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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38670
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38670
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

An idea is an image. Consider, for example:

> The fraternity of critics, in reality a dark brethren, linked by profane rites and blood vows. To destroy an author they sacrifice a child and perform a critical mass…

This one is from Neil Gaiman's _Sandman_, one of many ideas that flow out of a character who has been cursed with having too many ideas. (That Neil Gaiman would posit this as a curse speaks volumes too.)

Now that you have an idea, start developing it. Ask questions: how did this situation come to pass? Why? What are its consequences? If you've got an end, what was the situation before? If you've got a beginning - what brings about the change? What sort of change? Your character - what do they need to learn?

Look at the idea above; there are many ways it could be developed into a story. Look at another one:

> A boy falls in love with a girl from the enemy group.

This one has been developed into many different stories.

The key is in the development.

For myself, I do not stop at asking questions and finding _an_ answer. I explore different answers, different ways the story could be developed, until I find something that feels right throughout.

So, to answer your question, **take one of your ideas,** the one that you find most interesting or appealing, **sit down and develop it. Explore it. Ask questions and find answers, until you have not only an idea, but the rough shape of a story. Then you can sit down and write that story.**

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