What comes first?

A common problem writers face is beginning - not necessarily the exposition of the story, but the elements required to build one. What comes first - characters? Plot? Setting? The truth is, there isn't one single correct answer. In my experience, your very first bit of inspiration can be for just about any of those categories. Sometimes I think up the antagonist first, sometimes a certain friendship, a concept - even a single phrase can be the key thing I begin developing on. With an endless number of ways to begin planning a story, here are some methods I've used with my own writing.

As a general rule, your characters will almost always be more important than a basic concept for your plot - because without characters, your plot probably isn't going anywhere! Creating characters can be the hardest part, without a doubt. With minor characters especially, something I've found to be helpful is to pick one specific quality to exaggerate. You could have a character who's overly cheerful, or a character who's moody and tough and says nothing can hurt them. When you've selected this one characteristic to associate them with, it opens up a thousand new doors for you as a writer. What would break your cheerful character's heart? What's the one thing that makes your angry character smile? As you begin to understand them better, your characters will most likely grow and change immensely throughout the process of creating their tale. It's also important to keep in mind the overall feel of your story. If the dialogue or behavior of your character feels awkward or out of place, it could put a damper on the story as a whole. A little exaggeration is good, especially when it comes to fantasy, but the exact amount of it depends on the kind of story you're aiming to write.

When it comes to plot, this is where you'll need to use the most active part of your imagination. What's something that sounds impossible, and how can you make it real? What kind of story would you like to read? Does it involve magic? Elves? Wizards? None of the above? Drawing inspiration from your favorite works of fiction is a great place to begin, but remember the difference between being inspired to write something of your own and "borrowing an idea".

Sometimes the best way to begin writing is to just write. Write what pops into your mind. Write different perspectives. Re-write the ending to a movie. These are things that probably won't be eligible for publication, but if it helps your creativity flow, they don't have to be!

Here's a video about beginning to write: