How to make your basic story

[Daykurfin]

Those are some good tips. I rarely plan my characters out very much and I think planning them out more might help.

[Adrenline]

I like the guide, quite handy for those who want to write. I do somethings quite differently however, still works, but like SlasherZero said, hang on to what works.

[fjgdlkfjglkfdj]

I suppose I can see how important these steps are to a lot of people, but for myself, my mind would implode if I had to plan things like that.

I never, ever, just sit down and say, "I wanna write something, and it's gonna have this, this, and this in it." (that's a very rough way of putting things) I get the idea for a cool action/dramatic scene, and I work from there. Most of the time things get scraped after a few minutes, I almost never follow up on anything.

I've often seen writing down every little thought to be a waste of time. (again, just my opinion) I need the basic plot down before I might start fleshing things out with words. I never base characters on people I know either, not completly anyways.

For characters, names come first, then how they enitally come off to other people, and then how they look. I don't go to far into how feel on the inside unless I choose to actually start writing the story. The first impression you get when thinking the character up for the first time, I think, should be how the reader feels as well.

I normally don't like writing with a pen, it's more of a last-resort for me, and anything written is something I'm either going to forget, or have beaten into my mind so hard I'll never forget.