#kinda hungry for cottage cheese now tbh....

[suudonym]

So, I have to write a 15 page short story for Advanced Creative Writing, and I've got an idea but not quite sure how to flesh it out beyond that? I was just wondering what you do to come up with the in-betweens of the story beyond the initial concept

I was gonna say “hoo boy anon sorry to say that you definitely have come to the wrong person for advice” because I pretty much just run with the initial concept and let it come together on its own but then! I remembered that that’s like, a legitimate manner of writing? I’m pretty much parroting something I read somewhere else once but there’s essentially two types of authors: the gardener and the architect

and this wound up as yet another post that is probably longer than it needs to be so obligatory readmore

me, I am a gardener. I have my initial idea and I know a handful of plot points and a rough direction so I just jump in and start writing. I imagine my characters as actors performing my story, and I the author am just writing down what it is that they do and say. I guide them gently and influence them when I can but generally they have their own thoughts and feelings and motivations and the story “grows” through them. usually at about the halfway point things have grown to a point at which I can start tying off connections between scenes and plot points - which might be kind of late in the game to START connecting stuff but hey, that’s what editing is for

(unless you’re writing fanfiction in which case you just go for it while laughing nervously and hoping no one catches on)

on the other side is the architects, which I am not and have tried and failed to be so my grasp is a bit tentative but my understanding is that you come up with a clear and detailed plan of what you want to happen. you figure out exactly where you want to go and how you want to get there and you outline pretty much every step of the way. it takes more work initially but saves time later because you never get tied up wondering what to do with the next scene or where to start the next chapter (not that chapters are super relevant to short stories) etc.

architect style of writing probably benefits a lot from physical planning, like making an outline document or sticking post-its to the wall in the form of a flow chart or keeping a notebook for easy reference with all your notes. for me, gardener style means having a loose mental plan and writing down notes for the future as the future begins to reveal itself in what I’ve written. like it wasn’t until a couple days ago that I finalized exactly what I want to do in the next several chapters of tata, it just suddenly occurred to me how things would fit together

I’m... suddenly not sure I’m really saying anything that you don’t already know, so let me try to like actually be helpful. I’m a strong believe in characters as actors. a good character will have thoughts and feelings and habits and tendencies and if you’re ever stumped on what happens next, sometimes the solution is as simple as asking the character what they want to do. not all the time, of course, since there will often be outside forces acting on your character, but sometimes

also useful: the phrase “what if.” it is 100% fine to fill your story with plot points that you personally think are cool and just really wanted to write. bouncing what-ifs with a friend is a great way for things to spiral completely out of control very quickly, and then you can pick and glean the parts of the discussion that you like and shove them in there

also also useful: cottage cheese. I’m sorry it’s almost 1:30am right now and I’m losing my wits but I am going somewhere with this. when I was studying graphic design a professor once said that the most important part of the brainstorming stage is to get all of your surface level ideas out of your head. so if cottage cheese is your kneejerk reaction you write it down as an option, even if you know it’s stupid. if you don’t write it down it sits in your head and hinders your other thoughts (which is why I’m always making posts like “just to get this out of my head” and stuff). so, write down ALL YOUR THOUGHTS. every single one of them, each and every half-baked concept you got in your noggin. once you start clearing out the light and buoyant stuff that floats to the top first, then you get to the deeper, richer, more flavorful ideas

.....I may still be thinking about cottage cheese, just a little bit

BUT YES. that was a lot of words that I’m not entirely sure will be useful to you but I wish you all luck!! creative writing class is a lot work but also a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it bunches and get a whole lot out of it ♡