Post for steps 1-4 can be found [here](10 Step guide to turn your idea into a coherent story (Part 1) : writing (reddit.com)).

For anyone that did not read my OP here's a quick disclaimer: this is not my original process. This is my interpretation of another process that I have used over and over and tweaked slightly to suit my own personal success. The original process is from (don't judge, the damned book has been a godsend), "Writing Fiction for Dummies".

Continuing from Step 4 which was turning our single paragraph summary into a full page of summary called a short synopsis, we find find ourselves shaping a rough idea into something resembling a story by now. Which brings us to step 5:

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So for each important character that you wrote a sheet for in step 3, we are now going to expand on those characters a bit more, and give them something any self respecting character will need to be believable; a backstory.

A character sketch for me, is sort of a brain dump on who this person is, and why their story is important to the main plot. In the sketch, you don't need to get TOO specific, but general personality traits, a rough backstory, their current and eventual relationship to any other characters in the book.

A lot of the details that you fill out here are critical personality details that you can begin to shape some real personality from your characters, which is going to be extremely useful when you actually begin writing. If you do this step thoroughly, you will definitely be glad when you enter your flow state while actually writing your first draft. I know I've experienced the frustration of entering the flow state, only to come to a screeching halt because I didn't come up with a good backstory for one of my characters. This step saves me tons of time in the future. Sometimes it can be tedious, but I promise you will reap the benefits well worth the effort.

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Continuing one alternating between plotting and character work so your planning doesn't feel as monotonous, we will now expand on the short synopsis from Step 4. I recommend saving each of these in separate documents so you can retain that base essence you captured before. If you begin losing yourself, just go back to the simpler document and remember the essence of your story.

Start this step by copying and pasting your short synopsis into a new document. Now, expand each of your paragraphs from that document into 3-5 paragraphs. Your end result should be around 4 or 5 pages. On this you will hit more detailed plotlines. Focus on the pivotal scenes as you expand each act. The purpose of this is to make sure you understand how your story works. You can use this document in the future to quickly scan over your entire story arc without having to flip through pages and pages of written material.

This step is my favorite because I can really capture my story into a short story, with my head reeling with scenes and details that I will want to add later. Have fun with it, and play around with alternative MCs, new plotlines, and anything else you want.

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Hopping back to character work, this is another important step that you will be glad you did later down the road. A character bible is a list of smaller details that you need to remember. This does not need to be finished completely right now. In fact, if you know this much about your characters by now, you are way ahead of the game. This is the place where you should list things like, eye color, weight, or any other physical descriptions you want to refer to in order to remain consistent. The more characters you have, the harder it will be to keep track of every detail by memory.

Other details to add can vary, but just remember this place is for all the details. Add them later as you go on, but start one for each character sketch you've done thus far. If you already know details, get them out now. Other things to add can be backstory details, names of parents, education, memories, ethnic heritage, etc etc etc.

For this step, I add details as they come up in the story. Obviously not every story needs a list of what religion or faith each character believes in, but if you do have a mention of it, I'd go ahead and come back to this document and make a note of it in the bible for future reference or research. This can be fun and tedious at the same time, but very useful and will save you a lot of time during the editing phase.

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Stepping away from characters after that will feel refreshed and ready to add more detail to your actual story. Make a scene list! This is the place to list out every scene that connects the plot points from your synopsis. Scenes are a fundamental unit of fiction, and making a list will definitely help anyone like me organize my story into bite sized chinks, and keep you on track.

To create a scene list, just write a quick summary for all the scenes your story will need to connect the beats together. A leads to B leads to C leads to D...This can be as detailed or vague as you want. sometimes I write a summary that is extremely vague, but by the time I get to my draft, I have a better idea on how that scene plays out. Sometimes I know EXACTLY how a scene will go, so if I am so inspired, I write as much as I want. Doing this really helps, and if you save each scene to a different page, you can rearrange scenes which is necessary sometimes for plots to make sense. Making a scene list also helps you later down the road if you have overwritten. You can prioritize necessary scenes from non essential scenes quickly and easily. I've also heard of people writing scene lists on 3x5 notecards so they can lay them out in front of them and rearrange. Whatever is easiest.

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By now, you must have a VERY good idea of how your story is going to go. You can skip this step and come back after you've finished writing, or if you lose steam later. The purpose of this step is to make sure every scene has a purpose, and every scene is structured correctly. So if you are not sure about some scenes, and you want to expand further, go through each scene and do the following, and this will be verbatim from the book, Writing Fiction for Dummies:

"Type of scene: Is this a proactive or reactive scene? A proactive scene has the structure goal-conflict-setback. A reactive scene has the structure reaction-dilemma-decision.

POV Character: Who is the point-of-view character in the scene? Are you writing in first person, third person, objective third person, or some other viewpoiont. Are you writing this scene in past tense or present tense?

Setting: Where is the scene taking place? What is the date and time? Which characters will play a role in this scene?

Beginning: If this is a proactive scene, what is the goal? If it is a reactive scene, what is the reaction?

Middle: If this is a proactive scene, what's the conflict? If reactive, what's the dilemma?

End: If this is a proactive scene, what's the setback? If this is a reactive scene, what's the decision?

Other: What research do you need to do before this scene is complete? Any other information that you need to remember to put down?"

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So you don't need to analyze every scene before you begin your first draft. This will definitely help in the editing phase though. Doing this will definitely help you if you are stuck on a scene though, and even help you realize that a scene needs to be cut! Very helpful in both the writing and editing phase.

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Here we are. You have everything you need to turn that idea that's been itching at you, and now you should have all the tools and pieces you need to make a coherent story! Remember that you should always be in the writing or editing mode. When you write, and when you edit is entirely based on individual desires. Despite what many people on this subreddit say, writing everything first and editing everything all at one later does not work for everyone. I think the main point is to not edit BEFORE you write. That's how writer's block gets started. If writing a chapter one session, and editing that same chapter next session works for you, than do that. If writing the entire first draft before you edit works for you, then that's fine too. Just remember to experiment if you don't know what works for you. Hopefully if you made it this far, editing should become a breeze, and writing should be a little less daunting. This is an effective, systematic approach to turning that one small thought in your head into an actual novel! Happy writing :)

You should make this an info graphic.

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