Starting a new story is always the hardest part for me so far as a writer. That first blank page stares back at me defying me to fill it with something good. Is that possible? Can I do it? Am I kidding myself?

My High School story idea is no different. I procrastinated on writing that first page to write this blog. While I have many ideas, getting started is the hardest part. Once I get started the pages flow. I do not how that happens for me but it does. It could be magic.

The hardest part of any story is putting together an effective plot. There are no good or bad plots, just plots that engage the reader and those that do not. The former is desired.

One very good piece of advice is to be able to summarize your plot in a single sentence. Ok let me try, although I reserve the right to change it later.

A boy enters high school and leaves as a man.

How is that? Simple right? Maybe deceptively so. In those 10 words many interesting things can happen and do every day. The trick will be to bring the reader into that change and interest them in the story.

Another standard piece of creative writing advice is to make sure your characters suffer some adversity. What about high school is not perfect for that? I know my own experience was a torrent of new situations, setbacks, and emotions with a little bit of life threatening thrown in for good measure.

This story is fiction and will not be about me. Although, I will put some of me into it. And some of you. But don’t worry. I will make sure the names do not match up.

Public School in the suburbs is one of the few melting pots you can experience in life. The rich, the poor, the popular, and the anomie afflicted are all thrown together based on where they live. Later in life you will find ways to associate more with your own kind, whatever that may be to you. But that melting pot idea is so powerful and rich with interesting story ideas. I hope I can take advantage of the natural resources my setting choice presents to me.

One of the things you have to choose right up front, as an author is a point of view or POV, as it is known. You can write a story as yourself. As attractive as that may sound, writing an interesting story with this POV is very difficult. My choice will be Third Person Limited, a safe choice for a junior writer. Here the POV is someone outside of the story. This unidentified nameless narrator can know some things across all the characters and can set scenes as needed.

A story written form this POV can shift back and forth from the perspective of any character as needed for the story. In this way it is easy to explore everyone’s fears, motives, and crazy thinking. I also will give my narrator some omniscience, but not too much as to spoil the story.

Another requirement for a successful story is change. The characters must experience change. My plot line guarantees this condition.

A story also needs main characters. So far I have identified two. The main protagonist, the afore-mentioned boy, and of course a girl. Both of these characters will not be your run of the mill high schoolers, each will be something special. And each will represent an aspect of humanity with opposing energy. There will be conflict! Exactly what the writing doctor ordered.

There will be more characters of course and some of them will roll in and out of the story. They will have to prove themselves to me to become major characters. They will audition one at a time. If I find them interesting I will bring them back

This brings me to how I write. Some authors will write an outline of a story and then follow that preordained formula. I cannot. I start with some raw idea and characters and then let the story write itself. It seems like magic to me. Where do these words come from? I have no clue. My task now is to make those words form a story that would interest a reader. Maybe even you.

My setting choice gives me with the raw materials to write a great story. Can I rise to the occasion? A story in and of itself.

Time will tell.