The five bends in the road to creating a story are as follows:
- You gather information: Reference images/places/stories/paintings/ect.
- You build your inspired/imagined images based from your reference material – this is where your unique story develops.
- Construct an outline of your story: Remember to incorporate what ordinary life would be like in your story, and keep your message a theme of redemption. Provide places of sustenance where your reader can rest. These scenes are the memorable ones that your reader will want to return to the rest of his/her life.
- Write your first draft – quickly! Your first draft is your “junk draft”.
- Revise.
The steps are simple, and if you follow them one step at a time, your story will be completed before you know it! So many times, people try to begin with the last step. That is, they’ll begin writing their first draft and try to constantly revise along the way. This is similar to trying to eat a meal all in one bite. The writer quickly becomes overwhelmed, and soon, the first draft is shelved and rarely returned to. Publication is something always dreamed of but never attained.
Don’t do this with your manuscript! If you don’t know all the scenes to put in your story, then stop writing your story. Gather reference material. Learn what your inspired image truly is (that’s what made you want to write your story in the first place – remember that image you imagined that made you say, “Ah! I want to write a story!”?) Create the scenes of your story and put them into an outline.
Then, write your first draft quickly without editing! Only after the last word of draft one is complete should you begin step five: Revising your story.
Your fellow writer,
Joshua Reynolds
P.S. If you want more help writing, then click the below button and fill out the following form. I’d be happy to help!
