Sessions

Session 0: Let’s Create a Story

Posted by proamwriters on

Good day to you all, fellow writers (yes, it is formal; no, it will not be a habit).

So, it has come to my attention that maybe jumping into writing your story’s main plot in Session One isn’t for everyone. For some, it works, but that’s because those writers essentially know what they want to write about and what their story is going to be.

That being said, other writers have only vague ideas on what they want to write. As such, I’ve decided to create this post, a sort of prequel to the sessions, in order to help develop a story. While this post is classified as a session, it will be part activities and part opinion, so take what I say with as much weight as you want to.

Before going further, let me say this: you do not need your whole story figured out by the first sentence. Read that line again. Say it in your head. Say it out loud. Go to a mirror and say it to yourself. You don’t need everything figured out at the beginning.

Your story will change. It will grow. It will go on different routes. You will add new characters half-way through. You may even rewrite entire sections. Do not attempt to have the perfect story from the beginning. It will never happen. Do not attempt to have it all figured out. All you need is a concept, and you can build off of that.

With that said, let’s get to some things you can do to help create an idea. Try to write down your answers to the questions below, or the ideas you think of. It may seem tedious but writing things down really does help open your mind – and this is coming from someone who hates writing ideas down. Just remember, not everything you write down will be meaningful. But that is useful too; you’ll know what you don’t want to do.

Part 1: You

Firstly, why are you writing? This is something you need to grapple with. Why are you writing? Not writing this story but writing in general. Is it a passion? Do you eventually want to do it as a job? Do you want to see if you can? Is it an outlet? Do you find it easier/cheaper/convenient to tell stories in written form, as opposed to a video or even a graphic novel?

Think of an answer and write it down. You do not need just one answer; you can have more. You do not need an answer that makes other people happy; this is for you. Find out why you are writing and go from there. For other questions to ask yourself as a writer, you can look here.

Part 2: What do you want to write about?

Here’s a simple question (but we’ll quickly fix that): what type of stories do you want to tell? Do you want to talk about an issue in the world? Do you want to explore a scientific concept? Do you want to explore a certain type of character? Do you want to write for children? Do you want it to be merely for entertainment? What type of stories do you want to tell?

This isn’t always an easy one. So, here’s an exercise. I want you to write down:

  • Two issues you enjoy learning about (it can be as serious as the death penalty to as mundane as how the stock market works).
  • Two themes you enjoy exploring (again, choose anything, from determinism, to friendship, to free will).
  • Two genres you love to read, watch, and/or write.
  • Two of your favourite types of characters (e.g. strong female protagonist; adorkable teenager; sad loner).

If you can’t figure out any of the above, think about your favourite books to read, your favourite type of news stories, groups you follow on social media, intriguing movies and series that you watch, the last engaging conversation you had. You have that thing that gets you fired up. Find it.

Write all that down. Leave it for now. We’ll come back to it at the end.

Part 3: Find What Makes You Tick

Here’s an exercise that I heard in passing from the podcast Writing Excuses. I’m assuming it’s in passing, because I have searched through the writing exercises on the seasons I have listened to and cannot find it. That said, I wanted you to know that I did get this idea from them (though I have tweaked it) and you should check out their podcast, because it is awesome. Moving on. Here’s the exercise:

  • First, I want you to take three of your favourite books/movies/series (I try to take one of each).
  • Second, I want you to now think about your favourite aspects of each of those things. Think about what made you fall in love with that story. The thing that if they had to remove it, it would remove a lot of the interest you have in the story.
  • For example, and I’ll get some eye-rolling for this, but I LOVE Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. What do I love about it? The greyness of morality. The Jedi are arrogant and dismissive, even though they are the good guys, the enlightened people. The Sith are evil, even though Palpatine is the only one to show Anakin the support he actually needed. Things aren’t black and white. There’s a moral greyness within the movie – within a few Star Wars movies, actually – and I love it. If they took that out, I probably would be less excited to watch it. I love the struggle of morality in stories.
  • Third, I want you to now think about those favourite things (you should have at least three) and then I want you to think about why you loved those aspects of the movie/series/book. Think about the deeper aspects behind those. Think about the abstract aspects of them.
  • For example, do people love the Force in Star Wars, or are we drawn to the concept of blinding faith, and its advantages and pitfalls? Because that’s what the Force is – it’s just their faith in something higher than themselves. Try to bend your mind around the aspects that you love and pull concepts out of them. The concepts don’t have to be the ones intended by the creator; they have to be the things that made you excited to watch/read the story. They have to be the concepts you found exciting.

Write those down and move to part 4.

Part 4: Play what if?

Now, I want to take the three aspects/concepts that you got to in the last part (there may be more if you found one aspect of the story led to more than one concept) and I also want you to take the stuff you wrote in part two. Line them up, put them on the same page, make a mind-map, do something in where you can see all the concepts, themes, genres, etc. that you have written.

Now, play the “what if” game. Take those concepts and themes you have, and smash them together. What if this type of theme was explored by this character? What if this concept was in this type of genre? Mix and match. Subvert your ideas if you can. Fuse the different ideas you have come up with into new stories that you want to tell. Find an idea that you like and then roll with it.

Part 5: Roll with It

Take the idea you just came up with and put it onto a clean page. And now just write ideas out for it. Write out characters for that idea. Write out different beginnings and endings. Write different scenes you’ve pictured in your head. Try not to write more than a sentence for each new idea you want to include in the story. This is not the time to start chapter one. This is brainstorming. You are developing a concept, the central idea of your story. This is essentially your very new, very crude elevator-pitch. It won’t be perfect. It might not even be satisfying. But it will be a fantastic start.

Part 6: There is No Right Way

With everything above being said, remember that there is no right way to come up with an idea. If you liked some parts of this and not others, do what you need to do. If you want to come at it from a different angle, do it. If it doesn’t work, no one is going to know but you. Keep the ideas flowing. Keep your mind open. Don’t get caught up in one thing. Don’t box yourself in, and always remain flexible. Ideas can and will change. Don’t fight it.

And with that, I’d like to thank you for reading. I understand this was a lengthy session and possibly a frustrating one, but I do hope you found it useful. Now go develop your story and write the next ground-breaking novel.

And remember, every great story started with just one line.

Thanks for Reading, Fellow Writers!

If you enjoyed the article, don’t hesitate to share or leave a comment!

And if you need more activities, you can find the other Sessions here.