Spark to Story: Turn an Idea Into a Page-Turning Concept for Your Novel, Week 2

Workshop, Week 2. From Idea to Compelling Concept

Image created by ChatGPT with input from me.

Welcome back! Last week, you identified your basic idea—that seed of possibility that all novels begin with. Bravo! Good start. If you missed that lesson, don't worry—you can still catch up by going to the workshop lesson for week 1 here.

Moving forward…

This week, we bring your idea to life by creating a main character with a burning desire or goal. This is the next step toward crafting a concept for your novel.

Here's your summary for Week 2:

1. An essay on expanding your idea with a main character and goal to create a concept

2. Your weekly assignment

3. A PDF worksheet for your responses (from Week 1)

Week 2 Essay: Expand Your Idea With a Main Character and Goal

This is where the magic starts to happen. When working on my bestselling first novel, Sisters and Lovers, my initial idea was simply to write about sisters supporting each other through relationship challenges. That was fine to start, but the story idea really came alive when I went deeper and created a main character with a pressing goal. This is what I mean by concept; it’s simply expanding your initial idea into something more specific and well-defined.

Here’s where I explain exactly how I further defined my idea for Sisters and Lovers with a main character and her goal.

I decided that my character’s name would be Beverly. She would be single and the youngest of three sisters. Her biggest goal in life would be to finally marry and have children, just as her sisters had. I believed this was a goal many single women would relate to. Beverly’s sisters, Charmaine and Evelyn, would also be point-of-view characters with relationship troubles. However, the action would mostly center around Beverly and the sisters’ desire to support their younger sibling.

I provide much more detail about how I developed this concept below.