I've always had so many ideas for stories, about beautiful settings or interesting scenarios, etc, but most of these stories have failed because I've failed to give them any real point or substance beyond they pretty setting or the action or the fancy sci-fi ideas. What real conflict there was was shoved in where it didn't fit, or were large instances so spread apart I had a hard time connecting them. Today I planned out the emotional development of my character through an entire novel, but I still do not know: -the setting -the genre -the gender of any character -the time period -most of the plot I am having the opposite problem from what I've always had. Instead of having the clothes and skin of a story without bones, I have the skeleton with nothing to put on it. I'll get through it, but I was wondering if anybody has any advice or has had a similar experience. It's just kind of funny, I guess.
I've heard from plenty of writers who prefer to start with characters. Personally it doesn't seem to matter since I usually develop a story from a single idea or prompt that could be on anything from the setting right down to the shortest scene ever written. The best way I find is to develop ideas concurrently. Don't just focus on your characters or setting, but do it all at the same time. Allow your ideas to cross-pollinate with one another and see where it travels organically. I think if you have the emotional development down you should be able to use that to find a conflict for your story. What circumstances drive them to change the way they do? Are those developments better suited to a man or a woman? What sort of setting would that conflict make sense in? After that it should be smooth sailing.
I'm usually the opposite, I have a setting and I find characters that are struggling through it's challenges and intricacies. If you've made a good enough setting the characters will jump out at you as important stories within your setting that need to be told to better understand the setting itself. Maybe it's just a personal thing, but I think the reason you are having difficulty is because it is hard to develop emotionally when you don't first have a compelling and convincing setting.
