“I think the future of Storytelling is: You think of some good characters and you have them do some cool stuff that you can relate to and go through hell and come out the other side of it changed in some positive or negative way. And then it ends.” ~James Cameron

Many writers write their book during Storytelling Month…. aka NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo – this bunch of letters that looks like the start of an acrostic – is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an entire month(officially in November of every year)that many aspiring novelists use to kick-start an exciting new creative adventure – writing their novel in 30 days.

This idea was started by Chris Baty, who gives really practical steps on how to get it done in No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days.

I know it sounds impossible. Yet many writers have written their 50,000 words – the goal for NaNoWriMo – in 30 days. Broken down, that’s roughly 1700 words written every single day.

I tried to do this once before, but didn’t get enough words written. At the time I was just happy that I got farther along in my project, which is a worthwhile goal, but I felt disappointed because I didn’t reach a personal goal. However, this year I want to change that.  

Maybe that’s where you’re at too. If so… read on.

I thought I’d do a series of blogposts of what’s worked for me and to pass those tips along to you – so you can go from start to finish in writing your novel. I think it will help you get clearer on your story goals as well as help you write faster.

Let’s start with how to grow your story idea.

How Do You Grow Your Original Story Idea?

Let’s say you have an idea for a story. You’re excited to write share this story with others. What do you do next? How does that become a book people can’t wait to read?

Here‘s a few next steps which will help you expand on your idea:

1. Develop your story idea. Ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild. Write down what comes to the top of your head. Anything goes. Ask questions of your characters – especially the main characters and ask yourself where, when, who, what, why questions as far as story setting(are you building a whole new world?) and the other characters(perhaps villains?) that are involved. Think about the details that would go with this story idea.

2. Write a short summary of what happens in your story. How will you start the story? Jot down ideas of your beginning scene. Don’t worry, you don’t need to have all your questions answered and the plot doesn’t have to be complete. Write around 500 words to get a brief sketch and flow of your story. When you do this you’ll end up getting more ideas as to how the story should go.

3. Choose how you’d like the story to end. Do you want a happy or sad ending? Or maybe you want to have an unexpected twist that keeps the readers guessing. Having an idea of how the story ends, helps give direction as you’re writing. It gives you a goal to shoot for.

The most important thing is to choose a story idea you love. This will naturally flow into a certain type of genre. 

That’s what I’m finding as I’m doing my best to write in one of the genres I love for NaNoWriMo. It flows quicker and the writing goes easier when you’re writing a story you love. 

In the next blogpost, I’ll give some tips and ideas on picking the genre you want to write your story in.

What’s your process to grow your story idea? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.