Problem and Character Development
A StoryCAD outline ‘begins’ on the Story Overview form, but as you’ve seen, it really starts with the selection of the Story Problem and its description in its Premise, whose definition could be condensed to ‘a character with a problem.’
How you approach these depends on the particular story, but also upon your own personality and style. You may be more character-driven, and need to understand your character’s journey to make sense of your story. Or perhaps you’re more driven by abstractions- ideas, concepts, situations and events. Perhaps you’re comfortable with both. One isn’t better than the other, and you need both in order to complete your outline.
Always honor your muse by recording whatever it gifts you about your story: a bit of character description, a dialog or trait, a possible scene or subplot, a philosophical question a web link. This is a good time to brainstorm. But also, focus on the intersections of problem and character: your protagonist’s goal and motivation. After those are firmly in mind, concentrate on the nature of your conflict and its outcome. Once your protagonist’s inner traits and beliefs are molded, they cannot easily change, and he or she can only act in certain ways. Th other story elements must be consistent with your character’s nature. Be prepared to amend your problem to fit that character.
If you started with the problem (situation, idea, etc.), remember that there are infinitely many possible characters. Your job is to find the character who will face this particular problem. Ask why he wants to achieve that particular goal, and what sort of traits would lead to the story conclusion you want. Then devise a back story which gives your character those traits. Until the moment your story concept is fully developed, your characters are as fluid and tractable to change as your plot or settings.
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