This prompt was inspired by my amazing friend Gemston3 who reads my books (no idea why). So let's get started.

A lot of people want to start a story, but don't actually know how to. You got a idea in your head but it's completely jumbled up and makes no sense. Well here I'm going to do my best to make starting your own story easy and clear.

I'm sure you've heard the famous, Who, what, where, why, and how. In fact your probably ready to shove that phrase out the window. Despite this it's still not a saying to overlook by any means. It is the best way to untangle your jumbled mix of a story.

Now, most people go beginning, middle, then end. I personally like to do beginning, end, then middle. So you may read this in whatever order you desire.

1. Beginning.

At this point you just have a idea. You want to establish what characters you have at the moment, and which ones your going to save for later. You can go about this two ways

(1) you start it from the beginning of everything, how they meet, why they meet, etc.

(2) you can start in farther Into the whole ordeal, they are already friends, maybe on the run already.

A example of (1) would be the Percy Jackson series.

A example of (2) would be the hunger games series.

Either way you still have to introduce characters, and you still have characters you start with. Both make excellent story's.

Now I always find the hardest part the first sentence. How exactly do I want to start this? The more you can lead on from the first sentence the better.

If your doing a fanfiction you got it easy, everyone's familiar with the characters, and they are excited to read. You still want to catch your readers, but it's definitely a lot less stressful.

If your writing your own original story, then this is a little harder. You want your first word to catch your reader, your first paragraph has to hold them in.

Blood.

That's all I see, I can't remember anything but blood it's everywhere. It's in my hair, shoes and mouth. Oh god I can taste it's metallic taste. Am I bleeding? Nothing hurts... I think. Bearings get your bearings in order, deep breaths, is it salty in here? Why would it be salty. Maybe I'm going mad. That's it I've solved it I'm going mad, or maybe I'm dreaming.

SMACK

Ok so I'm not dreaming. Is that a water bottle? Why is there a water bottle in here? Oh great that's covered in blood as well, figures. Maybe it's someone else's blood... oh right I'm alone. Well obviously using the process of elimination I can conclude that's my blood. Where is it coming from- ow!

Oh well I found the source of the bleeding.

You hopefully at the end of this really want to know what's happening, what's going on, where are they? (That was really fun to write).

Try to start your own story here, or if you are run clean of ideas continue with the prompt:

Your best friend just sprayed a water bottle in your face and now your floating.

Good luck! I will rate your little beginning if you desire so.

2. End

Now some of you are wondering, why in the world would you do your ending before your middle? Well it creates guidelines for the biggest part of your story. If you start a movie with 6 girls living in trees, saying that you end it with all the trees gone gives you exactly what you need to happen in the middle. It makes the hard stuff easier.

The best endings are not cheesy and are original, they leave your readers gobsmacked or relieved. You've really done well once your readers want more. Endings are how you wrap your present.

As a reader, the classic "and then I woke up" ending is the last thing I want to hear. Now maybe you've made your story too long and need to quickly end it, as that is ok I advise you to try any other ending. This ending is usually one for fantasy, and the issue with it is that it ruins the best part of a fantasy. The world is completely different, you feel like you've transferred into a place new, exciting. Thankfully I've only read one of these.

Major character death is one of the best endings in my opinion. In real life people die, your favorite characters don't really survive. Yes it's hard and sad but it's someone spectacular at the same time. Now if you are going to kill off a major character, you simply must do it right.

(1) give your readers closure. Quick deaths feel abrupt and saddening. Instead of maybe decapitating someone, try a stab wound. Let them speak before they die. Personally I find it best when the love interests sees them die, and lets them say their last words. Of course a major character death can still be Well done without the love interest, use divergent as a example.

(2) don't let "I love you" be the first and last time they say it. Make sure that they are in love way before they die. The story of course doesn't always allow these circumstances but a story is much better if they were already in love.

(3) make sure to foreshadow there death. Even in small ways, give the readers small hints so it's not abrupt. Don't be like "WOW I SURE HOPE I WONT GET STABBED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! HAHAHAHAHA" try more "death? I've never really thought about death. But it couldn't happen to me right?" This is a undertone of which can give clues to your readers.

(4) last words and or thoughts. Make sure the last things your character says/thinks is something special, maybe their last words are "I love you" (never the first time they say them need I remind you), but make sure their thoughts are something different. Take Hamilton for example, he has a whole scene of just whats going through his head before that bullet pierces him.

Ex:

Something cold surrounds my abdomen. A thick substance follows suit? Running down my legs. Everything is foggy and it hurts. It hurts so much. Is someone holding me? The warmth of their heat brings along a smile I can't feel. I look up and I see the ocean rays of eyes I have longed to see so many times. Their crying, why are they crying? Cold. I don't want the beautiful eyes to Cry. I don't feel my hand reach up to wipe away the tear but I know it's there, bringing comfort to the familiar eyes. The edges of my vision give out, I'm not sure if I'm making noise. There is something running out of my mouth, maybe I'm drooling again. I always drool to much.

"Please don't go" the eyes, they speak. I look down and there are lips to keep them company. Oh, I get it. I'm dying.

The eyes, they weld up with tears again. They shouldn't cry, there to perfect. The ocean orbs bring my joy, why must they cry.

As I breath, the hot sickly substance splatters against my throat. Is now a good time to die? It would of been rather nice to get a choice in the matter. Something warm and calming is against my face. The hand that I've held so many times.

"Don't cry just yet" those lips, they smile. It's not the same, it's a sad smile.

"I can't help it" the laugh that escapes me isn't my own. It's caked with the all the dreams lost. If this is how it ends, then I'm glad it's looking into those ocean orbs.

My breathing it gets harder... and harder... and-

"I love you" it stops.

Imagine your otp, ok fangirl aside, this is a good way to have a character death. In fact I think I could of used this in one of my own books, but I love y'all to much to keep it for myself.

3. Middle

This is all the information that holds your story. Surprisingly it's the easiest part there are thousands and thousands of ways to get from one point to another, each one of them different. At this point you want to start and develop a love connection. The most common thing I see is people rushing their middles. There should never be more then 1(or 2) big events each chapter. Of course there are exceptions like a large battle scene or the last chapter. Nonetheless, the more you do when you first start, the less you have for later.

I know most of you aren't going to have a detailed plot line for every event, not even I am this organized, so instead have check points. Write them down if you must. Make sure you hit them all. Like maybe you need to go to the gas station in one chapter, and end up meeting a person you thought was dead 6 chapters later. This gives you a goal of what to do next, how do they meet this person? Then you have another check point you got to get to. How does this person react to everything? I find checkpoints also help with writers block.

Check points are like tacks on a map, you can choose many ways to get their but in the end you've arrived. Maybe your late because you took the long route. Maybe your early. Either way you have ended up there, and it's still a journey that takes time. You don't go from New York to Kansas in one day. (Unless you're the doctor, or have a teleportation device. I assume you do not hit either of these options for if you did your surly wouldn't be on wattpad.)

If you wish to make a detailed guide for every single event then be my guest! You just made it easy on yourself and I applaud you. A little work in the beginning saves a lot of time, effort, and avoids writers block. Your doing great honey.

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I hope this helps you start your very own story! Or even makes your story's better. I am proud of you all working hard. You guys hold the creativity of a true writer, and the fact that your reading this means that you have the potential and the work effort of one. Thank you for spending time on this, I am by all means not a professional but the fact that I'm able to help you in any way brings a smile to my face.

Ta ta!