NOTE: This document has been edited from the original email sent by Chris
Lester of The Metamor City podcast. The examples used were changed to StarWars characters and situations to be a bit more universal.
STEP ONE: Write a short summary, 1-2 pages, of what happens in the story. This is the basic plot as I conceive it in its roughest form. STEP TWO: Work out short bios for the principal characters needed to tell the story. That includes a quick summary of the character's personality and role in the story; several "tags," which are distinctive words or phrases used to describe that character; and several "traits", which are distinctive mannerisms, habits, or quirks that define that character.
As an example, lets make bios for a character in StarWars:
Luke Skywalker -- "innocent" youthful loner; son of a passive farmer; “force” sensitive; strong Jedi lineage. Tags: Lean; fair blond hair; tan (desert stricken) skin; bright Eyes, adventurous. Traits: Drive; sense of family; sense of adventure; longing for more; fair pilot & mechanic.
[[Be sure to show his competence in the things he is good at.]]
Also you will need to come up with shorter bios for the secondary characters that you will be using:
Chewbacca – co-pilot; giant Wookie (big-footish type beast), loyal, smart, and experienced. STEP THREE: At this point I start writing a detailed step-by-step outline of the story. You can break down almost any story in two kinds of elements:
/scenes/ - In which the viewpoint character pursues a goal. /sequels/ - In which the viewpoint character reacts to the events of the
scene and figures out what to do next.
For a SCENE, you have to decide the following components: * POV: Who your viewpoint character is * Goal: What the viewpoint character wants * Scene Question: The obstacle or conflict that the character is trying
to overcome obstacle
* Scene Answer: The result of the character's attempt to overcome the The Scene Answer can be one of four things: * YES -- The character succeeds in her objective. This should only
happen for the hero at the final battle, because once the hero succeeds the story is over. If you have a villain as a POV character, though, you can have them succeed at things in the early chapters. * NO -- The character does not succeed and is back where he started. You can only do this so often before it becomes monotonous. * YES, BUT -- The character succeeds in his objective, but a new complication emerges from the character's actions and creates a new conflict or obstacle. This is one of the more common ways that scenes are resolved; e.g., in Star Wars, YES, the Millennium Falcon escapes from the Death Star, BUT the Imperials have installed a tracking device and follow them to the Rebel base. * NO, AND FURTHERMORE -- Not only does the character fail, but things get even worse! E.g., in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy and his fathers are tied up in the castle. Indy tries to have his father use his lighter to burn through the ropes; not only does Dr. Jones fail to do this, but he manages to light the room on fire! For a Sequel, the character's reactions progress through a very predictable sets of steps, which reflect the way human beings respond to problems:
* EMOTIONAL REACTION: The POV character has an initial, visceral
response, such as fear, anger, or depression. * REVIEW, LOGIC & REASON: The character starts reviewing what went wrong in the scene -- because something has ALWAYS gone wrong, or the story is over! -- and engages his rational mind, logically considering his situation. * ANTICIPATION: The character imagines different options and the likely outcomes of each option. * CHOICE: The character decides on a course of action -- which then leads into that character's next scene.
You can write a whole story that way, bouncing from scene to sequel to new scene, until finally the characters succeed. If you have multiple plot lines going at once, you can switch back and forth between them, so one character's sequel is followed by a scene with another character (whose sequel may have appeared previously in the story). Here's an example of what this might look like if you were to apply it to StarWars: A New Hope:
droids are introduced. The Empire as well as the Rebel Alliance is firmly introduced* *POV:* Droids *Goal:* Delivering the princesses message. *Scene Question:* Will the Droids be able to do their part to save the Rebel Alliance? *Scene Answer:* YES-BUT, they will get a huge helping of desert hospitality first as well as being drafted into the war between the Empire and the Rebels upon delivering the message. The droids make it off the Princesses ship with little incident but they make up for it down planet side when they are high jacked by Jawas and sold into slavery to probably the strongest living Jedi in the known galaxy (remarkably the son of one of their very makers) who, along with the druids, will be drafted in the war against the empire. NOTE: Droids don’t function in the desert well…
*Chapter 1* -Choosing Sides – Luke, Leigh, Vader, Han, Obi-Wan and two
*EMOTIONAL REACTION:* The Protocol droid (providing comic relief) is flabbergasted that he’s been demoted to courier. He wants this done and over with as soon as possible. *REVIEW, LOGIC & REASON:* The droids may or may not like their mission, but they understand its vital importance. Furthermore, they have little choice in the matter but to follow their programming. *ANTICIPATION:* While C3P0 hates the mission and his surroundings, R2 does not. They could split up, and do for a time, but neither of them function well on their own. This fact is proven once they are on their own. Both droids get a glimpse as to their futures inside the Jawa transport. *CHOICE: * The droids decide to stick together. On the chopping block, C3P0 stands up and suggests R2 to a farmer realizing that they are better off together.
Eventually, you will have an outline of what you believe to be the whole
story. Along the way, you may find that you need new characters or other devices to fill niches in the story. Eventually, you'll write enough scenes and sequels that you come up with what you believe to be a complete outline. Then it's time for...
STEP FOUR: This is where you actually start writing the story in proper narrative prose. Any details you haven't fleshed out during the outlining process will take shape here, and it's important to keep track of those details so that you can spot potential problems early on and take steps to correct them. Eventually your characters WILL surprise you, or you'll discover a plot hole that wasn't obvious in the outline stage. At that point you'll have to stop, go back to your outline, and revise where the story is going until you're back on track.