Crafting Stories: My Process of Research, Organisation, and Creative Visualisation

Writing stories is a deeply personal and meticulous process that requires not only creativity but also a dedication to research, organisation, and detail. In this blog post, I want to take you behind the scenes of how I craft my stories, revealing the steps I take to ensure that each narrative is rich, engaging, and as accurate as possible.

Research: Building a Foundation of Knowledge

Before I begin weaving a story, I immerse myself in research. Whether it’s about a specific location, an object, a myth, an event, or a historical fact, I ensure that I have a solid understanding of the elements that will play a role in my narrative. Google Maps becomes my go-to tool for exploring real-world locations that my characters might visit. By virtually walking the streets, I can describe settings with authenticity, allowing readers to feel as though they are truly there.

If I need to understand certain objects or delve into the specifics of an event or myth, I dive deep into online resources, books, and articles. This research is crucial for grounding my stories in reality, even when they take place in fantastical worlds. Accuracy and factual knowledge provide a sturdy foundation that makes the fictional elements of my stories more believable and flowing through the story's development. The extent and amount of knowledge you have about certain things helps to better describe them, explain them, and teach a little something, something to the reader. I guess you could say that writers are a knowledge base full of random facts about random things, as most, if not all writers, tend to research particular subjects and topics in order to correctly provide information and descriptions in all their stories.

Organisation: Keeping the Story Cohesive

All the research in the world won’t help if it’s not organized. That’s where Notion comes into play. I’ve created a personalized folder system where I keep detailed notes on every aspect of my story, story structure, main plots, characters, and even small details that might seem insignificant at first glance. This centralised hub allows me to easily refresh my memory on key elements and ensures that I remain aligned with my initial story plans.

Having everything in one place is invaluable, especially during the writing process when ideas can quickly evolve. It’s also a lifesaver when I step away from a project for a while and need to quickly get back up to speed.

This hub of knowledge is also extremely usual for when a story begins to involve a large number of different and unique characters. Having a centralised folder that I can turn to about each of my characters noting who they are, their dress style, their personality traits, etc., helps prevent me from accidentally merging characters and keeping them, in a sense, linear throughout my story. Obviously, there's a lot of character developments for certain characters but it allows me to never unintentionally make a character become completely or radically out-of-character, unless taking that turn is what I meant to do (which I can also plan for in these folders).

Writing: Crafting Each Sentence with Care

When it comes to the actual writing, I pay close attention to the words I choose. To avoid redundancy and keep my language fresh, I often turn to a thesaurus or use Google to search for synonyms that best capture the tone and nuance I’m aiming for. This helps me maintain a varied and engaging writing style, preventing my sentences from becoming repetitive.

Visualizing my characters is another critical part of the writing process. I create mental images of what they look like, how they move, and how they speak. These visualisations, combined with detailed notes, help me bring my characters to life on the page, making them more relatable and three-dimensional for readers.

Immersing Myself in the Protagonist’s Shoes

At times, I find that the best way to solve a narrative dilemma is by putting myself in the protagonist’s shoes. This immersive approach allows me to think and feel as the character would, helping me to navigate them out of difficult situations authentically. By mentally traversing through their challenges first-hand, I can better understand their motivations and reactions, ensuring that their actions resonate with the reader and stay true to their personality. I try to imagine what I would do, how it would feel, what my senses would be doing in their situation and environments. And then, I imagine, staying within the realms of the characters personality and mental faculties, how they would react in certain situations. Whilst mentally in their present moment I type/write as the images play out in my mind like a movie. Trying my best to describe everything as I go. Watching and reading a lot of horror content also helps when I feel like I got my character seriously stuck in a situation, this helps me brainstorm ideas and sieve my way through all the ideas I have in order to come up with a solution that works for each character.

Description: Painting Vivid Pictures with Words

One of my main goals as a writer is to engross the reader in the world I’m creating. To achieve this, I use as much description as possible to allow vivid images to form in the reader’s mind. Whether it’s the scent of rain on cobblestones or the intricate patterns of a character’s clothing, I strive to include sensory details that make the story feel real and immediate. Being that I am a detail oriented person, I find that this aspect of writing comes to me with a lot of ease.

Descriptions are not just about painting a pretty picture, they are a tool for setting the mood, revealing character traits, and driving the story forward. By layering these details throughout the narrative, I aim to create a rich, immersive experience that captivates the reader from beginning to end.

Show, Don’t Tell: The Ongoing Challenge

Even as a Creative Writing graduate (The University of Hertfordshire, UK), adhering to the principle of "show, don’t tell" remains a challenge. While I strive to convey emotions, actions, and settings through vivid imagery and subtle clues, it’s not always easy to avoid slipping into telling, especially in the first drafts. Despite this, I work diligently to keep to this rule as much as possible, refining my writing in revisions to ensure that I am showing the story to the reader rather than just telling it. It’s an ongoing process of growth, but one that I believe is essential for creating engaging, immersive fiction.

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Writing stories is more than just putting words on a page; it's about creating an entire world that feels real, grounded in research, and alive with vibrant environments and characters. Through careful organisation, thoughtful word choice, and vivid descriptions, I work to craft narratives that not only tell a story but invite readers to lose themselves within it.