Germ of an idea
In this part of the lesson, you’ll focus on crafting an outline for your story. A strong central idea is the foundation of any great story. It drives the plot, shapes your characters, and captures your readers' interest.
‘Well, maybe it started that way. As a dream, but doesn’t everything? Those buildings. These lights. This whole city. Somebody had to dream about it first. And maybe that is what I did. I dreamed about coming here, but then I did it.’ – James and the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl didn't really dream up his stories out of nowhere. The BFG, and many of the other characters and stories he created, was inspired by the people and places around him.
For example, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was inspired by the chocolate maker Cadbury. They used to taste-test their chocolate bars at Roald Dahl's school, and he used to dream that he would invent a new chocolate bar and win praise from Mr Cadbury.
The foxes' home in Fantastic Mr Fox was inspired by a huge tree which grew outside his home in the village of Great Missenden, in England.
Matilda came from a combination of his own childhood school experience and the political climate of the Soviet Union, which had strict rules that it imposed on its citizens, at the time of writing.
He even named one of the main characters in the BFG after his first grandchild - Sophie.
Finding a germ of an idea
Like Roald Dahl it is now your turn to create an idea and to turn that idea into a story outline. Luckily, there are several ways you can go about getting that initial idea.
Finding that initial idea can be done by drawing from personal experiences, current events, or imaginative scenarios to spark your creativity. Your inspiration can also come from other stories. The BFG provides some lovely, if unusual options.
Another option is to create fanfiction. Fanfiction allows you to create a new story using existing characters, settings, and plots from your favorite stories.
One such story is The First Snozzcumber.
There are also websites full of ideas for scenes and stories. There are prompt based competitions like this one, too. A quick search can lead to ideas like:
- The Painting That Changes: A painting that changes over time, reflecting events, emotions, or secrets, can be a mystical, haunting, or symbolic plot device.
- The Door That Shouldn't Be Opened: Characters encounter a door that shouldn't be opened, whether due to warning, legend, or intuition. Opening it can lead to disaster or discovery.
- The Abandoned Library: Characters discover an abandoned library filled with rare books, hidden knowledge, and possibly magical or cursed items.
- Enchanted Objects: Every object in a certain kingdom is enchanted, even the most mundane ones. This leads to unexpected adventures for its citizens.
Find a germ of an idea for your story. If you are having trouble, take a look online to see if something inspires you.
Expand your idea
Once you have your first spark, you need to expand on the idea. Roald Dahl did this by telling bedtime stories to his children, and coming up with new angles to his story night after night. Once again, there are several other ways of doing so other than walking around a child's bedroom.
It is important to develop a short but clear summary of your story's main idea.
You can think about the messages or questions you want to explore in your story, or ask 'What if' questions to expand your idea and consider different directions your story could take.
Fanfiction is in essence a 'What if' story. A way for fans to explore scenarios, and characters, and expand on the original stories.
Despite having a germ of an idea, you might have no idea yet where it is going to take you. In that case you can try free writing, where you set a timer and simply write down anything that pops into your head when thinking about your idea.
Don't worry about grammar or structure. Just write!
Or create a mind-map with your idea at the center and connect your thoughts and related ideas to it.
Of course, there is always the online option of an AI generated idea. I asked ChatGPT to 'create a short story outline about a little girl being abducted by a giant.' You can see what it created here.
You have been given the basics of how to generate an idea and then expand on that idea. Now it is time to give it a try for yourself.
Take your idea and expand on it.
Write an outline for a SHORT story based on your idea. If you have an idea for a longer story, create a global outline for the entire story, and a detailed outline of the section you will be writing in the next lesson.