This information was taken from webinar which was given by the Writers of the Future contest. Any misinformation is the fault of the typist.

– When selecting a story idea, maybe don’t use the first idea that comes up to the mind.
– Pilots need to reset their minds to three dimensional instead of two dimensional on land. Your story needs to address the new mindset.
– Worked on the idea of the battle room for the book Endor’s Game between ages of 16 – 23. He couldn’t write it yet because he had not worked out the other details such as the characters and other details in the story. He did not write it immediately, he did not have the ideas.
– These stories are not about the original inciting idea. It is about people.
– A story is about someone who wants something and they are having a hard time getting it.
– In his college classes, he asks his class ideas of different ideas. Students often provide cultural clichés. A 23 yr. Some stereotypes might be old women might be a mother or at a job or examples of culture clichés.
– All the questions he asks of his class are prompted from the perspective of a 4 yr. old who would ask questions.
– Why is someone breaking up (marriage)? 4 yr. old ask from causality.
– There are always mechanical forces that influence peoples’ lives. But people responded to things due to their motivation.
– You don’t have a story until you have order presentations of casually related events. That is stuff that happens. Your audience may influence the writer on how in what order you present information to your audience.
– You need to know what your audience will already know. You will want them to learn something new in your story. You need to let the reader know the motivation behind your characters.
– When you have to have someone driving a car y9u don’t have to share the step by step of starting, driving a car of how an engine works. Your reader already knows those details. You don’t have to give details of things that the reader already knows.
– Characterization only begins when there is a second character and how they interact with each other.
– There needs to be obstacles or delays in a story that prevents the character from achieving their goal.
– Three are structures for stories. Plotting from Shakespeare was telling what characters needed to be in the next scene. Giving details about an object in a house such as a hat will emphasize the importance of that object in the story. You may ask why was a certain character killed in a murder mystery. The story is completed when we understand the motives and actions of why the murderer killed someone.
– Stories should not be an idea story.
– There are several structures for stories in fiction. It is a tool for you as a writer to see where your story begins.
– A. idea story: questions answer is an idea story.
– B. Minue story> swept up by a tornado and you arrive at a place that is filled in color. Story examples are the hobbit, wizard of Oz or Gulliver travels. You would have a lot of little stories or event in the story that gives you a chance to explore the world. The story ends when you return back to your home.
– C. event story: one used by Lord of the rings. Something is deeply wrong with the world. The story begins when the person who will fix the issue gets involved in the story. It ends when the problem is solved.
– D. Fourth story structure the character story. It is actually a subset of the event story.
– The inciting incident is where the character changes their life.
– If you want readers you need a story that when they are done reading it, the reader feels that is the right solution to the story.
– You need to have a story that the reader will want to pass that story/movie/book on to others.