Preptober: Brainstorming Part 2

Okay.

So.

I’ve taken a couple of days to think over my list of story ideas. The thoughts have percolated. The elements have come together and…

I still don’t quite know what I’m going to write about. It’s not exactly that I have NO ideas, it’s just that the ideas haven’t fully formed yet. Normally I wouldn’t be concerned, only…

I HAVE LESS THAN A MONTH TO GET THIS READY!

So, today, I’m going to be doing a little more brainstorming. I’ve got my list of story elements and a few combinations of those elements in mind. So, what do I do now?

I think I’m going to try writing out a few skeleton outlines for these various ideas. I’m talking bare-bones outlining here. For this, I like to use 7-point story structure (a la Dan Wells) to get the general idea. I may do a longer post about this later, but in short the 7 points are:

1. Hook
2. Plot Point 1
3. Pinch Point 1
4. Midpoint
5. Pinch Point 2
6. Plot Point 2
7. Resolution

I’m not going to get too precious with these. I’ll write at most a sentence for each. I’m trying to get a very rough idea of where the stories would actually go if I chose to write them. That way I can decide which one I’m most excited to spend time with in November.

Hopefully next time we meet, I will have my idea chosen.

How is your Preptober going? Do you have your idea all settled? Or are you still wading through a sea of ideas to see which ones sink and which ones swim? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!