Usually when I start creating a story, I'll have a fairly solid idea containing a handful of things, the plot, which will show me how my story ties together. An ending, and a good opening. The character development comes when I'm writing and I have a feel of who the person, or people are. From this early point in the story's development, I can tell whether it will keep my interest or not. If I don't believe in the idea after all that work, then it probably won't happen. I won't get rid of it, of course not, it's still work, but it'll have to wait until I think I can fix it. I have a fair few ideas sitting around in a Cloud file like that unfortunately 😂
The end, to me at least, is the most important element. I don't want to be writing endlessly with no idea how I'm going to finish the story. It's also important because I have to know that it's a worthwhile payoff for myself and the reader. Most of the time I'll think about the end before I've even thought about the beginning or the plot. Sure, the ending may change slightly by the time I get there, but the general idea tends to remain the same.
The plot is probably next important thing for me. I'll bash out a quick thought dump on Pages, with everything I want in it, including countless spelling mistakes and missing words, then pick it all apart until I have something good. After that I'll create a more detailed plot idea. This is the blueprint of my story and I'll use to guide me. It's still subject to changes though, as I like to keep flexible. Until I learn of a better way of doing things, this works for me. So, I'm sticking to it ☺️
Moving on to the beginning, which is, as far as I'm concerned, the most fun and exciting. It's what will grab or lose my reader. It must open questions and establish the idea and tone of the upcoming events. I love this part and can find myself getting fully engrossed for hours.
Sometimes, I find it helpful to plot out chapters too. I should probably do this all the time, but I'm still learning, so I'm probably making lots of mistakes. At the moment, I only plot out chapters If an idea is getting stuck. It's good for me, I find, to step back and have a think and clear my head. I'm no expert at writing, not by a long shot. But I have found that this way helps me work, a lot.
So that is basically my current method for writing ✍️ it's very loose and a little chaotic at times. But I find that working this way keeps it fun for me, and since this is my hobby, I feel that's the way it should be.
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