Hi, Sarah,
Thanks for posting. I’m honored that you think I might have the kind of advice your group needs.
Planning. First you have to have something you want to say — NEED to say. With my work, the story comes first, then the characters; the setting comes last. Unless it’s really pertinent to the story, like an expedition up Everest.
I always have to have a basic story in mind, and the planning I do is the organizing of that story. e.g. SLACKER is the story of a video-game-addicted couch potato who is interested in nothing else. The story revolves around how he gets to be at the center of absolutely everything. 1) First he plots a way to make it look like he’s a student activist by inventing a non-existent school club. 2) The guidance counselor loves the idea of such a club, and hypes it. 3) Students join for various reasons of their own, and the general public makes it a super-hit. 4) Instead of being left alone to pursue his lifestyle, our hero is the most happening guy in town. See how the story builds from the basic idea?
I always give aspiring writers this advice: Read a lot, and write a lot. And never put down a single word until your story is well-planned. Yes, you can make changes, add and subtract people and events. But the basic plan must be there. No one ever wrote anything on the fly that was worth reading. Or, more to the point, publishing.
Have fun, people. I’m having a great time!
Best regards,
—-Gordon Korman—-