Story development is the process of taking your initial idea for a script or screenplay and turning it into a full-fledged, fully-realized narrative. It’s the journey from seed to draft and it involves brainstorming, drafting, rewriting, outlining, character mapping, structure building, and more. It’s a key part of the writing process that every writer must master.
Begin with a seed—an image, conversation, or event that sparks your imagination and captures the essence of the story you want to tell. Then, identify or create a “hot spot” in your premise, a place where the potential for conflict and emotion exists. This might be a brave protagonist embarking on a dangerous quest, a family overcoming a natural disaster, or something else entirely.
Set the stage by establishing the setting and characters that inhabit the story’s world. Explore narrative techniques like flashbacks and nonlinear storytelling to add depth and complexity. Give your characters flaws and unique traits that help them feel real and relatable. Establish progressive complications that build to the climax and keep your readers engaged.
Then, map out your plot using a variety of popular story structures to maintain a strong, engaging narrative. Try Joseph Campbell’s monomyth to track your hero’s transformative journey, Blake Snyder’s beats for a tight and focused plot, or the hourglass structure favored by journalists for a story with multiple angles and points of view.