Thinking of ideas is not hard but starting to put them on paper is.?

Question

Starting to write my play (maybe musical) is hard for me to do. I write stories (or try to write) all the time because I just get ideas that are amazing but I find that I can't develop the plot because I don't have a solid start. HELP!

The play I'm writing now is about a boy (guy/ man) who strays from the path of good. He starts getting visions or hallucinations (which ever you find fits) of people who he knew of that have ... well to put it bluntly died and they help him and guide him back to the path of good. I can't open this story for my life. HOW SHOULD I?!?!?

Answer 1

every story has to have arcs - travelling from point A to point B and over the course of that journey there is a change, something significant happens. Every good character must go through an arc. If you are struggling with how to begin perhaps taking a beginner's writing course would help.

Answer 2

To answer your question, and solve your problem of not being able to develop a plot, is that you plan it out carefully at first. I know it sounds tedious, but trust me, it can be just as fun as writing the actual novel/play.

Also, believe me when I tell you that knowing where you're going makes it so much easier to write. Also, while you put down the general idea of how it ends on paper, you may come up with a beginning that makes perfect sense!

As for the beginning of what you're writing now... Depending on how the story goes, I don't know how it does, perhaps he could be at the funeral of someone he later sees in a vision? Or maybe he can just come on and starts narrating the story? Or maybe start by showing HOW he's straying from the path of good?