Once you've brainstormed a set of characters and maybe a setting, it's time to start putting them in situations that'll eventually lead to a book getting written. There are quite a few ways to do this, ranging from the freewheeling to the meticulous. Me, I tend toward the free side, so that's the method I'm going to tell you the steps and some tips for.
Get in your character's head
In this step, you're going to pick a single character and focus on who they are, what their backstory is, and what their motivation is. Write all of that out if you must, but know this; if you don't know your character inside and out before you start writing, you're going to have some problems. On the other side of the same coin, you will find they grow and change a bit as the story goes on. That's not only okay, it's encouraged! Here are some tips to help you really get into your character's mind.
- Imagine your character in a natural setting where you would normally find them. Imagine what they would be doing there.
- Walk them through from there to the story's starting point. This does not need to be in writing, necessarily, but it can be if you really want it to.
- Consider your character's physical and mental quirks, if any, and be sure to factor them in. This can be done in a number of different ways. I personally prefer nodding to them in subtle ways, letting readers figure it out for themselves.
- If you're still a bit unsure, try this; each time you have your character react to something or make a decision, read the previous two or three sentences before going on
Get the story going!
To get things going quickly without sacrificing detail, you can try putting character details directly into the action prose. An example of that:
Thaddeus' amber eyes glowed in the dim light from the lamp as he pored over the ancient texts. In his fervor, he barely noticed that his dissheveled blonde locks had covered his right eye, skewing his vision. His thin fingers traced over the page, ensuring he wouldn't lose his place, and his gaunt face was stationary, unmoving save for his eyes.
In that short passage, we've gotten a couple of things out of the way; we've established that Thaddeus is thin and gaunt, he has amber eyes and blond hair, and for whatever reason, he's very intensely focused on checking out some ancient texts. There are other ways to get the story off the ground without having to take a breather to introduce your characters, but that's my personal favorite. Once you've figured out a central conflict and how to initiate it, you just freewrite from there, really. Here are some tips.
- Don't overthink things. This is the crucial creative stage wherein you'll be letting your story take shape. Don't inhibit it. You can always edit later.
- If you get stuck, try backing up for a second and thinking about the motivations of all the characters involved and how they got here.
- Keep the goal in mind; what is the action moving toward? Do you want this to become a fight scene? A journey? A conversation that reveals plot details? Once you decide, you can work backwards.
- If you haven't thought about an ending or written an outline yet, let it flow! If you have, think about how the things going on now will contribute to that timeline.
Finally, just let it flow!
This step is where the freedom is. From the start of your story until the middle, you're free to come up with whatever the hell you want and put it in there, so do just that! Keep the prior tips in mind as you fly off at the fingers.
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