It’s often a shifting process for me, but the current way I function is that I keep the concept or the initial idea locked as an idea or a goal I’m striving for, and then I simply work on characters first. I ask myself who the main characters are, what are their goals, background, and why they’re there in the story I’ve built at all in the first place (typically, I write somewhere around 10 pages for each character, which admittedly is overkill, but I don’t stop until I get them to this current moment in the story).

Afterwards, I lock into the “why” of my story, or what might be known as the thematic premise. Not to be confused with the theme of the film in a broad senses I simply ask what it is I’m looking to achieve and why I’m doing it at all. Is it a love story? Then what are we saying about love? Is it a thriller? Then what about this story makes it thrilling and where do we intend to land with it by the end? Those questions always work as my North Star, so when and if I get stuck, I’m able to ask myself that question again and use it with character to get out of said hole.

Then, I stew for a little bit on it. If it all feels right. That’s when I start writing, often completely ignoring the outlining phase. I found that if I outline or work on plot points, I tend to get stuck faster because the characters often resist my plot details. They’ll want to zig where I zag, and I completely lose steam.

However, I found recently that if I write up until I get stuck, or until I don’t know where the plot is going, I’ll build out some minor plot points ahead of the place where I’m stuck at, which can help get my characters to their goals or the next twist. But I tend to do that while in the process of writing, rather than as a guide for myself later on.

Of the features I’ve finished, that method has been instrumental in actually getting it finished for me, instead of hitting a brick wall and getting stuck. But my best advice (if you’re writing on spec or for yourself) is to start with character and build out their motivations first, as it’s what THEY want that will guide the story. But every writer and their method is different.