Lesson 2: How do I weave all my ideas into a story?

I have lots of fragments of ideas, but how do I bring all these snippets together into a story?

Early planning stage of one of my PhD chapters - old school cut and paste

I outsourced this one to Twitter.

Pick the ideas that provide great turning points. And the ones that give it a twist. Throw out the rest and start writing. Add fresh ideas as they come.
@WilkinsonCarole

I like to take a few idea snippets that aren't naturally matchy, and see what happens when I stick them together. Usually, good story grows in the gaps between them.
@twitofalili

Write down every snippet, every idea - always. If they don't pertain to any current story, just dump them into a file (I call mine The Abyss because I loved that movie & it was released when my file started). If you're ever stuck for an idea or direction, look in the file.
@iekenner

Put the ideas onto separate sticky notes than arrange them into groups which feel like they belong together. Then summarise each group onto new sticky notes and discard the originals. Then take these new sticky notes and form them into a sequence or timeline.
@Drdrdr09

Sometimes, when you take two unrelated story ideas and bang them together, you get sparks.
@michaeljpryor

I have fragments of sea glass, interesting stones, gumnuts and nibbled-on leaves scattered on shelves around the house. They’re tiny treasures with little purpose; much like the story ideas I jot down simply because daydreaming is so fun. It all exercises creative muscle.
@shellwrites

I write vignettes around interests and then step back to find the bigger picture. I think this is a natural process for poets ie. an image or idea leads you into a piece, then individual pieces get shuffled and sorted to shape a collection.
@wordmothers

This is such a good question. I think mine accrete around a kernel. Orchard was ‘what if kids find a magic thing and have to stop it being demolished?’ Then added a local, a newcomer, a weirdo, family, some silly things, secrets, jokes. Editing was working out which didn’t belong
@matchtrick

I forget my snippets almost immediately, but if I remember them enough times they prove themselves worthy to make it into the first draft
@FeedTheWriter

As an editor I'd say don't take ALL of them, focus on and develop one idea through into a story. Sometimes two 'snippets' will wrap around or resonate with each other ... but you don't ever want a story to have too many ideas
@FNfromFairyland

After I have ideas that spark off each other (and discard others) I think about whose story it is first, then I think about possible structure elements to pull it all together a bit.
@SherrylWriter

I... don't? I don't think that's how my story-making works. Exactly. Maybe. Now I'm confused...
@pamelahartbooks

As for me, I agree with Sherryl that character is the way forward. The novel, The Endsister, started with a conversation I had with my middle child when they were very young. I had a phrase (‘I know what an endsister is’), which immediately implied three characters: someone to say it, someone to hear it and ‘the endsister’. Who these characters are, and how this phrase changes them was key to unlocking the plot of the story (see Carole's note above about turning points). Taking some of your 'snippets' and ascribing them to characters may a way to proceed.

Also stories are dynamic: stasis and disruption. Someone once told me that the reason a river twists and turns is because water wants to be round, it wants to be a pool. Stories are like this, a chain of pools (static moments), tugged along by the current. I guess in this analogy your characters are the little leaf-boats eddying along on the surface, struggling against the odds to stay afloat.

Put it into action
Make a list of all the things you are interested in writing about, all the snippets of ideas that you have for a story. Write each one on a post it note. Now spend some time sorting through them, putting them next to each other, seeing if you get any "sparks". Collect a bunch that seem like they go together. Place the ones you discard aside for now (don't throw them away).

Now take another piece of paper and put an x on it to divide the sheet into four sections. Give each section a title: Character, Plot/Story, Theme, Imagery. Divide your ideas between them. Are there any areas that are empty? Are there too many post it notes in one section (hint: if they are all in imagery and theme and there are none in character or plot you don't have your story idea yet). Do you need to go back to your discarded pile?

Just for fun, try moving some of them around. Put things that seem like characterisation in themes, or turn images into plot. What happens if you introduce a random sticky note from your discard pile? What sort of river bends have to happen to accommodate that shift? Sometimes it's the unexpected bends and deviations that give your story momentum.

Once you're happy that you have a bit of a spread across the four domains and you can see your story coming into shape, try arranging your sticky notes into a beginning, a middle, and an end. Or just start writing. Stuck at the first words? Open a book to a random page, find a word or a phrase and use it to begin. I'll do another mini lesson on finding/constructing a narrative voice soon.