You don’t need to be thinking about everything, everywhere all at once. Just focus on the one most important thing that NEEDS to happen in your story.
She came up to me in the chaos of screaming children and said, “You write stories, right? She said you write stories.”
“Yes…I do,” I answered cautiously. Because I didn’t know this woman at all.
Cautiously. Because I was sitting in the middle of my nieces’ 3rd birthday party wearing velveteen mouse ears while a live-action version of Encanto played in the background. And I happen to write 16+ Boy + Boy Romance.
Definitely not for pre-K.
“Oh, awesome. Because I have this idea but…like what do I do with it?”
Turned out, Story Quester, I’d been worried for nothing. Because just as she plopped herself down next to me I’d overheard my husband and my SIL’s civil rights lawyer friend talking geopolitics in the middle of that mouse-themed chaos.
It was a weird coincidence to be asked about story construction last year at my twin nieces’ birthday party, because I’d just created my 5-Day Story Creation course only a few short weeks before.
But since she’d asked I thought Why Not? And so, while my nieces unwrapped presents (and I tried to avoid getting tagged with lemon 🍋🧁 cupcakes or trip over a plastic wagon full of ice cubes) I simplified my Story Creation course for her right there. And we turned her idea into the start of a story she could get to creating once she got back home.
So how can you take any story idea you get while…
…Humming that latest catchy song a little too loudly in the shower…
…Standing in line at Target…
…Sitting through the 10+ trailers at the movies…
…and expand it into the foundation you need to start creating your story?
By asking yourself these 3 simple questions:
1) WHO is your Legendary Character?
2) WHERE is this story set?
3) WHAT needs to happen?
You don’t need to be thinking about everything, everywhere all at once. Just focus on the one most important thing that NEEDS to happen in your story.
Everything else is extra.
Next time you get an idea ask these 3 super easy questions and they’ll take your idea from What now? To I got this!
Want to see this in action?
Back in February/March 2023 Wattpad Romance ran a collab contest which I participated in using my very own Story Creation course to create my entry.
Here was the prompt I selected from those available:
The first door reveals a path littered with flower petals, making you mesmerized by the blooming cherry blossom trees. Fog appears and you begin to wonder if you should turn around or head home. The next thing you hear is a melodic voice, trying to persuade you to enter the sacred shrine that lies behind the smoke.
When you step forward, you find yourself face-to-face with a fox spirit. Will you allow yourself to be enchanted by their charms?
I then wrote a 4.4K word one-shot short story based on the prompt. But before that, I made sure to answer the 3 questions I mentioned above.
The 3 Questions:
1) Who is your Legendary Character?
Takehiko Fujioka, a student on a class trip.
2) Where is this story set?
A Shinto shrine for Inari.
3) What needs to happen?
Takehiko needs to encounter Kazumi a wish-granting kitsune (fox spirit) who resides at the shrine and surprise him by requesting a date with Kazumi his wish.
From there I fleshed out Takehiko and Kazumi’s story.
Well, Story Quester, I hope these 3 questions help you see just how easy it is to get started turning any idea into the foundation for a story. Until next week, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat signing off.
