: Re: How can I develop my ideas? A problem I run into frequently is that I am struck by an idea, more accurately termed "a premise," for a story, but then I can't decide what to do with it.

@Sue2132873

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I think the answer is that all of these are valid viewpoints to take, and each of them might make a story. But you have to ask one more question - why is your premise important? Who is it important to?

You need to identify not just a premise, but a story. The premise is just the oddity of the society that you have to describe, but for the people within it, it usually is just life as it happens. So you need a story, someones story, that drives against this, or with it, or around it.

You may want to tell this through a child, but why is the child challenging or questioning it? the same quesiton for an adult - why do they draw attention to this aspect of their society, rather than, say, their ability to fly through space?

Even if you want to take the position of a visiting group, what is it about this technology that challenges them? Maybe they have moral problems with it, which could provide a good story. You could even tell the story from the point of a deceased person, but you still have ask the question why is THIS story being told? What is the force of this particular story that makes it different?

I think once you have the conflict point or story point - not complete, but just as a point to work from - you will know why that story is the one to tell, and then you will know how to tell it.

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