I tend to start with an idea for a confrontation or other scene and build the story out from there, usually with a ton of freewriting to let the characters reveal themselves to me. Then I try to create a basic structure for the story and iterate on that as I learn more about the characters and their world.
With my current project, the big Peggy adventure story, that started as the vaguest concept of a lighthearted adventure about a couple and an act they performed that had more to do with the fate of the world than anyone knew. From there it grew to include ideas about fate, so the couple took on the roles of unshakable fatalist and devoted doubter. As the antagonist revealed himself, his powerful position brought class conflict into the story, and when Peggy showed up the conflict expanded again to include humanity versus faerie.
So I guess you could say that with each iteration, the story required that conflicts be better defined and the characters grew to do so. It's not as straightforward as defining the character elements first, and my process could probably stand a little polish! 😅
It's amazing to me how far I've traveled, circled back, and wandered off again in my own process. I remember when "World Beyond the Song" was no more than a "story about space whales." LOL
It will be joyful to see where we land a year from now, then the year after, and so on. Can't wait to see where Peggy takes you!!
I tend to start with an idea for a confrontation or other scene and build the story out from there, usually with a ton of freewriting to let the characters reveal themselves to me. Then I try to create a basic structure for the story and iterate on that as I learn more about the characters and their world.
With my current project, the big Peggy adventure story, that started as the vaguest concept of a lighthearted adventure about a couple and an act they performed that had more to do with the fate of the world than anyone knew. From there it grew to include ideas about fate, so the couple took on the roles of unshakable fatalist and devoted doubter. As the antagonist revealed himself, his powerful position brought class conflict into the story, and when Peggy showed up the conflict expanded again to include humanity versus faerie.
So I guess you could say that with each iteration, the story required that conflicts be better defined and the characters grew to do so. It's not as straightforward as defining the character elements first, and my process could probably stand a little polish! 😅
Josh, thanks for sharing your process.
It's amazing to me how far I've traveled, circled back, and wandered off again in my own process. I remember when "World Beyond the Song" was no more than a "story about space whales." LOL
It will be joyful to see where we land a year from now, then the year after, and so on. Can't wait to see where Peggy takes you!!