Writing Your Way Into a Story

Sometimes, the story that you think you want to tell isn’t actually the right one for you. I’ve been there. I’m guessing you, fellow writer, might have too. (Or if not, sorry for making assumptions on your behalf and please do tell me your secret!)

When coming up with a new idea it can be hard to immediately grasp what is at the heart of your story. 

When I started writing the first draft of what would, one day, end up becoming my debut middle grade novel, The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre, the plot was completely different. Most of the characters were different. I didn't have many children characters in it and the ones that did mainly had ghosts for friends. These ghosts were former famous authors and there were a lot of scenes and phrases that weren't really suitable for a children's book. But because I am about as patient as a toddler in an ice-cream shop, I decided to send it out on submission. In my defense, I genuinely did think it was the story I wanted to tell. I had spent so much time working on it that I felt certain I could do no more.

As it turns out, children’s literary agents don’t really want a children’s book where there aren't many children for characters, but a bunch of adult ghosts who make literary jokes. Thankfully, though, in among all of the mess my brilliant agent Kirsty saw something in the story and we worked together to make it better than before. 

A snapshot of my messy Google Drive shows you some of the many iterations that Bastien went through. And every story I've written ever since - the ones that are sitting in their own folders, dreaming of their own publication day - has turned out exactly the same way. 

Although I am an advocate of writing chapter outlines and planning before I sit down, the story still grows with every draft. It changes (usually for the better!) with each re-draft as I do another layer deeper into the story.

I'm aware, however, of the privilege and luck I had in working with Kirsty - then the brilliant eagle-eyed editing team at Usborne - to shape this story. So I wanted to write this article for writers at the beginning of their writing and publishing journey and talk about writing your way into a story. This is when you have that nugget of a story idea, whether that takes the shape of a 'what if' question, a character name, setting, or even a theme. How do you learn how to trust your own instincts? How do you know that you're taking your story in the right direction?

Writing your way into a story is like cracking into a safe without the combination, but here are four things that I've learned about a process that can sometimes feel impossible but always turns out to be achievable.

• Ask yourself questions
  Whether you're a plotter or a pantser, you should take the time to interrogate your story idea. Why is that happening at this point in the book? Would you main character really do that? How will your character outsmart your villain? When I'm at the beginning stages of a story idea, I think of my 4 year-old nephew Joseph who always asks me "Why" and "How did that happen?" in response to every single thing I say. Be your own inquisitive child and have an answer (even if it does change!) for why things are happening the way they are in your story.
  
   
• Read & watch stuff
  Reading other people's stories is one of the best ways to find out how and why you want to tell your story. Dipping into your favourite books is like a mini masterclass on how and why we write. Some writers don't read books in the same genre while they are writing for fear of copying the story, which I can understand. But at the same time, there are a hundred different ways to tell a similar story, and writing in a vacuum can make it all the more difficult. Or it does for me, anyway! 
  
  Watching TV and films is also a brilliant way to further your story idea. I was inspired by a lot of great films, which all added to my patchwork plot. I watched Metropolis and the opening scene of workers cramped together in a metal lift, descending into the city's underbelly stuck with me for such a long time. I made a note of it. When I decided that the kidnapped writers in my story would be held in the catacombs, that film scene immediately came back to me and I weaved it into my story.
  
   
• Thinking time is just as important as writing time 
  As soon as I am done with a draft, I want to move onto the next story immediately. I write a few thousand words in a complete frenzy and then I hit a wall. Why? Because I haven't really taken the time to think about who my characters are or why I want to write this story. I do this every single time I get the kernel of an idea. Don't underestimate the importance of doing nothing and letting your ideas percolate. Go for a walk or run yourself a bath and stay in there until the water turns cold.
  
   
• Notes
  Be better at note-taking than me and try and keep your notes for the same story all in one single notebook or at least the same note on your phone. I jot down anything and everything that sounds or looks interesting. Whether it's the name of a street, a weird object I saw in a museum once, or a historical fact, these notes often come together to give me a plot point or a character trait or an obstacle for my main protagonist to overcome. Writing my way into a story involves a lot of 'note collecting' and putting them all together until they make sense.

What are your methods for finding your way into a story? Share your ways of working in the comments below!

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Clare Povey is an author and the editorial and communities manager of the Writers' & Artists' website. She fell in love with France as a child, inspired by the stories in her local Barking & Dagenham Library, and by discovering the vocabulary in Usborne's First Thousand Words in French. The magic of speaking another language eventually led to her living and working in France, and writing her debut series, the Parisian-based The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre.