Developing story means taking your seed of an idea and cultivating it into an immersive narrative with compelling characters, powerful themes, and a gripping plot. This process is the result of careful planning and hard work, but it also involves allowing a writer’s innate creativity to take over. Often, ideas will build on themselves, and they’ll become brighter and more complex as they evolve.
During the development stage, writers should also focus on their story world, exploring the geography, cultures, religions, and other key facets of their fictional universe. This will help them to create a deeper and more realistic setting for their story.
Finally, it’s important to start thinking about the theme of your story at this stage as well. Themes are created through character arcs, but you can also look at the plot itself and how it posits answers to thematic questions that are raised throughout your story.
For example, if you have an idea that centers around a character’s journey to self-discovery, it’s important to consider the Lie they believe themselves to be and what Truth they will eventually move toward by the end of the story. In addition, it’s important to think about the subplots you have in your story and how they contribute to those core arcs. If you can remove a subplot from your story without it impacting the plot in any meaningful way, then that may indicate that the subplot is more fluff than vital storytelling ingredient.
