For any of you whom ever had an idea in mind, a story to tell, or a world to create but couldn't figure out a way to do it, this may be for you. This is a simple guideline on how to help yourself start or complete writing your story. Whether it's a book or a screenplay, this can help you if you just need a little advice. We'll go over the basics, then I'll explain them a little more thoroughly for your benefit.

- Get the basics of your story written.

- If it's a novel, jot down a simple guideline on how many chapters you'd like and how many pages you should keep them limited to. Each chapter must be stand-alone and completely solid.

- If it's a screenplay, jot a simple guideline on the story arc and what each of the THREE acts should/would contain. Each act must do itself justice and complete the requirements for each seperate act.

- After you've jotted down a guideline, whether it's an act or a chapter, go into a little more detail and write down or describe simple plot advancements and scenes.

- After you have each scene/plot, make a note of what they do for the story, or what you're trying to achieve by writing it into the story.

- After you're done with that, you can go into each scene and describe what happens in light detail, but leave out dialogue. If you find that you thought of something that you would absolutely like for someone to say, then make a note of it, but don't completely flesh it out just yet.

- Lastly, for preparation, you can go in and write an overview of the dialogue. Be especially careful, dialogue is one of the most important things in a story, even more so in a screenplay, in which there is very little detail versus dialogue.

- Now that you've completely written your own guide to writing your story, you can go ahead and dive in to write the details.

Hopefully, you've stuck with me this far, and if you understand it well enough, you'll probably go ahead and begin now. But, you may want to consider reading on, especially if you have "any" doubt, whatsoever. Now to delve into further detail. I'll keep it as quick and simple as I can, while getting the essence of it into this article.

First of all, you're going to want to write down the basic plotline of your story. You can begin writing from any part of the story, either the beginning, middle, or the end. Many times I've found that the ending to a story really justifies it completely, thus it must be very intriguing and satisfy the reader of veiwer. So, I've come up with amazing endings, and worked my way up to it. Whatever is comfortable for you, just get it documented. For example, Vance is a (blank), who does "such" and "such". The story is about how Vance goes about finding his soul mate, Throughout his journey he meets many wonderful people, and many let downs, but he finds his one true love, Melinda. In the end, "this" and that" happen, and even though Vance and Melinda can never be together, they know that they still belong to one another.

Now that you've got that settled, I like to write down how many chapters I want to limit the novel to, how many pages for each chapter (with variance in mind, say 20 pages on average), and what each chapter will pertain to. Each chapter must be stand-alone, meaning even though it continues the story, it must feel and read like it has it's own small story or event. Coming up with a chapter title helps keep you in bounds of what you want the chapter to do for the story, i.e. Chapter 1 - The Feeling of Loneliness. (Foreshadowing is also a great technique to use in your chapter title if you choose to do so, to keep the reader guessing in anticipation.) Vance is living his life in complete and utter loneliness. On one very special day, he sees something that he longs for, a woman to cherish. This moment changes him forever, and will haunt him even within his dreams, unless he decides to do something about it. And he does.

Now, for a screenplay, I think it's much, much easier. For one, it's only 100 pages, which is not nearly enough for a common novel to be intrinsically entertaining. Also, it takes much less detail to explain what takes place. First of all, you most likely will want to follow the "3 act" rule. It's generally a great idea, unless you want more of a quirky movie, in that case write it as you will. But to do things my way, the easy way, you must follow the "3 act" rule. (If you don't know what that is, you can look for it online, it'll be pulled up, I promise.) Now, for the first act, you just want the story to get kicked off. The second act, you want it to be the core of the movie, the whole essence of it, and you want it to be entertaining and fulfilling. The third act should be the resolution, and the finale to the whole movie. This also works for shows as well, actually anything, including essays. So what you want to do, for each act, is just jot down what each act will pertain to. Such as, In the first act, Vance will look as if he's living a normal happy life. But, deep down, he harbors the pain of being alone. He finally decides to ease the pain by seeking a companion, and begins doing so by going to night clubs, and bars. The second and third act would be like this, but only contain what it should. So, if the first act was like that, the second would be an overview of what happens when he goes to the night club or bar. What he does afterward, and how he comes to find his true love, Melinda. And at the end of the second act, you should include a turning point, a climax, to keep the viewers attention and to heighten any kind of emotion you want to convey. And for the third act, just explain what happens, and just try to wrap up the story neatly and efficiently, being sure to leave the viewers with a feeling of satisfaction, no matter what the ending is.

