When building a story, it starts off with a bunch of ideas that become the foundation for it. Even though we don’t know yet who all the characters are, what the story arcs are, or even how it will end, it will become clearer as we add more layers and ideas to the story.
Since we’ve had the story in our mind for awhile, we know what kind of story it will be (i.e. what genre), where it will take place (i.e. the setting), and what events should occur (the basic plot). But what’s unclear to us is how all these parts integrate, such as the chapters, and how they connect and lead up to the resolution.
Some ideas won’t be in the story at all. It could be chapters, dialogue, or characters. It would be similar to looking at a palette of colors to paint a house with, reducing them to a handful, then deciding on a couple to use throughout the house. The rest of the colors are discarded.
Building a story is a similar process. Fortunately, if we don’t like something, we can just edit it in the drafts. And even then, we might have to add more into the story as it takes shape and evolves into something that is real to us.
Fallton Havenstonne 