Interrogating story ideas

So you have an idea for a story, what now? You could either start writing, see what comes. If you are lucky, it will exist fully formed in your head and all you’ll need to do is be the scribe. More likely, you’ll need to give your idea some time, hold it under the spotlight, ask it some questions to be sure it’s the one you want to commit to right now. Here are some suggestions...

Questions to ask your story idea

Why? Why is this story important? Why should the reader care? Why are you the person to write it?

What? What is the story all about? What happens? What does your character learn about themselves? What is their ultimate goal? What do they want more than anything? What is their biggest secret? What happens in the beginning? What happens in the end? What is the journey? What is your character feeling at the beginning of the story? What are they feeling at the end?

Who? Who is the main character? Who is their antagonist (the one that sets out to challenge the main character?)

When? When does it take place? What is the timeframe of the story? Does it take place over a day, a week, a month, a year?

How? How will you tell the story? Whose point of view will you tell it from? Will you have multiple narrators?

When you don’t know the answers or you get stuck...try this

Write 10 ideas a day. This will get you into the habit of listening out for ideas and you’ll have plenty to choose from to work with. For example:

10 feelings my character could have at the beginning of the story.

10 places this story could be set in.

10 things my character has in their pocket or handbag.

10 places my character has travelled to.

10 surprising things about my character.

10 foods they love to eat.

10 things that irritate my character.

10 things that could happen next in my story.

10 secrets they could have.

10 possible endings for my story.

Try not thinking too much when you write these lists. Write them first thing in the morning or last thing at night or when in a doctor’s waiting room.

When you have lots of ideas and you need some help choosing which one to work with...try this

Trust yourself. Do some freewriting. Don’t think (the time for thinking will come later during the editing stage), write fast and don’t worry about spelling, grammar or making sense at all.

Finish these sentences:

I would love to write...

I wish I could write a story that...

If there were no barriers, I would write...

The thing I’m most scared of writing is...

I’m most excited to write about...