TeenageTells- Planning a Story

This'll be a quick post because I'm working on finishing my comprehensive writing guide (finally!) along with a few other things for my book-aversary, so look out for that. I wanted to quickly look at planning a story.

1. Get a rough, rough, rough idea. Focus on an idea of who, what, where, when and why.

2. What? -figure out the general plot or idea. It could even be a theme you want to explore. What actually happens. Because if nothing happens, no one will know where the plot is going, and neither will you.

3. Where? -this one is quite simple. Where is your story set? And how does this setting affect your stories or characters. Are there any cultral refrences? Do your characters literally travel somewhere?

4. When? - figure out a time period, as it'll likely be a big part of your story. Is there time travel? You need to make sure the plot is suitable to the times, and so are the times within the book. If you're writing in the tutod era, there won't be cars, and the future has to be... achievable. It can go 'good' or 'bad', but it does have to make sense.

5. Who? (Probably the most important part)- figure out who your characters are by finding their goal, fear and misbelief (check here for the Zodiacs tab). Think of all the characters (at least the important ones), and figure out their motivations for being in the story. What will they gain?

6. Why? -this part is about you and your characters. Why do you want to write this? What message do you need to share with the world? What will your reader get out of this? And the why for your characters is why they want to be in this story and why you want them to be in this story. Why these are the perfect characters to bring your book to life. You'll be with them constantly: you have to know their whys.

7. And lastly, how? How will this story happen? What will your character do to make the events of the story turn into their ideal future? How will they get challenged, beaten up and still survive? How will they gain an amazing connection with readers? How will you relate to readers? What will you make unique and new, which makes them read your book for hours after bed time?

very soon, my comprehensive writing guide will be out, ready for more in-depth tips and tricks. This was just a quick tour of the basics. But, there are great resources online like the Heroe's journey template and so many youtubers and tiktokers who talk about planning. My best tip is to research, but go with your gut. You have to write it yourself, if the end, so why not making a perfect plan for you so it's easier?