How do you flesh out your story ideas?

[ShelbyDawn57]

Totally seat of my pants. I get an idea and will write the first few lines than come back to it when I have time and get inspired to work on it. Sometimes these snippets and ideas go someplace totally different from where I initially envisioned. Sometimes they don't. Most of my stories, I don't have a clue how they're going to end until I get there. I probably know the neighborhood, but rarely the exact address. My characters grow and change as they story develops. Very much a gardener rather than an architect...

This is the hook for my latest inspiration. It's all I've got... No idea where it's going to go, but I have a feeling it's going to be fun...


“Drama, you said. Take drama. It will be fun. Lots of girls take drama. I can’t believe you did this to me.”

“Ron, what are you talking about? I took drama just last semester. It was great. I worked tech and there were tons of girls. I even hooked up a few times.”

“Well, not this semester. There’s not a fucking chick in the entire class. We’re doing ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’ We did readings today. She wants me to play Beatrice. I mean really, Beatrice. Have you read that play?”

 

[samhasstories]

I used to do that during my daily constitutional. Until I realised that the bulge in my sweats was drawing more than a few eyes.

I actually started a story with that premise once upon a time. Still a short draft floating around somewhere I think...

 

[StillStunned]

Wait, was that you following me around with a notebook?

 

[Duleigh]

How do you flesh out your writing ideas? Do you have a process for forming an actual story or do you mostly just write by the seat of your pants?

I have a rough idea, nothing really charted out. I throw the ideas at my characters and let them work it out. Enchantress 5 (coming soon to a Lit page near you) was nothing but I knew where I wanted to land. I aged my main characters 10 years, added some children and let them take over. Before I knew it I had the most exciting entry in the series and it landed right where I wanted it to land.

 

[samhasstories]

Wait, was that you following me around with a notebook?

I knew that walking bush disguise was a waste of money.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I knew that walking bush disguise was a waste of money.

Trim it down a bit, perhaps a nice little 'landing strip'. See if that helps...

 

[WendyTrilby]

I people watch to get started. I'll pass someone on the street and create a fantasy life for them. The attractive middle-aged grocery checker in the supermarket near my house has appeared in two of my stories (she's featured in PORTMANTEAU: GONE HOLLYWOOD. I almost told her that while shopping recently. Perhaps someday.

I then create a story when I go running (helps pass the time). I look for something that feels ordinary (like going to the grocery store or the mall) and then work it into a unique encounter. Before I write, I seek out an interesting twist near the beginning and have one near the end. From there, I start writing, and when I get to the sex scenes, I outline each erotic move but don't write the details.

Once the story is locked, I return to the sex scenes and write them out. This is my favorite part of the writing as I measure each scene by how charged up I get writing it. That takes a few days because I need a little time between scenes.

Then I do a polish for typos and grammar as well as continuity errors (and yet I miss several). My last pass put emphasis on smaller details, some so subtle the readers miss them, but I know they exist.

Then I post. As soon as it goes up, I read it again for anything that feels off. I then upload and update about a week later to correct anything that doesn't shine.

 

[LonRivers]

I keep a spreadsheet of dates, ages, relationship to my MC and any other useful information. I can add as many tabs as I need to the workbook. It's a pretty handy way of keep track of notes and plots too.

 

[oneagainst]

Today, halfway up a mountain after weeks of puzzling out how the latest is going to end, two words was all it took and I've got my ending and it's an absolute stone cold cracker. Patience is the thing. Sometimes the bunnies need time to promulgate.