So, you've got all your ideas down, but it seems like too much? Maybe even too little? Well, if you feel that way, or even if you don't, you may want to just jot down a very quick and brief explanation of what each scene/chapter does to help tell the story and make it feel complete. In doing so, you can eliminate extra dead weight, or add more meat to the story. Say, if I had something like this - Vance goes to the butcher shop one day, and sees a pretty girl, and decides to hit on her, but is quickly turned down and goes on his way, (or even worse) they go on a boring date and it leads nowhere but back to square one - then you may want to scratch it off the drawing board, or just enhance it to be more appropriate. More like - Vance goes on a date with this pretty young lass, but smack dab in the middle of dinner, he sees her. He sees the one to complete him, dancing like a butterfly, carefree. Much more entertaining.

Next, simple details about each scene, being more vivid and creating an image in your head so you can write each scene down in delicate details with ease later on. Even if it's weeks down the road. For example - Vance sees Melinda dancing in a gorgeous blue dress. Her brown hair, swinging from side to side as she danced, complimented her enchanting hazel eyes. Vance neglects his date, leaving her confused, frustrated and angry, to go ask her for a dance. She agrees, and they dance vigorously, and with such passion. Hours later, they take leave from the dance floor, and take a walk down the beach to watch the sunrise before they exchange numbers and part ways for the time being. - Just a quick image to keep your mind jogging while you write your story in detail later. This is helpful whether it's a novel or a screenplay. Although, you do "not" need nearly as much detail in a screenplay as you do in a novel. In a novel, it is the meat that envelops the bone, tantalizing the reader. If you feel that you've come up with a great line for a character to say, then immediately jot it down somewhere. Try not to get too deep into, though, you'll want to just start from simplicity and work your way up to intricacy.

Lastly, for your preparations, you will want do one last simple guideline, this time of dialogue. Definitely the most important thing for a screenplay, that's what is mostly going to keep the viewers expecting more. Just a few more tugs for those tears to begin pouring! So, you may want to do your dialogue like so, "Melinda, I -- I honestly can't believe I've found someone like you. You're beyond my expectations, more heavenly than an angel dancing in the midst of a subtle first snow." Vance says, with sincerity. "Vance, you're more than --", Vance puts his finger to her lips to quiet her. He begins speaking once more, "Let me speak, unhindered by emotion while I still may. Melinda, -- " his eyes become glazed over, " -- I love you." Tears fall from both of their eyes. - It's simple, heartwarming, and best of all, easy because you're written many guidelines in preparation. Now your dialogue may be more simple than that, being a screenplay, but for a novel, it could possibly flow just as that. Of course, every writer has his or her own style, which is for the better, because who wants to read a book that sounds and feels like all the others? Yeah, I thought so.

Lastly, you've made all the proper preparations, and it's time to dazzle and amaze. Now, the example I've used is obviously a dramatic one, but fear not. It works for any and all categories, and please believe me when I say that I don't often come up with a sob story. It just seems more appropriate for this situation. And remember, details, details, details. Make it exciting, dramatic, inspirational, whatever, you name it. Also, don't forget little tricks like foreshadowing, themes, mood, an arsenal of weapons, solely to enhance your story. Whether your story has been told a thousand times, but in a different way, or you've come up with a tale that lies deep within your imagination, no one will read it unless you make a masterpiece. And with this guide, you can.

That's the complete guideline for making it simple to write a story. Believe me, I wrote this in one sitting! Also, if you have any questions, or comments, please, please feel free to direct them towards me. Negative or positive, I can take a few hits to the ego, I'm very optimistic. I hope that you can write up that story you've had in mind, and keep doing so. Best of luck.

"The limitations we have unknowingly set for ourselves can be surpassed, you need only set your mind free, and be willing to create, either consciously or subconsciously."

- Will Bickford