of Destiny”. I showed you how I started out with just the basics and let my story grow from there. That is how I did it, but how can you implement my process and make it your own?

It all starts with an idea. Maybe you did a writing exercise that seemed to take off. Perhaps you watched something or read something that left this exhilarating feeling in your gut. This is where you start.

Meditate on whatever it was you saw or wrote that seemed to resonate so well. What is it specifically that got you excited? Was it the dynamics of the characters in the movie you saw or the book you read? Was it the way the story was told, the intricacies of the plot, the ending? If you got this feeling through a song you heard, what were the images you saw when you heard the song? What feelings did the song bring?

You need to take these abstract feelings and put them into words as best you can. This way, it will be easier for you to recapture it whenever you need the inspiration. Putting these feelings down on paper makes them more real and helps you to build your characters and your setting.

There are no hard and fast rules when you develop your story. At this point, it is perfectly okay to let your imagination go wherever it wants to go. Write it all down. You can write randomly as your ideas pour out or you can organize your thoughts using note cards. Not all your ideas will be used. You will find that as your story grows, some things will need to be discarded and other things will need to be added.

Once I get a basic idea of the plot, characters, and setting, I like to organize my thoughts. I dedicate a binder to the story. And then I start by writing about my main characters; what they look like and their basic personality traits. After that, I describe my fantasy world. At this point, neither my characters nor my fantasy world are set in stone. I want to give myself the freedom to change things, should the story require it.

I like to use note cards to organize my story. I start out with broad ideas. Then I write down ideas for specific scenes. And if I already have a very specific scene in my head, I write it out on paper and use the notecard to reference it. Using notecards makes it easier for me to delete scenes, add scenes, and change the order of scenes.

My color-coded note cards and binder for another story idea I have.

As my story grows, so does the number of note cards. Sometimes I have to rewrite the note cards because my ideas get too large for just one card. Keep adding cards until you feel that you have an entire novel’s worth of a story. Then organize those cards so that each card represents a chapter or subchapter. If you need more space, use the notecard to reference a writing journal or binder dedicated specifically to this story.

You don’t have to use these methods when you develop your story and characters. Do whatever is easier for you. The more you write, the more you will find out what works for you.