How to Build a Story from the Start

Dylan Thomas had his boathouse, Philip Pullman has a garden office, and very shortly I shall have a - shed.  When you're writing seriously and over an extended period of time, it helps to have a dedicated space to do it in if you can manage it, so we are squeezing a house-shaped shed into the bottom of our garden.

This is how it looked at dawn this morning.  You can just make out the concrete pile foundations and the lengths of string to show the outline. I thought it might be a handy metaphor for -- you've guessed it -- writing a story.  Here you have the beginnings of a base, an idea, if you like; there's also the faintest notion  of the shape it might take. There's a massive amount to do and it takes quite a leap of imagination to picture how it might look when it is finished - dispiritingly familiar to the starters of good stories.  However, our builders Steve and Steve don't mind the cold and are definitely up for the job.

So let me take you with me over the coming weeks.  Start thinking of an idea.  Let it churn around inside your head (cement mixer analogy coming on), put down a couple of markers, then let's get construction under way.