Organizing Your Thoughts

 I have a great idea for a story and my characters need to slay the bad guy, come from humble beginnings and face all sorts of adversities.  

Well, that is a good start, but you need to lay out an idea of where to start, your characters, and how your characters are supposed to get to the end and what they have to overcome to reach their goal.

My suggestion is to take this in steps.

Step One: Discover both your protagonists and antagonists. I've read many books where the main character is well flushed out, but the bad guys are just flat.  It makes it hard to get excited about the story if you know the bad guys are just going to basically role over or be the stereotypical bad guy.  Put some time and thought into ALL your characters, (maybe even some side characters) before you go very far.  At the very least, this process may help you with your outline.

Step Two:  Make a basic outline.  Characters start here---This is their adventure---This is their adversities---This is how the over come and win.  Simple at this stage is better.

Step Three: Flush out your outline.  This is where you do those pesky outlines your High School English teacher always liked you to do.  Do the major points, with some sub-headings and ideas.  Then I would suggest going back and typing in more detailed ideas.  So, for example:

1.     Tarkil meets the other members of the party.
1. Tarkil comes back from a ride with his "friends" then wants to go to a bar to relax for the night.
2. Krom meets Guthlaf on the ship to Bloodhelm, then they go to a bar to find housing for the night.
3. Kenna escapes Five Roads and makes her way to Bloodhelm, finding Duncan on the way, and they end up the inn of Duncan's friend.
4. Elly finds herself in Bloodhelm and finds an inn to stay for the night.

From there, you can add in notes below each subheading, such as Tarkil is looking for a tumble, or Duncan's wagon is stuck on the side of the road.

Step Four: Write.  At this point, you should have a good enough outline to get moving.  And don't be afraid to change your outline.  It's just a guide and never set in stone.  Maybe you write something that says "hey, the party needs to do this instead of that".  It is more then fine.  It's your story and you want it to be the best.

And this works for roleplaying campaigns, as well.  People love to think you have taken a lot of time and effort to make things fun for them.  And just like your outline for a story, sometimes things go sideways.  Just go with it!

Happy Writing!