User blog comment:Oblivionheart/A little help to a beginner/@comment-24304936-20140903174038

I just posted the below reply to another user in need of a nudge in the right direction, so I decided to just copy and paste it here as well. Although the other remarks are also invaluable, here is a more holistic approach to developing your story i.e. not so much focusing on your grammar and such. Hope you can glean something from it.

''My technique is that I take a very non-linear approach when writing something. I'll start with an idea that I either think is unique or hasn't been written about enough to be considered cliche. I then develop the characters (again, this is done primarily through their dialogue and how they react to their situation). A very important thing to remember is to make the characters likable. Even the villians in the story should be people/things that people can relate to at least a little bit. That's part of what un-nerves me while reading something - to see someone or something so vile, but a small part of me can relate to why they might be doing what they are doing. Once you engage and relate to your reader, you are on the right path. For me, the storyline tends to take a life of its own as I type. Even the ending might be completely different than what I had originally envisioned. It's all about the moment I am in the story that dictates where the trip winds up. Of course, you need to go over the story again, add and/or subtract parts, revise, then do it again until you feel solid about it. All writers should do this, no matter the genre.

Anyway, besides the rules of grammar, spelling, structure etc (i.e. the "mechanical things), there really is no right way to develop your story. Everyone's mind moves to a different rhythm. Tune into that rhythm, via trial and error, and go with it.''