Since planning a story could be really overwhelming, I'm doing it with you here today! First, we have to plan the beginning, middle and end, but that's no easy task. It doesn't matter which one you start first - it just depends on what idea hits you. Maybe you could have an image of how a story would end, or what the conflict would be. Today, I'll be teaching you how to turn that into a whole story.
Let's start with a small idea. If you're reading this part, then you must already have some sort of idea you're excited to implement, but don't know where to start. Let's say my idea is about an elf rescuing a sandwich heirloom. (Don't ask - it just popped out of my head) First, let's think about how this elf finds the sandwich. If you'd like to practise, you can think of it yourself before I tell you what I came up with.
Done? Alright. For me, a ghost who owns the heirloom seems like a good idea. Maybe the ghost was friends with the elf and needed her help since she was busy going on an important trip? Great, now we have the start of the story. We can also talk about the elf's backstory and tie it with the plot, but we can figure that out later - right now, we just need a rough outline of what the story is.
Next, let's plan the conflict. So we've already got the sandwich rescuing, but I'd like to see the sandwich become one of her allies instead of the main conflict, so let's get to work! After finding the sandwich, our elf tries to solve a conflict with the sandwich's help. Again, I'd like you to think of a possible conflict before I reveal mine. Remember, it doesn't necessarily have to be a fight - it could be to explore somewhere, to protect something, to find something...anything you can think of, just make sure it makes sense. Done? Okay, let's move on.
My conflict is that our main characters need to find three special gems. Now that we've decided the conflict, you might think that planning the middle is over, but no! Remember how a ghost asked the elf to find the sandwich, but not the gems? We need to make sure everything connects so that the elf and sandwich have a reason to find the gems. Now, if you're getting stuck here, think about what happened previously in the story. The ghost asked for help. Where was the ghost going on her 'important trip'? Maybe to fight a monster with a ghost army? That would be interesting. Now, I'd like you to think of a way to connect the gems to this battle against the monster.
What did you come up with? Mine is that there is one special weapon that can defeat the monster, but it can only be used if the three gems were placed upon it. The ghost army was just there to hold off the monster while they sent off 'trusted' allies as well as the sandwich to find the gems, but these 'trusted' allies were going to betray the ghosts as they wanted the gems all to themselves. They found the three gems, but instead of giving them to the ghost army, they kept it and wanted even more gold, so they kidnapped the sandwich and forced the ghost to pay in return for her friend. The elf finds the sandwich and defeats the traitors, threatening them to tell where the gems were, but they refused and just told him that they were hidden in three separate locations. The elf tries to get more out of them but only gets some clues for each gem location, so he frustratingly kills the traitors and looks for the gems. I think that sounds pretty nice, so we'll keep it like that. Next, it's time to move on to the end.
For this story, I'm aiming at more of a cheerful vibe, so I'll give it a happy ending. This time, how about you try thinking of an ending and connecting it to the middle? Okay, here's my ending: in the end, the elf and sandwich, along with a few companions they met on their adventure return just in time to seal in the gems and deliver a final blow. The monster gets defeated, everyone lives happily ever after. The weapon is stored in a museum exhibit, lots of reporters and journalists pay the elf and his companions for interviews about their adventure, and the elf, who was once poor can finally enjoy a wealthy life.
Following the same process, you can write an entire story plot from scratch using a single idea. You don't have to do this, but as a constantly typing writer I believe practise makes perfect, so here's a small idea for you to turn into an entire story plot: In a world where monkeys have infiltrated the government, a human nurse decides to make a move to change the city for the better. If you decided to try this out, I'd love to see your plots in the comments. If you've got any questions, shoot them in the comments as well! That's all for today, next week I'll be using the same elf and sandwich plot and diving deeper into creating the characters and our world. See you next time!
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