Or more specifically, how do y'all do it?
I feel like coming up with concepts for characters or settings is really easy for me, but trying to put those things together and making an actual story out of it is a lot harder and I have a lot of abandoned ideas because of that. Recently I came up with some characters and a setting that I'm super excited about it, but I'm having troubles kind of bringing it all together and turning it into a story. It's probably too early to be trying to plan at this point, but I just really want this to work out for once.
Thinking about it a lot? I mean, plot is hard for me. But. Major goal that is being worked towards.
It all depends on the type of story you’re shooting for. First you need to figure out the setting! Does the story take place on the dark side of the moon? Are we on a planet where the only resources are wind chimes & snapdragons? Are we viewing the last days on Earth as the sun begins to turn supernova? (The possibilities are endless 😂) Next, learn about your characters and their aspirations! What are their dynamics and are they relatable? Will they accomplish their goal by the end of the story? (Start asking yourself questions like this! Make sure you jot it down as to not forget☝️) Also you could practice dialogue between two characters in your head (or aloud XD) and get a better understanding of how they converse with one another. Basically, just ask yourself a bunch of questions and fill in the blanks. Oh! And keep a notebook (lol) or piece of paper close to you so you can jot down ideas! (You’ll get them at the weirdest times honestly XD)
I pretty much have a setting and characters. I even have like a half baked magic system, it's mostly just the plot that I'm stuck on.
(You’ll get them at the weirdest times honestly XD)
Lol it's so true though. I get good story ideas like every 6 years, and this one came to me while I was playing Animal Crossing.
I run across this problem all the time
one possibility that I've employed in the past is gratuitous worldbuilding and development of characters and hoping that a story will spring from that, if that makes sense? like the ideal plot is driven both by the world the characters live in and the character's personalities and the choices they're inclined to make. so logically, the more I know about both, the more likely I am to find a story worth telling about them. At the end of the day, even if I don't find a story that way, I do end up with a lot more backstory and paraphernalia for when a story does come, so it's a win either way.
and, of course, there's the age old "figure out what genre your story is and a plot will probably emerge from that because there's only so many original basic plot structures" but that can feel a bit… soulless, at least to me. But it does help in the sense that you then know where to look for the problem that the plot centres around. so like… a murder mystery will have a murder. an epic adventure quest might have a macguffin to find or an evil empire to topple. a subversive anti-establishmentarian spy thriller will probably have massive sprawling systems rife with corruption and people who hate that. a character-driven coming-of-age story will have relationship drama and personal growth issues. and so on. then, once you've established the basic elements that would create a story of that genre, you can go about finding them in your world and then crafting a story out of that, if that makes sense.
