The brainstorm hits like a monsoon. Your muse is screaming in your ear. The world fades into a tapestry of forgotten dust bunnies and dirty dishes. You have an idea! But suddenly, the evil specter of indecision rears its ugly head and your bottom lip becomes a gnashing pad while you ponder the problem of just how to get that story down. Sound familiar?

Whether you’re working on a short fiction piece or a full length novel, these steps will enable you to clearly see the story. For a longer work, apply these steps to each scene, for shorter fiction, utilize each step for the entire plot and exterminate confusion.

Step One–Cement the Story

Decide what your story is about. Be specific. Abstract generalities will confuse the matter. Love, justice, revenge–those are interesting concepts, but they aren’t specific enough to give your brainstorm the push it needs. Describe in one sentence what your story is about. This is your mission statement.

“A nerd named Jim embarks on many athletic adventures in order to meet women.”

Place the statement where you can see it when working. Post-it notes are wonderful critters and can be exchanged easily when switching projects. Everything from here on out must apply to that sentence. It is the diamond-head focus of our endeavor.

Step Two–The Beginning, Middle, and End

Once you understand who your lead is and what they’re doing, you must come up with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you despise outlines or enjoy writing by the seat of your pants, this can be a minimal sketch of the turning points in your story. For those who find comfort in knowing which plot point needs to be set up, this can be a full outline. However, one should never proceed without a clearly marked path. As you wouldn’t set off on a long journey without a map, you shouldn’t let your muse run willy nilly through your plot. With direction, the tale will unfold in a logical manner. Write one sentence for each segment of the story.

“In the beginning, Jim discusses his plans with a sporting goods salesman.”
“In the middle, Jim learns athleticism is not his forte and tries for a less skilled sport.”
“In the end, Jim is roughed up from his misadventures, but a sky-diving poster inspires him to try once more.”

Step Three–Watch, Listen, and Remember

Ever read a story that was basically good, but lacked realistic dialogue, or internal thoughts you could relate to? Did you feel disconnected from a tale you might otherwise have enjoyed? Avoid creating the same distance by learning to watch, listen, and remember. Keep a notebook for jotting down interesting thoughts or observations. Watch how people use body language to show emphasis, or to punctuate their remarks. Listen to the words people choose when speaking and which words they don’t use. Pick your own brain for memories and utilize them to create a sense of familiarity for the reader.

Make a list of plot related items and keep them handy when moving through the different stages of the story. Each item will offer you inspiration, though you may not use all items on the list. Ten is good for a short story or for a single scene in your novel. The list need not be much more than a few idea cementing words, as in these five;

“A park smells like pine”
“Snow melts through denim and leaves the skin beneath red”
“Horses blow through their noses”
“A sporting good’s store at the mall has Muzak piped in”
“A bruised lip feels twice its size”

Step Four–What If?

This is the fun part. Now that you’ve got the who, the what, the where, and the why, you can brainstorm the how. Playing the what if game will allow your story to be unique, stand on it’s own, allow the reader to keep guessing and keep reading. The last thing any author wants to write is “another” story. They want their tale to be an original.

Begin with your opening scene and brainstorm how many ways you could show those details. What if Jim is clueless and the salesman takes him under his wing? What if this salesman sees a great opportunity to gain commissions from Jim’s failures? What if our hero decides the salesman is just the gigolo mentor he’s been hunting for?

When writing your list of what if’s, you’ll likely find your second or third idea is much better than the rest. From this list you can cull a series of threads that add depth to your tale and surprise the reader. Build suspense by delivering events the reader won’t expect.

Step Five–Lie Well

Great authors, in essence, are great liars. In order to learn to lie well, you must craft your tale in a way that is logical and suspends disbelief. As you would never tell your neighbor the grass hasn’t been mowed because mad geese were blocking your every attempt, don’t show a series of events that insults the intelligence of your reader.

Jim can’t learn to scuba dive in the sporting goods store–and likely, they don’t have all the equipment he needs. But they do have skis, roller blades, and a host of other equipment to choose from. Jim can’t break a leg skiing one week, and then go to a dude ranch the next. But, he can suffer bruises and scrapes from a close encounter with a pine tree and continue his quest.

Keep the audience uppermost in your mind. What will the reader think of this? How will they react? If I were reading this, what would I expect to happen next? Take it even further and ask yourself if what you’ve planned to happen will delight the reader, or kill their interest.

Once you’ve discovered the key to your tale and how to make the reader believe what you’re sharing with them, you’ll have a work ready for success. Remember to play fair with the audience and connect every word to the story in a way that inspires confidence. If the reader thinks the work lacks credibility, they’ll lose interest and never finish. Your list of observations will go a long way in creating a bond with the reader which will not only allow them to enjoy the story, but inspire loyalty to you, the author.